While inventory is on the rise, so are prices. The average price of a single-family detached home in Denver Metro is $825,073, representing a 3.93 percent increase from last month. With consecutive months of increased fees and interest rates, a buyer’s monthly mortgage has also increased. The average close-price-to-list-price ratio in April for the detached market was 107.29 percent. With the increase in supply, the close-price-to-list-price ratio is how the market reacted a month ago.

The relationship between closed sales and month-end active inventory impacts the supply and demand of the market and, therefore, many other statistics, including average sales price. However, the most significant factor influencing the supply and demand of this market is interest rates. With many individuals refinancing due to low-interest rates on their house and interest rates north of five percent, there is a minimal financial incentive to move.

“While buyers may be thinking they overpaid if they bought two months ago, this is not the case,” commented Andrew Abrams, Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Metro Denver Realtor®. “They likely got a slightly lower interest rate, and the market is continuing to rise, just not as fast. In the chaos of the recent market, buyers had been waiving their inspections, doing full appraisal gaps, and even offering to make their earnest money non-refundable before getting an inspection. Now, we are shifting to a more responsible market. There will still be bidding wars, appraisal gaps, and limited inspection items on future properties, but those frequencies will be less.”

The increased interest rates are already impacting the amount of inventory sitting on the market. While Denver Metro is still relatively low in stock, the word “historic” is no longer applicable as there were 610 fewer properties on the market last year compared to today. The need usually sees an 8.59 percent increase in month-over-month inventory. This month, it saw an unprecedented 44.26 percent increase.