The month of July saw hot weather and a sizzling real estate market not only in Boulder and Broomfield Counties but throughout the entire Denver metro area. According to data from IRES, LLC, the Northern Colorado MLS, in Boulder and Broomfield Counties, 657 homes sold in July, up over 30% from June. According to a Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR) Market Trends Report released this week, 6,664 homes sold in the 11-county Denver Metro (including Boulder and Broomfield Counties) last month. This is almost 8% more than the 6,179 homes sold in June, and well above the 4,762 homes sold in March pre-COVID-19.
The needle on each metric of market activity tracked over the last 7 days moved in the right direction compared to the same week in 2019 as our local real estate market continues to return to and even exceed “normal” spring and summer levels. Sold properties were up 14% and new listings for the past week were up a slight 3.2% from the same week in 2019. That’s great news because new listing volumes are an important lead indicator for the real estate market. Properties under contract continue to show strong buyer activity, up over 10% from last year while the number of withdrawn properties was down by a third.
Over 52% of the new listing inventory in the last week was within reach of first-time home buyers, priced up to $600k, while 16.4% was priced over $1M. Almost 70% of the area’s new listings this week were in Boulder and Longmont while the outlying Boulder County suburbs and mountain communities continue to be challenged by single digit inventory and one month or less of supply.
The sell-through rate of over 100% last week, over 90% for 10 of the last 20 weeks and 4 of the last 5 weeks, is further indication that we are in a seller’s market that is showing a remarkable resiliency.
The 20-week average sell-through rate in the Boulder-Broomfield area is almost 92%, meaning that homes go under contract at a rate almost as fast as the rate they hit the market.
Despite very competitive local market conditions, buyers that hang in there will have some advantages. The most impressive buyer incentive today is the historically low average mortgage interest rate. The 30-year fixed rate now averages 2.88%, facilitating a not-to-be-missed opportunity for buyers to get more for their money. The biggest current perk for sellers is the low housing inventory coupled with high buyer demand. The pandemic continues to bring an unprecedented number of potential buyers to Colorado. Homeowners can potentially earn more on their homes and sell them quickly as our “summer is the new spring” market continues to sizzle.
The following charts show the last 20 weeks of activity for new listings, sold transactions, properties under contract, and withdrawn listings. Labels indicate weekly lows and highs over the 20 week period as well as the starting and current week statistics.
New listings peaked in mid-June and correspondingly units under contract peaked in mid-July and sold units peaked in early August.
The average price of sold units in Boulder and Broomfield Counties increased double digits for both single family homes (over 10%) and attached homes (almost 19%). Data from IRES indicates that the average single-family home in the area sold for $791,196. By comparison, in July the average single-family home in the 11-county Denver metro sold for $601,863 which is a record-breaking sticker price for the area, according to the DMAR report.
