Good News: More Sales from Denver Foreclosure Listings
May 8th, 2009 by 
Joseph Smith
News of home sales from Denver foreclosure listings in the first months of 2009 has been very encouraging.
In April, sales of condominiums in the Denver metro area rose by 11 percent from March levels, outpacing single family house sales, which improved by only about 5 percent.
According to Metrolist Inc., which handles foreclosed homes list and the city’s Multiple Listing Service in the area, total house sales rose in April by 5.74 percent to 3,390 units, compared to March. But when compared to April 2008, total home sales fell by 20.5 percent.
All the figures were for sales of previously owned homes, including units from foreclosure listings.
Sales of condos increased in April to 684 units, compared to the 616 units sold in March. In March, the pace of sales increase was 29.4 percent, compared to February.
Condo sales prices also improved, with the median price increasing to $130,000, a rise of 1.17 percent from March. About 58 percent of the condos were sold in the price range of $110,000 to $300,000.
Even so, compared to April last year, condo sales fell by 25 percent and the median sales price dropped by 3.35 percent.
Meanwhile, single-family house sales increased from March levels by 4.48 percent in April to 2,706 units, with the median sales price rising to $210,000, a jump of 2.97 percent. A little over 58 percent of the single-family house sales were priced between $110,000 and $300,000, based on data from Re/Max Professionals.
Compared to April 2008, single-family house sales declined by 19.3 percent, with the median sales price dropping by 5.64 percent.
Another positive sign in the Denver market is that homes took a shorter time in getting sold, decreasing by 3.77 percent the number of days a property stays in the market to 102 days.
In another encouraging report from Your Castle Real Estate LLC, the sales of homes from foreclosure listings increased by 29 percent in March, compared to sales figures in March 2008. Lon Welsh, owner of Your Castle, said most of the sales from foreclosure listings were in the lower price ranges.
From January to February 2009, sales of homes from foreclosure listings in most areas of metro Denver increased, compared to distressed sales in last year’s first two months, with the highest number of distressed sales occurring in Greenwood Village.
