February Denver MSA Home Sales and Median Prices

April 7, 2009

The Denver region posted its second-lowest home sales tally for any month in at least 11 years in February amid record-low new-home sales. The median price paid for all homes combined rose slightly from January but fell short of the year-ago mark for the 28th consecutive month, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 2,561 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Denver-Aurora metro area in February. That was up 5.6 percent from January but down 14.0 percent from a year earlier, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records

The 2,561 new and resale homes sold in February marked the lowest total for any February and the second-lowest total for any month since at least January 1998, when DataQuick's complete (all home types) statistics begin for the Denver region. However, it's mainly the result of a dearth of new-home sales, which were at a record-low 297 in February, down 39.4 percent from a year ago. February sales of existing single-family (detached) houses fell just 6.1 percent from last year, while resale condo sales declined 20.6 percent.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined in February was $179,970. That was up 5.9 percent from January but down 14.3 percent from a year earlier. February's median was 27.3 percent lower than the peak $247,569 median of June 2006.

Another price gauge - the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family (detached) houses - rose slightly to $115 in February, up from $110 in January but still 12 percent lower than a year ago. February's figure was 30.8 percent below the $166 peak price paid per square foot in summer 2006.

In neighboring Boulder County, total February home sales rose 13.4 percent above January to 211, but that was still 24.6 percent below a year earlier. The median price paid for all new and resale homes combined dropped to $268,000, down 1.2 percent from January and down 6.3 percent from a year earlier. The median has fallen on a year-over-year basis for eight consecutive months and is 18.8 percent below the peak $330,000 median of September 2006.

DataQuick's Denver MSA statistics reflect sales in Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson and Park counties (see MSA exclusions below).

Denver-Aurora, CO MSA*

Number of sales	Feb-08	Feb-09	%Chng
Resale houses	1,997	1,875	-6.10%
Resale condos	490	389	-20.60%
New homes	490	297	-39.40%
All homes	2,977	2,561	-14.00%

Median sale price	Feb-08	Feb-09	%Chng
Resale houses	$208,000	$187,500	-9.90%
Resale condos	$118,000	$110,000	-6.80%
New homes	$340,805	$299,900	-12.00%
All homes	$209,950	$179,970	-14.30%

*Data not available for Elbert and Gilpin counties, which are part of the Denver-Aurora MSA

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157