Market Overview
May flowers — and May listings. The month had an influx of homes for sale, which bolstered inventory to its highest level since 2014.

Simultaneously, buyer demand slowed, which was sooner than usual but could pick up again. Traditionally, prices increase from January through June, and demand is strong through June and steady through July and August.

Note for Home Sellers
I anticipate more inventory through the summer, which, in turn, leads to more competition, softening prices, and price reductions. Pricing a home at or below market value is so important, instead of pricing it above market value, allowing for “wiggle room,” and dropping the price to where it should have been but then dealing with the stigma of a “stale” listing.

Note for Home Buyers
Please see the first sentence in the above paragraph!

I’ve seen — with my own clients and with the market overall — that buyers are requesting concessions and getting them, either to pay for some or all of their closing costs or to buy down their interest rate to a lower rate. Sellers also are more willing to address inspection issues to close deals.

Multiple Offers … or Not
As I wrote last month, I've noticed about half of all properly priced single-family homes went under contract within their first week on the market — with some receiving multiple offers. Meanwhile, the other half often lingered on the market for 30 to 60 days. Again, the proper listing price and specific location — city, zip code, or neighborhood — matter.

Inventory
My monthly mantra: I believe Months Supply of Inventory is a true yardstick of the real estate market. A "balanced" market has at least three months and up to six months of supply available. In other words, if, starting today, no sellers were to list their home for sale, then — according to the definition of a balanced market — all the for-sale homes would sell in three to six months.

That figure was 2.3 months in May, a 24.7% month-over-month increase and a 66% year-over-year increase. Wow.

Tidbits

• May had nearly 6,000 homes actively for sale — a 53% increase from May 2023.

• The median sales price in the metro-Denver area is now $695,000, nearly 4% higher than in May 2023.

• The average number of days to receive an offer was 24, down 11% from April. That falls in line to the information above about multiple offers: Homes go quickly or they sit for a while.

Note: Days on market can be skewed by how the MLS processes new-construction homes.