Denver Region August Home Sales

The number of Denver-area homes sold in August fell sharply from both July and a year earlier. The median price paid edged down slightly from July and remained lower than a year ago for the 34th consecutive month, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 3,989 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Denver-Aurora metro area in August (see below for included counties). That was down 15.7 percent from July and down 13.6 percent from a year earlier, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records

August's sales total was the lowest for that month since at least 1998, when DataQuick's complete Denver-area stats begin. Among home-type categories, resales of condos fell the least - 2.9 percent - from a year ago. Sales of both existing (not new) single-family detached houses and of all new homes (single-family and condos combined) were at record lows for an August.

The 15.7 percent drop in total August sales compared with July was the second-greatest decline between those two months since 1998, behind a 16.3 percent July-to-August decrease last year. On average, Denver-area sales have fallen 3.6 percent between those two months.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos that closed escrow in August was $210,000, down 1.4 percent from July and down 2.3 percent from a year earlier. August's median was 15.2 percent lower than the peak $247,569 median of June 2006.

Another price gauge - the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses - fell to $134 in August, down from $135 in July but up 4.8 percent from a year ago. July's 4.0 percent increase over a year ago had marked the first year-over-year gain in 35 months. August's figure was 19.5 percent lower than the peak $166 median paid per square foot in summer 2006.

A popular form of financing used by first-time home buyers - government-insured FHA loans - accounted for 49.4 percent of all August purchases, while absentee buyers purchased 21.1 percent of all homes sold, based on an analysis of public property records. Absentee buyers are often investors, but could include second-home buyers and others who, for various reason, stated at the time of sale that their property tax bill would be sent to a different address.

In neighboring Boulder County, 495 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in August, down 0.6 percent from July and down 16.1 percent from a year earlier. The median price paid for all Boulder County homes combined was $289,950 in August, down 1.8 percent from July and down 0.2 percent from $290,500 a year earlier. The August 2009 median stood 12.1 percent below the peak $330,000 median reached in September 2006.

DataQuick's Denver MSA statistics reflect sales in Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson and Park counties (see MSA exclusions below).

Denver-Aurora, CO MSA*

Number of sales	Aug-08	Aug-09	%Chng
Resale houses	3,317	2,870	-13.50%
Resale condos	763	741	-2.90%
New homes	537	378	-29.60%
All homes	4,617	3,989	-13.60%

Median sale price	Aug-08	Aug-09	%Chng
Resale houses	$219,000	$219,950	0.40%
Resale condos	$129,000	$140,000	8.50%
New homes	$362,939	$278,000	-23.40%
All homes	$215,000	$210,000	-2.30%