Colorado home buyers gain more power as market slows

Colorado’s housing market stagnated in July, with sold listings remaining nearly flat despite active listings climbing 24% statewide.

At the same time, the median sale price crept up 1%, while days on market increased 22%, and months supply of inventory climbed 36% from July 2023, according to this month’s Market Trends Housing Report from the Colorado Association of Realtors.

Statewide statistics for July:

• Active listings 26,373, up 24% from 21,348 in July 2023
• New listings 11,625, up 8% from 10,728 in July 2023
• Pending/under contract listings 8,267, up 4% from 7,983 in July 2023
• Sold listings nearly flat at 7,891 compared to 7,892 in July 2023
• Median sale price up 1% at $550,000 from $543,983 in July 2023
• Months’ supply of inventory 3.8, up 36% from 2.8 in July 2023
• Days on market 45, up 22% from 37 in July 2023

With more inventory, buyers have more opportunities to negotiate, which forces sellers to reduce prices and offer concessions.

“Buyers today have more inventory to choose from than they’ve had in the past 10 years,” said Boulder-area realtor Kelly Moye.

“Sellers are increasingly willing to negotiate, make repairs, offer concessions, and consider contingent offers to close deals. This presents a remarkable opportunity for buyers to make moves that may have been unattainable for a long time.”

Denver-Douglas County-area realtor Cooper Thayer said more than 54% of closed listings had seller concessions at an average value of $10,540, which was primarily used to pay for rate buydowns or other closing costs.

“To combat the reduction of buyer demand stemming from affordability pressures, seller concessions have continued to be a major factor in many transactions over the past few months,” Thayer said.

According to Fort Collins-area realtor Chris Hardy, sellers have been forced to be more flexible in closing sales.

“July’s housing data in Fort Collins shows continued pressure on sellers to adjust price, negotiate concessions, and wait just a little bit longer for their homes to go under contract.”