Housing market taking a turn in Denver metro area

Buying a home in the Denver metro area has been tough for a while now.  A lack of available homes led to soaring prices, bidding wars and houses being purchased immediately after listing. 

Now, according to a June trends report recently released by the Denver Metro Association of Realtors, there are 7.1% more homes for sale this year compared to this time last year. 

Andrew Abrams, the Committee Chair for the Denver Metro Association of Realtors and the owner of Guide Real Estate says the reason for that is twofold. 

"Interest rates have gone up, which has decreased buyer demand. And the other one is just the seasonality of the market," he said. 

This time of year, demand for houses usually dips, but this year it is a little more pronounced. Andrew says that could be bad news for sellers. 

"Listings will sit on the market a little bit longer prices may even go down a little bit. And I think sellers have to be realistic about their price," he said. 

However, it's good news for first time home buyers struggling to find a place. 

"That might actually create an opportunity for them to get into the market and start building equity," he said. 

While inventory may be up, Andrew says that doesn't mean the Denver metro real estate market is cooling drastically. 

"What we expect to see is for it to be a little flat or even go down just a little bit," he said. "So, it won't be anything dramatic, but it'll be relatively stable. Hopefully for the remainder of the year and then starting in January we'll see it pick back up." 

There's been a lot of reports that people are moving out of Colorado and that's why there are more homes available. The Andrew says they haven't seen that in their industry. In fact, they've seen as many people moving to Colorado as are moving away.