We are not talking about the Tour de France, however, if you are keeping up with the “Tour” it is something continually tried in the US without economic success. We’ve even had the “Red Zinger” here in Colorado. We are talking about Real Estate and home tours. Last weekend, we showed out of town, relocation buyers 17 homes in 2 days. They learned volumes, and we learned a full text book about what they are looking for in their home.

A question I always like to ask is, “Do you envision yourself living in this home?” It is clear, concise, and cogent to the process at hand. If the answer is yes, the follow up is, “Why?” If the answer is no, the follow up is, “Why?” Either way, it is a gentle process of elimination. If it is the neighborhood, we don’t need to come back. If it is the house without a main-level primary bedroom, we don’t need to look at another 2-story home without a main level primary bedroom. On and on, and on we go. When we had completed those 17 showings, we had 2 keepers and a possible third. We had a half a dozen communities we didn’t need to spend anymore time in. And so it goes.

As the Tour de France goes on and on for a month, sometimes a home search can reach 82 properties and several months. The Tour de Maison is serious business. I could argue THE most serious business. That next home predicts who you will meet down the block, who your children will meet at school and what external factors drive values long term in the neighborhood. It’s very important! You should have the best advice available for guidance.

So, let’s take a quick look at this week’s MLS Activity.

Denver Market Watch
New Listing (1805) Right back up there! After last week’s dip, this is relatively high.
Coming Soon (192)
Back On Market (328)
Price Increase (111)
Price Decrease (2924) Price reductions have become the rigor of this marketplace!
Pending (1354) This is not a bad week, but not keeping up with new offerings.
Withdrawn (292)
Leased (0)
Closed (1091) Only average and when compared with new listings, little or no help.
Expired (443)

As you can observe above, we are clearly in summer malaise right now. One week we move towards balance, and the next we move toward over supply. In the long run, if this continues, we will see significant price adjustments toward the negative side.

Now, what is new on the supply side. This week’s Total Active Listings has spiked to 11,565, up almost 200 additional listings active over last week.

Here’s a more distant comparison to take us into the last real estate recession of 2008. This chart includes all residential types not just Single Family as I normally report.

This indicates the drama of 2008 into 10, 11, and 12 as compared to today. Also, today we are a much larger Metro Area by about 1 Million, and the state now approached 6 Million residents. Anyway, since this movement is of much softer curves than 2008-2009, maybe we’ve been the frog in the pot fable. We have to admit it is upon us. We have to prepare our sellers to price new listings below the market, we have to prepare our buyers for being a buyer in a buyer’s market, and managing that risk.

With 2,900 price reductions in the last week, we are clearly having a seismic shift in the Denver Marketplace.

Stick with us through this cycle, you’ll have the ability to lean in on our experience. You can always reach us at TheCryerTeam@Kentwood.com …tc