Home sellers throughout metro Denver recently enjoyed a multi-year run of good fortune. Offers to buy their properties were fast and meeting their listing prices. The seller’s market was booming.
Last summer shifted that longtime advantage. The boom is bordering on a bust. Sellers now find themselves forced to agree with offers below the original price. Their market is showing signs of significant wear and tear.
A Buyer’s Market May Be Waiting in The Wings
The Denver Metro Association of Realtors reveals that 60 percent of January 2019 home sales were below the initial asking price. A mere 17.3 percent sold for more. According to listing site Zillow, the previous year saw 35.4 percent of homes selling for above the list price.
While the trend is nationwide, the local Denver market seems to be hit harder than most.
Realistic pricing based on thorough research seems to be the rule in the deterioration of the advantages sellers once had. However, a softening market with ever-changing, comparative data could make the most reasonable price seem unreasonable to buyers.
Agents also basing their advice on realism helps set expectations for sellers. The difference may be as simple as real estate professionals telling their clients what they need to hear versus what they want to hear. “Pie in the sky” promises lead to underdelivering, frustrated sellers, and listings that go beyond their “freshness date.”
The real estate market is a continuous roller coaster with some peaks and valleys more extreme than the others. Additionally, complex laws do little to make the transactional side any easier.