Your Trusted Real Estate Advisor

Here’s the July 2007 data from Metrolist (the Denver Multiple Listing Service provider).

There were 3,899 Residential sales for the month of July. That is down 4.11% from June, but up 2.63% over July 2006. Under Contract listings follow the same trend: down 3.47% from June, but up 6.94% from a year ago.

These figures probably account for the change in the number of Active listings. At 22,643 homes on the market, it’s 0.57% more than June, and 3.41% less than a year ago. So overall, the trend is in the right direction.

A trend that is negative, however, is that the average sold price is down both from June and from a year ago (5.62% and 3.86% respectively). Contributing to that fact is the relationship between the sold price and the list price. Homes are selling for 97% of the final listing price, and 91% of the original list price.

In other words, on the average a home is listed too high for the market and the list price is reduced one or more times before it sells. When it does sell, the discount off the list price is 3%, but when compared to the original list price the discount is 9%. The fact that homes were listed about 6% too high originally contributes to the length of time on the market (90 days for July sales).

Trends for Condominium-type properties (including townhomes and patio homes as well as hi-rise condos) is similar to that for single-family Residential homes, but the number of listings is only about 1/3 that of Residential properties: (7,629 Active, 1,253 Under Contract, 1,081 Sold in July).

What are we to learn from this? (1) The Denver real estate market is fairly strong, but there are still a lot of homes on the market relative to the number of homes selling each month. (2) This is not the time to “test the market” by trying to get a higher sale price than homes sold for last year. Your home will sell in a reasonable time if it is priced right to begin with (and if it is in sharp condition, of course—there is too much competition to get a good price for a home that needs a lot of work). (3) If you want or need to move, it’s a good time to do it even though you may not get “top dollar” for your home. You also won’t pay “top dollar” for the home you will buy.

Through my partnership with Metro Brokers, Inc., you can go through my website to a unique property search engine that uses a Google Map interface. (Just click on the MLS Property Search tab on the upper left.)

This allows you to see every active listing on a map, move your cursor over the button for a property and see a photo and other details. Then you can click on ones you like, request a showing of those homes, and save them to your own account for later review.

I sent out instructions to some of my active clients, and I'm putting them here so they will be available longer.

Here’s what to do:

1. Go to www.AntleProperties.com

2. Click on the Denver MLS map

3. Enter your search criteria in the “fuzzy logic” box in the upper left corner (Address, zip code, or MLS number. (For multiple MLS numbers, separate with a comma.)

4. Or enter your criteria from the pull-down lists on the bar to the right of the “fuzzy logic” box and on the “Advanced Search” tab on the far right of that bar.

5. Roll your cursor over the property buttons to see photo, price, and a place to click for more details.

6. Click on those you like to go to the property preview page.

7. To request a showing or go to other features, see the options to the left of the photo.

8. You can also email me to ask for more information.

9. To get back to the map from any page, click on the “Property Search” tab at the top.

I hope this is useful to you. Feel free to use this tool at any time, even if it is just to see the listing price of a home that just went on the market near you.

And, of course, if you know of someone who could use this tool in their home search, send them here.