If you would like to walk through a home currently on the market, you’ll need to be under contract first – yep, you read that right. If you would like to list your home on the market, you will need to stage it yourself and take your own photos as professional home staging and photography are non-essential business activities. Such has been the way of real estate for the past few weeks as a result of our local governments’ efforts to keep everyone safe and reduce the spread of covid-19.
Incredibly, our market continues to march forward, but at a much slower pace. On average over the past five years, April brings about 384 homes on the market in central Denver (click for map). Currently, there are 294 homes available, and we expect to see more in the final week of the month. Considering that a buyer must first be under contract to physically walk through a home, in-person showings have obviously dropped off significantly, about 81% compared to recent pre-covid numbers; however, online views are up about five times their average.
Homes are still going under contract and selling even with the restrictions. Ninety-one homes have gone under contract and 128 have closed in the past three weeks in central Denver. Prices appear to be holding steady, but we are not seeing the usual spring frenzy price escalation. We won’t know the true effect of the pandemic on home prices, if any, until we start seeing closing prices for homes that went under contract during the restrictions.
Lack of inventory has been the primary reason for our market’s phenomenal price appreciation over the past eight years. Never have there been fewer Denver homes on the market in April than there are now. Our expectation from city officials is that in-person showings will resume with restrictions early next month. Given the extraordinary number of online home tours, we expect the seasonal frenzy will start in earnest shortly after the easing of showing restrictions.