Record Heat in Denver slows real estate to a crawl

Record Heat in Denver slows real estate to a crawl - Fortunately anyone that has been here for any length of time knows that these heat waves are only temporary and soon we will be enjoying the cool crisp evenings on the patio again, and some will even want to bring a sweater. But for now, we are in record setting territory - 5 straight days of 100 plus temperatures including yesterdays all time record tying high of 105.

I remember years ago when I owned a retail sporting goods store, we had a similar heat wave and nobody was out shopping. I was comparing the trends for the previous season and we were at least 75% below the year before (and overall we were up 20%) so I knew something was up. Then I recalled the owner of a liquor store I managed told me, "only one thing really effects people negatively when it comes to buying alcohol, when people are in mourning they drink, when they are happy they drink, when they are celebrating they drink and this is why he loved the business. The one thing that always effects the sale of alcohol is severe temperature changes and in Denver anytime the temperature hits 100, even the liquor business suffers, people just don't want to do anything.

My searches for my buyers would indicate that this is very true. I have at least a 18-20 searches for buyers on any given day, and typically I sift and sort through 25-30 listings on to see if the perfect home is out there for my clients. However since last Friday when this heat wave began, I have only seen 9 new homes come on the market, almost exactly 75% below what I was seeing before the heat.

Sellers please take note, drastic swings in temperature will take a toll on the number of showings, and buyers keep in mind that nobody (except for a very few) will be putting their home on the market during this extreme heat, unless it lasts for a week or more, people tend to get back into the swing of things when things stay constant, and yes we will get used to the heat.

Coupling the heat with the worst fire season on record and we are filled with hot and smoky days, irritating the allergy sensitive, making for runny noses and itchy eyes. I am not complaining, many residents have had to leave their homes and over 200 homes have burned to the ground, so I am very fortunate indeed.

I have all the confidence that when this little wave is over we will see a jump in the number of homes on the market. Many who have waited and many who have said, I need  a different home if this is what summers are like in Colorado (they are not) and even the very rare person who says I cant stand Colorado the place is too hot!

Hell, even I was affected by the heat. A friend came to town for a couple days and called me this morning to see if I wanted to go golfing. I never turn down golfing (look at my profile), but lo an behold before I could stop myself I told him "No, it is too damn hot even too golf!"