Denver Metro Area Home Prices Return to 2007 Levels According to Metrolist(R) Housing Report

DENVER, CO--(Marketwire - Dec 7, 2012) -  According to the latest data from Metrolist®, home prices have returned to a level not seen since 2007. Despite lagging prices earlier this year, the housing market is finishing the year strong. REcolorado.com, a comprehensive real estate search platform powered by Metrolist, is showcasing a historically low number of houses due to lack of inventory.

"In the second half of this year, under contracts and sales have been neck-and-neck," said Kirby Slunaker, President of Metrolist, the provider of REColorado. "When you take the steadily dropping days on market figures into account and factor in the pace of under contracts to sales, we assume December to close out strong. This is good news for sellers in today's housing market."

The average sales price for properties during the month was $285,664, up 3 percent from October and 13 percent ahead of last year, according to the Metrolist report. Average days on the market, an important indicator of the housing market's health, was reported to be 70 days, well down from the 100 days it took to move a single-family property last year.

Though month-over-month sales were down, the number of homes sold in November was up an extraordinary 20 percent compared to the same month last year.

According to the Metrolist report, a total of 3,692 properties sold in November, a nice uptick from 3,068 sales during the same month last year. Single-family homes sold were up 21 percent while condos rose 20 percent.

"We continue to see double-digit growth for home sales throughout the metro Denver market," Mr. Slunaker said. "Year to date, home sales are ahead of 2011 by 18 percent with almost 43,000 homes sales this year, which is comparable to 2008 sales activity."

Inventory, meanwhile, continues to shrink. Metrolist reports a total of 8,847 residential properties for sale at month's end, down from 9,719 units available at the end of October. By larger comparison, there were 12,634 properties on the market at this time last year, nearly 30 percent more than last month.

"Compared with prior month-end figures for November, we hit an all-time low for inventory with less than 9,000 homes on the market this past month," Mr. Slunaker said. "This, combined with sales volume that has climbed back up to November 2005 figures, should keep pricing stable. We're seeing some remarkable activity in the metro Denver market this year."

REcolorado.com gives consumers direct access to the most current housing information available today. With the ability to find homes, search for open houses, and easily calculate home values, this website, powered by the MLS, gives home buyers and sellers the most comprehensive information online for the metro Denver housing market.

About Metrolist
Metrolist is the largest MLS in the state of Colorado, supporting the largest network of Realtors^® with the most comprehensive database of real property listings throughout the Front Range. Realtor-owned since 1984, Metrolist provides leading technology solutions to real estate agents and brokers to better serve buyers and sellers. More information about Metrolist is available at www.metrolist.com.