Denver Housing Market Outperforms Other Cities with Minor Price Drop

At a time when housing prices continue to fall in the 20 major housing markets, Denver is outperforming them all. For November, 2008, the prices dropped only 1.1%, making it the best performer. For the 12 month period ending in November, all markets showed an average 18.2% decline; only Dallas, which showed a 3.3% decline, performed better in the last year than Denver, which showed a 4.3% drop. As expected, the worst performing cities were in California, along with Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Miami; Phoenix home prices declined 32.9%, while Las Vegas prices declined 31.6%.

The modest declines in home prices in Denver are in line with the track record for appreciation. Since January, 2000, typical Denver homes appreciated about 26.65% as compared to 76% in Los Angeles, 70% in Miami, 87% in New York , 66% in Seattle, and 30% in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

At a recent real estate forecast breakfast, Patty Silverstein, of Development Research Partners, offered several other hopeful predictions for the Denver economy. Though the area will lose some jobs, Denver should outperform the nation. The housing sector will see minor increases in sales accompanied by small price increases. This is possible, she said, because the market is not overbuilt. "We are building next to nothing. We are not plagued by an over-abundance of inventory like so many other places. And we never had the roller coaster rise and fall of prices other place saw."

The Denver real estate market offers great values for buyers, notes Chris Behrens of Urban Thrive Real Estate. He notes a trend for buyers to seek out qualified realtors to help them in their search. The current market has seen many brokers leaving the business due to the economy. According to Behrens, "buyers are turning to a core group of knowledgeable people to help them find and evaluate properties."

The Bandy Home Team is among that group of seasoned realtors who can lead you to the best real estate deals in the Denver area. We back our knowledge with excellent service - a winning combination.

Marianne Bandy

Parker CO Homes and Real Estate