If you pay attention to what is reported about the real estate market in Denver then you certainly would have the impression that it’s been crazy out there with wild bidding wars and of course that news is always salted with the occasional dire warnings that we are about to sail, yet again, off some cliff of unsustainable price inflation. As usual however the media loves to sensationalize things and the truth is likely a bit more down to earth.
The truth so far this year, for the Platt Park Real Estate market is, but for a few interesting twists, a lot like the previous three years. Prices have continued to increase but not at all to worrisome levels. If the market continues to trend as it has historically in the fall then we will finish the year seeing a very normal 5% appreciation in home values—great but certainly not a precursor to some future bubble-bursting crash.
There are a few interesting things worth noting that a careful examination of the numbers reveal: First the number of bungalow sales in Platt Park is down almost 20% from a year ago. Bungalows are sort of the benchmark for our neighborhood as they represent the most common type of home. Why the drop off? Although difficult to say with absolute certainty I believe the primary driver of this is fear of the market. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people express a fear that if they sell their home they will end up homeless—unable to find a suitable place to live. I believe that fear keeps many a would-be sellers out of the market.
While an understandable concern, to anyone considering selling I’d add this word of comfort–its not that bad! We obviously help a lot of people sell their homes in the neighborhood yet we’ve never had a seller stranded in no-mans-land unable to find a new home. Might take a bit more work than normal but it always seems to work out just fine. The media picture, as usual is much worse than reality.
One other statistic we find interesting is the total number of sales on the upper end of the market ($800,000-plus) has gone up significantly. What does that mean? It means buyer’s with nearly a million dollars to spend on a home are becoming increasingly comfortable landing in our little corner of the world. What’s happening at the top of the market is always a precursor to where we are headed—which in this case means look for home values to just keep climbing!
As we move into the fall the market will slow some as it usually does but as always there is never a bad time to sell in our neighborhood. If we can be of help then please give us a call.
See you around the neighborhood
Tom & Denise Snyder