Metro Home Prices Drop After Two Years of Growth

After two years of unprecedented growth, the median sales price of a single-family home stayed the same in Colorado but dropped in Metro Denver, though barely. In January 2023, the median sale price was $569,804, down 1.4% from a year ago. Some parts of the state saw an increase in January.

In January, the median price of a single-family home in Denver is less than it was one year ago.

“Every single month in 2021 and the first half of 2022, everybody in our (real estate) community went, ‘Oh my goodness. How much more can this go? What will buyers put up with?’ I mean having to pay a penny over the appraised value is just bonkers to me,” said CAR Spokesperson Matthew Leprino. 

Now, he said, “It’s calm, it’s a very tepid pool right now. It’s not increasing. It’s not going crazy. Days on market are up. But they’re up from historic lows. Most phone calls we get right now are… ‘Can I jump in right now?’”

Data for January from the Colorado Association of REALTORS® has median home prices flattening statewide. Houses are taking twice as long — sometimes three times longer — to sell compared to a year ago. But that’s not very long. In the seven-county metro Denver area, that’s 53 days, or about four weeks longer than 22 days in January 2022. That’s getting back to the time just before the pandemic, or 48 days in January 2020.

“The major thing we have seen is a dramatic slowdown in activity,” said Ann Hayes, CAR Spokesperson in Grand Junction. “A lot of people, with the change in the interest rates, were priced out of the market.”

But every market is different. Places like Pagosa Springs are dealing with a scarcity of houses below their median sales price, which increased a whopping 33% to $520,000 in January. CAR Spokesperson Wen Saunders said the lower-priced homes below the $400,000 range “were gobbled up with low interest rates and cash buyers,” and many who were buying a second home.

In Fort Collins, the median sales price in January was also higher than a year ago. There are still multiple offers going on, said CAR Spokesperson and Fort Collins REALTOR® Chris Hardy. For one of his fellow agents, 8 out of 10 sales in January involved multiple offers.