According to the a recent market trends report from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors Market, the median sale price in metro Denver rose 38.5 percent from March 2020 to April 2022, to $616,500. By March of this year, the median sale price had dropped to $599,000 indicating Denver's residential real estate is not as hot as it once was. That number still reflects a 6.92 percent annual appreciation over the last five years compared to pre-pandemic numbers, however.
“The balancing of the market has occurred with lower buyer demand, higher levels of inventory and stagnation in pricing,” Amanda Snitker, chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee, wrote in the March report.
In fact, Denver had one of the highest jumps in inventory nationwide between February and March 2025 and is the thirteenth most friendly market to buyers right now, according to DMAR, while Colorado Springs ranks fifth and Boulder ranks tenth.
New listings in metro Denver jumped 32.47 percent from February to March of this year, with 6,373 new listings added to the market. Compare that to 2020, when just 6,666 listings debuted during the entire first quarter of the year, according to DMAR. (The record low for March was set in 2021, when just 1,921 listings were on the Denver market in total.)
According to Andrew Abrams, a Guide Real Estate broker and DMAR market trends committee member, the large uptick in inventory this March is a return to normal.
“Everyone has a relatively short memory, so as things had sped up and we had historically low inventory. That felt normal, and it was like, ‘Oh, yeah, why would houses not always go up by 10 percent a year?'” Abrams says. “Right now, when we're seeing more properties on the market, — I've heard from not just clients, but people who are seeing a lot of signs out there or seeing them last a lot longer — that adjustment feels new, but it's actually much more historically normal than what we had seen during those three years of really intense appreciation.”
New listings in metro Denver are approaching pre-pandemic numbers.
Denver Metro Association of Realtors
Sharp Increase in Homes for Sales Brings Stagnation
DMAR data shows increased inventory has led to a stagnant metro Denver real estate market, which is still seeing fewer sales than before the pandemic. In 2020, 12,065 properties sold through March. This year, only 8,687 properties sold through March despite higher inventory numbers. Prices have stagnated, as well. Detached homes were priced at around $371 per square foot in March, a decrease of 2.62 percent from the month before and a 0.8 decrease compared to March 2024.
Along with inventory and pricing leveling out, over two years of consistently high interest rates have impacted Denver’s housing market. In 2020, the average interest rate for a thirty-year fixed mortgage was around 3 percent. By 2022 that number had surged to about 7 percent and has remained there, according to DMAR.
Abrams says interest rates staying high for so long has convinced buyers holding out for lower rates to jump into the market.
"In 2024, I think people had the hopes that interest rates would go down and they were waiting for the right time, and now they've accepted things are the way they are,” he says.
What More Power Gives Denver Home Buyers
Market conditions this year have different implications for buyers and sellers, Abrams says, but the key for both groups is being realistic and patient. No home is perfect, so taking the time to find the right fit is something buyers can afford to do right now.Abrams says buyers should also not compromise too much on inspection items.
“That's where buyers in this market can really make sure that they're getting what they need to feel comfortable moving in on day one, where, in the past, sellers would say, ‘Well, we have three other buyers lined up,’” he says.
Right now, sellers are more inclined to compromise than they have been the last few years when inventory was lower.
“If your house has got some stranger floor plan, or isn't as updated, or is on a busy street, or even a condo, there was such limited inventory that people were willing to make more sacrifices,” Abrams says. “Today, because things are sitting and there's just more options out there, if your property doesn't conform to what the majority of buyers want, you not only have to have more realistic expectations but almost offset that by making a deal for a buyer to be incentivized to write an offer on their property.”
Abrams suggests that home owners who need to sell fast can list on the lower end of what they might net to entice buyers with other options, while those who have time to wait can still list at a higher price.
