Denver Real Estate Report | April 2020

Now that Denver is slowly reopening and the weather is improving, you may be wondering if you can start or restart your home search process. While many key real estate metrics (such as the number of homes sold) were down significantly in April compared with the same time last year, there are signs of improvement in the air…

The number of new listings in Denver picked back up in the back half of the month, indicating that sellers are beginning to list their homes for sale as the state reopens. Additionally, we saw an increase in homes going under contract the week of April 27, indicating some buyers previously on the sidelines quickly rejoined the market once Level 2 of Gov. Polis’s Safer at Home order was announced.

Even so, the Denver real estate market was strongly impacted in April by coronavirus and continued statewide shelter-in-place mandates. Many sellers responded by removing their homes from the market or choosing not to list them as in-person home tours and showings were prohibited.

For buyers, there are fewer homes on the market heading into May than would be typical heading into the summer home-buying season. It’s likely that more relaxed stay-at-home requirements will continue to encourage more sellers to enter the market, but you may have fewer options to choose from.

On the flip side, there are fewer buyers overall, which may mean reduced competition when putting in a bid on your dream home. This slight cooling of Denver’s red hot real estate market may make it a bit easier to win the home you love.

For sellers, the good news is that median home prices have remained stable during the pandemic even with fewer homes on the market. The average number of days a home is listed on the market before selling (DOM) is up just a bit, from 7 days in April 2019 to just 12 days in April 2020. This suggests that most sellers aren’t waiting too long to receive an offer.

A note that regular showings are only allowed in Douglas and Weld counties at the moment. In Boulder County, homes must be vacant for showings. In Denver County or City, showings can happen in owner-occupied homes or vacant homes, but not in homes with tenants.

This means that social distancing measures (six-foot distance, gloves, masks, thorough cleaning between showings, etc.) will still need to be implemented when anyone visits your home. With Orchard’s Buy & Sell service, we’ll take care of deep cleaning and listing your home after you move, so you can skip the stress of home showings.

For a deeper dive into Denver’s real estate recap for April 2020, read on.

April Market Snapshot

3,778

New listings in April. There were 38% fewer homes listed in April compared with the same period last year. However, new listings jumped the week of April 27 once Gov. Polis announced Level 2 of Safer at Home, allowing some businesses to reopen.

99.8%

The median percentage of a home’s original list price that it ended up selling for. In Denver, this typically ranges from 97-99%. This is higher than last month (99.4%) and higher than April of last year (99.0%) suggesting that many sellers have been able to sell for their full asking price (or even higher!).

-43%

Decrease in homes that went under contract this April vs. last year. With in-person home showings and tours prohibited through April 26, the number of homes that went under contract dropped dramatically. Similar to new listings, the number of homes that went under contract jumped the week of April 27, nearly recovering to levels we saw during the first two weeks of March (before shelter-in-place mandates were implemented).

Our Perspective

“Communication with your agent and speed to viewing are the ‘new normal’. More and more listings are available now with virtual tours, enabling buyers to decide from their current home which tours they want to take in person of their new home.”

— Peter Winscott, Orchard Home Advisor

Listings Spotlight

-- 14035 Kenneth Cir, Parker

Under contract at 99.2% of list price

Know which feature is most important to you in your new home?

You can now enhance your search by selecting the kitchen, backyard, living room, or front yard image as the default image when reviewing Orchard listings.