The median price of single-family homes sold in the metro area in August hit a record $255,000, while median condo prices slipped slightly lower, according to statistics released Tuesday.
The median single-family home price rose 1.1 percent from $252,250 in July, according to independent real estate consultant Gary Bauer.
The median condo price, in contrast, slid slightly during the month, falling from $164,000 in July to $162,499 in August, according to Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.
The analysis is based on data extrapolated through the end of the month from Metrolist, which operates the metro area’s Multiple Listing Service.
Over the past 12 months, the median single-family home price in the metro area has appreciated at a 6 percent pace versus 4 percent for condos.
Multifamily properties are taking more time to sell, 116 days on average versus 75 days for single-family homes, Bauer said.
The falling median price of condos could reflect more lower-cost units in the mix of properties sold, Bauer said.
Also, more renters could be bypassing condos and townhomes and buying single-family homes, speculated Norman Waugh, owner of Norman Waugh & Co. with Metro Brokers in Arvada.
The August report doesn’t reveal any major cracks in metro-area home prices, which some observers contend are due for a correction.
“We are seeing nice appreciation,” Bauer said. “There is nothing skewing the market up or down.”
That stability and low appreciation could work in Colorado’s favor should the home market deflate nationally.
Home prices in the first quarter of this year were appreciating at a 31.2 percent rate in Nevada and at a 19.4 percent pace in Arizona, according to an index maintained by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Colorado’s appreciation was 4.8 percent during the same period.
August is typically a busy month for home sales as families try to complete a sale and move before the kids head back to school.
The number of unsold homes rose slightly month over the month to 26,650, but that inventory is down 3.4 percent from 27,592 unsold homes in August 2004, according to Coldwell Banker.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
