DENVER -- The Denver metro area's real estate market saw sizable increases in both home prices and housing stock in the second month of 2018.
The median home price for residential properties -- single-family detached homes and condos combined -- hit a milestone in February: $400,000, according to the latest report from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. Last year at this time, the median was a little less than $360,000.
The rise in the median price represents an increase of nearly 4 percent from January and more than 12 percent from the same time last year.
The average single-family detached home price also hit a new record in February, surpassing $500,000 for the first time.
While continually rising prices may not be good news for prospective buyers in the metro area, a boost in the housing inventory should be a welcome sign as more homes enter the market.
The number of active listings in February rose to 4,084, an increase of 5.56 percent from January and 5.31 percent higher than February 2017. Condos saw an especially large rise in inventory, increasing by more than 11 percent since this time last year. Single-family homes were up 3.32 percent.
"This is good news as we normally see a small seasonal decrease this time of year," said Denver-area Realtor and DMAR Market Trends Committee Chairman Steve Danyliw, adding that new listings entering the market have helped. "These new listings may be 'fence-sitters' jumping in as concerns of increasing interest rates mount."
Despite the increase, inventory is still incredibly low: The historical average number of active listings for February is more than 14,000.
The most expensive home that sold in all of metro Denver last month (or just outside the metro area, rather) was a five-bedroom single-family home in Evergreen that sold for $5,100,000.
