Brendan Winans -- Previews International

Sales of million-dollar homes highest level since last October

DENVER, Colo. - May 27, 2009 - The Denver metro area luxury housing market continued to show some encouraging signs in April with sales of million-dollar homes rising to their highest level since October, according to a new report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Colorado's leading provider of real estate services.

A total of 49 luxury properties changed hands in April, up from 36 in March and the highest level since last October, when 52 million-dollar homes sold in the Denver area. However, sales were still considerably below the 76 luxury homes that sold in the same month a year ago. The $1.33 million median sale price last month was 4.5 percent below the median price in March and 5.4 percent below April 2008.

"Between sales picking up and a decline in available inventory, we continued to see some improvement last month in the high-end housing market in the metro area," said Chris Mygatt, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Colorado. "It's too early to say for sure that we've turned the corner, but from all indications business certainly seems to be picking up in the luxury market."

Mygatt said there appears to be a growing sentiment - from the news media to consumers themselves - that the housing market has bottomed out. In addition, he said the stabilization of the financial markets, along with improvement in the stock market, seem to be triggering more positive attitudes among buyers.

"We are seeing increased activity in many of our communities," Mygatt said. "We've been getting good turnouts of potential buyers at open houses, and there seems to be more serious buyers out there. I think people understand that this buyer's market and the extremely low interest rates won't last forever. This seems to be prompting more and more people to get off the sidelines and jump into the market while prices and rates are still low."

As with the luxury end of the market, the overall housing market in the Denver metro area has also shown signs of improving. MetroList, metro Denver's multiple listing service, reported that the number of all homes sold in the region last month rose 5.74 percent to 3,390 units. Home prices were also up. The median price of a single-family home was up 3 percent to $210,000 while the median price for a condo rose 1.2 percent to $130,000.

Some key findings from this month's Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage luxury report:

• The most expensive sale in the Denver metro area in April was a five-bedroom, six-bath, 7,299-square-foot home in Denver that sold for $4.35 million;
• Denver boasted the most million-dollar sales in April with 13, followed by Boulder with 10;
• It took an average of 146 days to sell a million-dollar home in the Denver metro area, up from 130 the previous month;
• Homes sold for an average of 85 percent of their asking price, down from 89 percent in March.

The April Denver Metro Area Luxury Home Report is the latest monthly report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a specialist in high-end real estate sales. Through its internationally renowned Coldwell Banker Previews® program, the company is recognized around the world for its expertise in the luxury housing market. The figures were derived from Multiple Listing Service data of all homes sold for more than $1 million.

Median price and sales of million-dollar homes jump last month

DENVER, Colo. - April 23, 2009 - The Denver metro area luxury housing market showed some signs of improvement in March, with both home sales and median prices of million-dollar properties bouncing back from February lows, according to a new report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Colorado's leading provider of real estate services.

The median price of a luxury home in the region jumped to $1.39 million last month, up 10 percent from the February median of $1.26 million and about even with last year's median. In addition, a total of 36 homes sold for more than $1 million in March, up from just 28 in February. However, sales were off from the March 2008 level of 73 units.

"While we're not out of the woods yet when it comes to the nation's economy or the housing market, we are beginning to see some very encouraging signs in the local real estate market, including the upper end," said Chris Mygatt, president and chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Colorado. "We've been seeing more serious buyers at open homes, more offers being written on properties, and for the first time in quite a while, sales are moving higher."

Mygatt said it appears that buyers are becoming more confident that the housing market is beginning to bottom out, and they are feeling more positive about the overall direction of the economy, including real estate. He added that the recent rebound in the stock market has also been encouraging to home buyers, especially in the higher end market.

"I think people are finally realizing that this is a unique window of opportunity when mortgage rates are at historic lows and home prices are lower than they have been in many, many years," he said. "That combination has created some outstanding values for buyers. It's prompting a lot of people to get off the fence and jump into the market before prices and interest rates start heading higher again as they inevitably do."

As with the luxury end of the market, the overall housing market in the Denver area has recently been showing some signs of life. MetroList, the Greenwood Village Multiple Listing Service, reported that total sales of existing homes, including single-family houses and condominiums, for March were up 29 percent from February to 3,206 units. Average sale prices were also up 6.6 percent from February to $232,395. However, both sales and prices were off from the same period a year ago.

Some key findings from this month's Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage luxury report:

• The most expensive sale in the Denver metro area in March was a five-bedroom, seven-bath, 9,241-square-foot home in Castle that sold for $3,767,413;
• Denver boasted the most million-dollar sales in March with 11, followed by Castle with six;
• It took an average of 130 days to sell a million-dollar home in the Denver metro area, the same as a year ago;
• Homes sold for an average of 89 percent of their asking price, up from 86 percent in February but down from 94 percent a year ago.

The March Denver Metro Area Luxury Home Report is the fourth monthly report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a specialist in high-end real estate sales. Through its internationally renowned Coldwell Banker Previews® program, the company is recognized around the world for its expertise in the luxury housing market. The figures were derived from Multiple Listing Service data of all homes sold for more than $1 million.

About Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a leading residential real estate brokerage company in Colorado, operates 19 offices with more than 1,970 sales associates serving the communities of the Denver area. The company offers residential and commercial brokerage, corporate relocation and mortgage services. Through its internationally renowned Coldwell Banker Previews program, the company is widely recognized for its expertise in the luxury housing market. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, online at www.ColoradoHomes.com, is part of NRT LLC, the nation's largest residential real estate brokerage company. NRT, a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, operates Realogy's company-owned real estate brokerage offices. For more information please visitwww.ColoradoHomes.com or call 888.322.9378.

Here are the most recent sold properties for the Superior location. This graph drastically illustrates the importance of intelligent pricing. A couple of these were bank owned or short sales, however you will see their time on market is drastically longer than what is the average for the area.

Average DOM (days on market) for the Superior CO. location is about 50 days. As you can see, pricing too high from the start will drastically change the time spent on market.

If you or anyone you know has questions about the Superior Market, please give me a call.

2009 is going to be a good year!

Wow, it isn't even here yet and 2009 is already looking to be a good year! Staying busy over the holidays is starting to pay off! Yet another one of my listings went under contract in under 30 days! (not trying to brag or anything but.... OH YEAH!) ;)

I have a bunch of business lined up to start my year off right. What it can be attributed to is, essentially, my inability to sit still! Here is a list of how I kept busy.

• Any business that didn't HAVE to be put off, wasn't. (Hence how I was able to get one of my listings under contract on Christmas eve, and I still was able to spend time with my family!)
• I worked on my reactive/proactive marketing pieces. (JoAnna Siminerio wrote a great post on this entitled "Be an Active Pro by being "Pro"Active")
• I reorganized my business (Office, desk, files, computer files, etc.)
• Probably the most important one was that I established my goals and physically wrote them out (it's not enough to just think them). For more on Goal setting read my post on it entitled "The Importance Of Goal Setting--Make it Your Goal to Set Goals"

Ha ha ha... or should I say Ho Ho Ho!

I know I know, it's a silly title, and it probably shouldn't be taken to the extreme. After all, we realtors are humans too (though some refuse to believe it). We should be spending time with our families. It was Don Corleone that said "a man that never spends time with his family, can never truly be a man at all".

Who I'm really picking on though, are the people that practically take the entire season off, and then complain (or at the very least, wonder why) at the fact that they don't have any business and are starting from scratch this January.

Business inevitably slows down this time of year. It isn't dead though, there is still business to be had. However, rather than sitting all Scrooge-like and worrying about lack, why not be proactive in your marketing or advertising?

This season I've been using the "down-time" to get some "face-time". I recently started an ad campaign in the Rock Creek neighborhoods of Superior. I've sent out mail pieces advertising my most recent sale in the area (also mentioning the fact that I live in Rock Creek as well).

My listing at 2635 Clayton Cir. Sold after being on the market for only 25 days. Not only did it sell that quick, but it sold within 95% of the list price and 98% of the Realtor suggested list price.

It was not a short sale either! It was simply priced well, and marketed like crazy!

This has sparked some attention, and has allowed me to "line up" a considerable amount of work for the January-February time. I'll be too busy to complain (not that I would complain anyways) this coming year--Will you?

-Brendan Winans