While a slight drop in a surging luxury home market was expected as holidays approached, the market in the Denver area saw marked increases in the month of November. December is also looking very strong so far. Although the market is experiencing a slight decline in luxury home sales after the boom in October, the number of houses sold has still climbed significantly over where it was last year. Things continue to look food for luxury owners in the Denver area.
Continued Increases
Following a busy October month, many experts expected a decline in luxury home sales due to the realities of the market. However, while the number of home sales did drop from 92 in October to 81 in November, they still finished well ahead of the 68 total sales that November 2013 saw. This marks the second year in a row that there has been late-year growth over the previous November, since the total number of Denver luxury home sales in November of 2012 was only 58. This most recent jump, however, is notable for its size, marking a 19% increase over what the market saw just one year ago. It is also remarkable considering the growth the luxury market as a whole has seen in 2014.
Interesting Trends
For the purposes of this survey, a luxury home is any residence that has a price tag of $1 million or more. In this regard, the average sale price of a home actually dropped by $2,500 over a year ago, although the median sale still clocks in at over $1.3 million. Even with the small price drop, that means that the total amount of money spent on luxury homes reached almost $120 billion in the month of November. The majority of these homes sold came from Denver itself, although Boulder, Castle Rock, and Greenwood Village all had multiple sales as well.
A Look into the Future
The fact that luxury home sales have managed to remain brisk even as the holidays approach could be a sign that the United States economy, which has been struggling for the past few years, may be on the rebound. Other economic signs seem to agree with this conclusion, such as the fact that the US added more than 321,000 jobs in November. Alternately, it may be that people have planned with an eye on getting their home sales out of the way by the end of the year, either for tax or convenience purposes. Regardless of the details, it seems like everybody wins in this market. Sellers can move their property more easily, while buyers can usually get a better deal than they could in the past.
According to numerous industry insiders, open houses and other real estate events are still seeing a lot of interest even as the end of 2014 comes near. With all signs pointing to a stronger than normal end of the year market, it looks like 2014 will be a tough year to top when it comes to the luxury market.