Is it a good time to invest? Good time to buy a house? Should I sell my assets? Hold onto my assets? Where is Denver real estate going? According to this Forbes report, “Denver and Salt Lake City are well-positioned to retake their crown as two of the fastest-rising metro areas in the US.”
It’s a no brainer, COVID-19 has been able to affect everything in different ways. Real estate is no different. But how badly has coronavirus affected Denver real estate in 2020.
PRE-COVID 2020
Before COVID began to affect the United States’ economy, Denver’s real estate was booming. Heading into the new year, the market was a healthy seller’s market. The Denver Metro Association of Realtors, DMAR, wrote in their March report that over 1,300 listings were successfully closed.
Real estate and economy experts predicted only positive perceptions for the upcoming 2020 market. The US economy was healthy; the GDP sat at 2.1% throughout the first three months. More jobs and businesses continued to grow in Denver, as well as other cities. Even the real estate day to day operations were positively growing. ShowingTime tracks the number of real estate showings weekly. Heading into our busiest and best season for Denver real estate market, showings gradually rose.
At the beginning of 2020, Denver was on route to breaking real estate sales and activity records.
What could go wrong? The first three months of 2020 were good; investors and experts were hopeful. But then, a growing tumor finally infested inside the walls of our land. A global pandemic.
COVID 19 // STAY AT HOME ORDER
Although some sources provide another date, the first official case reported of the virus entering the United States is on January 19, 2020. SARS-CoV-2 began its spread throughout the United States, affecting states at different rates.
The State of Colorado, and Denver especially, took great precautions and steps to help slow the spread of the viral disease. Governor Polis declared a disaster emergency on March 10th, which began Colorado’s fight against the pandemic. March 26th started the STAY-AT-HOME ORDERS.
On March 20, 2020, Governor Polis spoke about the plans ahead for handling the coronavirus and this economic crisis. With quick decision-making, the state set plans in action to help individuals from every classification. An emergency fund for unemployment and companies, low mortgage rates for loans dedicated to small business owners, a prolonged payment for property, sales, and use taxes.
Frederico Pena, Senior Advisor at Vestar Capital Partners, spoke after the Governor. He, along with teams of investors and companies, are creating ways to help stabilize our economy. He along with committees and sub-committees, were dedicated to creating new ideas to help form our Denver economy. From ColoradoPolitics, “Pena told reporters the council's focus will first be on workers and second on business, especially small businesses. ‘Speed is of the essence,’ he said, to help workers and companies that are struggling right now.”
As a Colorado prison reported a horrible spike of infected, along with a Greeley meat packing faculty, there is no doubt that SARS-CoV-2 is very present in our beautiful state. Using John Hopkins University tracker, Denver county alone has reported over 4,500 cases with 265 dead.
During the month of March, when quarantine began and an outbreak occurred, Denver real estate continued. 3,416 homes were available in the Denver area. 1,091 went under contract. 948 of them closed. 1,377 homes were available from 200k to 10 mil. There were low interests’ rates, low inventory, and high demand which equaled a strong seller’s market.
DMAR reported the number of active listings at the beginning of each month. In March, Denver had 4,835 listings, April had 5,776, and May was at 6,885. Although Stay-At-Home orders slowed showings, closing processes, and overall activity – Denver real estate listings gradually increased.
However, a slight increase in active listings does not portray an accurate depiction of Denver economy and the Denver real estate sector. Showings were drastically down. Closings were down. As certain states enforced lockdowns, unemployment cases rose. The Department of Labor reported 20.5 million cases in April alone, with the rate rising to 14.7%. They recognized that all employment dropped in every major industry sector. Economy experts reported the US GDP decrease, which stopped the longest period of growth.
The Denver real estate industry still pushed through, as it always has. This reporter even claims tremendous success. As real estate brokers adapted to virtual showings and closing processes, many came with the same conclusion: the need and desire of Denver housing is still substantial.
POST STAY-AT-HOME ORDER // SAFER-AT-HOME
As we all enter this next new phase, and warmer days come through, we all wonder – will it be okay? Will we hit another recession? I mean, in certain ways/perspectives, our current situation can already be viewed as a recession. However, statistically – the worst months have yet to come. Will it be as bad as some think?
We can throw out various statistics, numbers, predictions, and expert opinions to try and predict the future; however, we won’t know until we’re there. We can, however, depend on the current fundamentals for Denver real estate: low inventory, low interest rates, willing buyers. This alone should keep the market stabilized.
Nicole Rueth, a local Denver lender, summed up Denver’s housing market in this video. “Location, location, location” Rueth says in the video, “the same can be said about the impacts of COVID 19 across the states”. As many coastal cities will see a very negative impact in the months to come. Many experts predict that Denver’s housing market will prosper. ATTOM Data Solutions, US real estate experts, shared a webinar breaking down the most vulnerable US Housing Markets. Denver was no-where on the list. “The number of people thinking of moving is expected to drop, Denver has been in the longest standing seller’s market,” Reuth says, “It would make sense that the scales would tip to create a balance environment between buyers and sellers. Denver market consistently sees a high demand for homes.”
Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac have reported historically low-interest rates, giving buyers increased buying power. As MortgageReports wrote, we are not sure of what the rates will be in the summer. They could shoot up; they could stay low. But they are historically low now.
So yes, now is a great time to buy Denver real estate.
If you, or someone you know is looking for a home. Check out our great Denver townhomes on the market! Also be sure to check out Denver Developer’s upcoming projects via our main page, or contact us here for real estate opportunities available today.