The spring real estate market is off to a strong start.  To better understand the real estate market we could watch the news, but the statistics they typical report are two to three months old.  In my business, that’s ancient history.  The best way to understand what’s really happening is to talk with your friendly neighborhood Realtor; the person who is out there each and every day working with buyers and sellers.

Let me begin by describing four of my recent real estate transactions:

• Wash Park:  Successfully represented buyer in multiple offer negotiations.  Two days on the market and under contract for $5,000 above list price.
• Littleton:  Successfully represented buyers in bidding war competing against 4 other buyers with similarly priced offers.
• Castle Rock:  Represented sellers in bidding war.  After 4 days on the market my clients received 8 offers, all over asking price.  Final negotiations resulted with a purchase price 9.6% over list price.   Interestingly, I sold this house to the sellers two years earlier.  The home appreciated 30% during that short period of time.
• Centennial:  Represented seller with one of the nicest houses in the neighborhood.  Successfully negotiated a record high sale price (price per square foot) for the neighborhood.  Actually, we smashed the previous record by 7.5%.  Only 7 days on market!

These four examples demonstrate two points. First, it is absolutely a fantastic time to be a seller.  Homes are selling quickly, for top dollar and with terms favorable to the seller.  Secondly, buyer demand is far outpacing the supply of homes for sale.  While it may be frustrating to be a buyer, hiring an experienced Realtor can mean the difference between getting your dream home at a fair price or watching another buyer beat you out.

Buyer demand is expected to remain strong through the upcoming summer.  Employment and wage rates are improving, Denver’s economy is one of the strongest in the nation, mortgage lender standards are loosening, consumer confidence is high and interest rates remain in the upper 3’s.

Let’s take a look at the real estate stats for February compared to the same period in 2014 (see chart below).  From my firsthand experience, the stats seem to indicate that the trends I saw are occurring throughout the metro area:

• Number of homes for sale decrease by 25% (the supply of homes is tight)
• Homes under contract increased by 7% (even with tight supply, buyer demand remains strong)
• Homes sold down by 10% (as a result of there being fewer homes for sale)
• Days on market decrease by 25%
• Average sold price increase by 17% to $344,796

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