Denver’s home sales market continued the ‘slow down’ trend seen for the last couple months in November.

Denver’s home sales market continued the “slow down” trend seen for the last couple months in November, according to the most recent Market Trends report from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.

But then again, real estate tends to slow in November and December as thoughts turn to holidays and shopping, experts agree.

Inventory levels continue to return to normal, and are actually more than double the number of homes available for sale in November 2021, according to the report.

The number of single family homes available for sale dropped by just over 16% from October to November. Attached homes, like townhouses or condos, meanwhile dropped by 8.9% monthover-month, according to the report.

But there is still a healthy increase in inventory — 216.62% year-over-year for detached homes and a 109.08% increase year-over-year for attached homes. There were 4,572 single family homes available for sale last month, versus 1,444 in 2021. There were 1,681 attached homes available in November, more than double the 804 available in November 2021.

It is normal to see an inventory decrease at this time of the year, which could be due to homeowners waiting until the new year to list or removing property listings before the holiday season.

In total, this means that residential real estate active listings stood at 6,253 at the end of November, down 14.22% from October, according to the report. The number of closings dropped 18.34% month-over-month, to 2,877. The average sale price of all product stood at $657,610, down slightly from October but up 4.66% year-over-year. Days spent on the market were up by 21.43% from last month, reaching an average of 34 days.

Increases in interest rates have a direct relation to the days a property stays on MLS, because the rate affects a buyer’s ability to afford homes, experts have said.

Close-price-to-list-price percentages for attached and detached properties only dropped by 0.40%.

“Ultimately, the spring market will be the best indicator of what the New Year will have in store for us,” Libby Levinson-Katz, chair of the association’s Market Trends Committee and metro Denver realtor, said in a news release. “While we expect to see the Denver real estate market continue to change through 2023 due to interest rates and inventory woes, it has continued to show strength and stability.”

Home values remain stable despite these changes. Due to the announcement of conforming loan limits for 2023, with the baseline loan limit of $647,200 increasing to $726,200 nationwide, there is more affordability and accessibility for homebuyers.

In the luxury market, or properties sold for $1 million or greater, there was a significant decrease in listings, with only 286 homes going on the market, according to the report. This is the largest drop in inventory from the prior month of all sectors. The luxury market homes that went under contract in November decreased by 18.75% and closed transactions decreased 13.12% monthover-month. The median days on the market increased by 50%, which equals up to 18 days for a detached home or 15 for an attached home.

The most expensive luxury property sold in the Denver metro in November was a modern home in Castle Rock for $6,340,000 and the most expensive active listing was a 15-acre property in Cherry Hills Village, listed for $28,888,888, according to the report.

“The luxury market statistics are no real surprise as many people travel during November and interest in real estate temporarily wanes,” Colleen Covell, Market Trends Committee member and metro Denver realtor, said in the release. “We need to ensure our sellers understand the ‘return-to-normal’ in our market and set their expectations that three to four weeks before going under contract is okay.”

The association uses data from the 11-county metro Denver area when it compiles its Market Trends Report.