Aurora Housing Inventory — Yes, There’s More But Not Enough

The Merry Month of May delivered strong seasonal increases in new listings for single-family residences and condos in both the seven-county Denver metro area and the state.

However, home buyers continue to face the same scenario that has dominated the state’s housing markets throughout the past year. Strong sales and record-high median pricing of both single-family homes and condos/townhomes, now at $300,000, continues to stress the markets, keeping sellers in the driver’s seat and moving homes from “for sale” to “closed” in record time, according to the latest housing report from the Colorado Association of REALTORS® (CAR).

Here’s a snapshot of the Aurora-area market conditions from area REALTOR® Sunny Banka:

“Yes, there’s more, but not enough. We’ve seen a little more single family, as well as condo/townhome inventory in Aurora in May – a slight increase over March and April. However, the increased inventory is still 17 percent below Aurora’s May 2017 inventory levels for both sectors and is clearly not enough.

“The median price for single-family residential in Aurora is $382,000, which makes Aurora an affordable option when comparing pricing to the neighboring communities. Given the low inventory, homes are selling as soon as they come on the market with the days on market sitting right at 17. Prices are approximately 7 percent higher than this time last year. Interest rates remain relatively low, making the Aurora market an excellent opportunity for homebuyers,” said Banka.

Key findings from the May 2018 Housing Reports from the Colorado Association of REALTORS®:
Denver Metro Area – (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas & Jefferson counties)
· New listings for single-family residence rose 15.5 percent from April to May 2018 and are up more than 10 percent year-over-year.
· Despite seasonal increases, active listings are down for both single-family residence and condo/townhomes, 13 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
· Both the median ($435,000) and average ($515,204) price of a single-family residence in the seven-county metro area dipped less than one percent from April to May however, the median price of a condo/townhome rose just over 2 percent to a new record high at $305,000 – up 13 percent from a year ago.
· The average price of a Denver-metro area condo/townhome also ticked up to a new high of $357,715 – a 13.4 percent increase year-over-year.
· Days on the market dropped to 24 for single-family residence and 19 days for condo/townhomes – matching records set last summer.
· Total months supply of inventory remains extremely low at 1.7 months for single-family residence and 1.3 months for condo/townhomes – well below a balanced market inventory of 4-6 months.

Statewide –
· Condo/townhome median pricing ticked up slightly from April to May reaching a new record of $300,000 and reflecting a 12 percent increase year-over-year.
· New listings for single-family residence rose 14 percent from April to May and are up 3 percent year-over-year.
· Unlike the Denver metro market, the median sales price for a single-family residence rose another 1.3 percent to $395,000 and is up more than 8 percent from a year ago.
· The average sales price of single-family residence remained relatively flat at $475,000 while condo/townhome market rose nearly one percent to $385,274 – up nearly 13 percent from a year prior.
· Although the months supply of inventory ticked up a bit for both single-family and condo/townhomes between April and May, the inventory supply remains down more than 17 percent overall and well below a balanced market.