Denver Home Prices Up 2.8%

In the 3rd quarter S&P/Case-Shiller Index Report it revealed that Denver has had the 3rd best performing real estate market in the country when compared to 19 other large metropolitan areas. Here in the Denver MSA our prices have only dropped 5.4% in the last 12 months. Many large cities have seen double digit price drops with some markets seeing drops of over 25% in the last year.

However, since March 2008, which was our lowest reading for the year, prices have INCREASED 2.8%. WOW! I bet you did not know that.

In their quarterly reports S&P/Case-Shiller breaks out their data by price ranges as well, which is very helpful. Here is what I learned--

Homes priced under $212,570--
* Prices are down 6.8% in the last year.
* Prices are up 5.4% since March 2008

Homes priced between $212,571-$317,033
* Prices are down 4.8% in the last year
* Prices are up 4.2% since March 2008

Homes priced above $317,033
* Prices are down 5.4% in the last year
* Prices are up just 1.3% since March 2008

This data tells us that lower priced homes are peforming the best in the last 6 months, the 2nd and 3rd quarter. For the highest priced homes, the market appears to be softening in the last 6 months when compared to the previous 6 months. This is probably due to the difficulty of getting a mortgage as home prices rise above $439,000 (conforming loan amount of $417,000/95% LTV).

A second good sign is that inventory levels are dropping which should help cause prices to rise. Currently, we are seeing some of our lowest inventory levels in 3 years.