Sales of million-dollar homes highest level since last October

DENVER, Colo. - May 27, 2009 - The Denver metro area luxury housing market continued to show some encouraging signs in April with sales of million-dollar homes rising to their highest level since October, according to a new report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Colorado's leading provider of real estate services. 

A total of 49 luxury properties changed hands in April, up from 36 in March and the highest level since last October, when 52 million-dollar homes sold in the Denver area. However, sales were still considerably below the 76 luxury homes that sold in the same month a year ago. The $1.33 million median sale price last month was 4.5 percent below the median price in March and 5.4 percent below April 2008.

"Between sales picking up and a decline in available inventory, we continued to see some improvement last month in the high-end housing market in the metro area," said Chris Mygatt, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Colorado. "It's too early to say for sure that we've turned the corner, but from all indications business certainly seems to be picking up in the luxury market."

Mygatt said there appears to be a growing sentiment - from the news media to consumers themselves - that the housing market has bottomed out. In addition, he said the stabilization of the financial markets, along with improvement in the stock market, seem to be triggering more positive attitudes among buyers.

"We are seeing increased activity in many of our communities," Mygatt said. "We've been getting good turnouts of potential buyers at open houses, and there seems to be more serious buyers out there. I think people understand that this buyer's market and the extremely low interest rates won't last forever. This seems to be prompting more and more people to get off the sidelines and jump into the market while prices and rates are still low."

As with the luxury end of the market, the overall housing market in the Denver metro area has also shown signs of improving. MetroList, metro Denver's multiple listing service, reported that the number of all homes sold in the region last month rose 5.74 percent to 3,390 units. Home prices were also up. The median price of a single-family home was up 3 percent to $210,000 while the median price for a condo rose 1.2 percent to $130,000.

Some key findings from this month's Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage luxury report:

• The most expensive sale in the Denver metro area in April was a five-bedroom, six-bath, 7,299-square-foot home in Denver that sold for $4.35 million;
• Denver boasted the most million-dollar sales in April with 13, followed by Boulder with 10;
• It took an average of 146 days to sell a million-dollar home in the Denver metro area, up from 130 the previous month;
• Homes sold for an average of 85 percent of their asking price, down from 89 percent in March.

The April Denver Metro Area Luxury Home Report is the latest monthly report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a specialist in high-end real estate sales. Through its internationally renowned Coldwell Banker Previews® program, the company is recognized around the world for its expertise in the luxury housing market. The figures were derived from Multiple Listing Service data of all homes sold for more than $1 million.