Real estate brokers and economic development officials are scratching their heads over a report that ranked the Denver area among the worst-selling housing markets in the country.
Citing data from real estate website , the story last week said there were 42,000 homes on the market in January, a 27 percent increase over the previous year. But local data indicates there are fewer than half that number of homes for sale.
According to local data, there were 17,785 homes on the market in January, down 9.9 percent from January 2009.
Forbes ranked Denver as the second-worst-selling housing market in the country. Last year, however, the magazine used the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index and ranked Denver as the sixth-best housing market nationwide. Denver’s home prices have consistently fared better in Case-Shiller’s index over the past several months.
“It’s hard to imagine that we could have gotten into such a desperate real estate environment without anybody noticing,” said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.
He said Forbes should explain how it arrived at its conclusion, but no one has responded to inquiries from the city.
Forbes reporter Francesca Levy could not be reached, and other magazine officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Levy culled the 42,000 figure from the number of listings on the Zillow website in January, said Katie Curnutte, a Zillow spokeswoman. The number includes homes for sale in Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson and Park counties. It includes foreclosures and homes for sale by owners as well as data from multiple-listing services.
“Inventory can be a tough thing to pin down,” Curnutte said. “This includes any home for sale from any source.”
It’s likely that many of the homes were counted twice because many brokers list properties on both the Metrolist and the IRES multiple listing services, said Mike Rinner, a vice president with the Genesis Group. Brokers also list townhomes in both the single-family and condo categories, he said.
“There will be some double counting unless they go through a process of weeding it out,” Rinner said.
Independent real estate analyst Gary Bauer said his concern is that the story will have a chilling effect on the market. He said he has gotten worried phone calls from recent buyers and concerned sellers.
The Forbes story is unlikely to impact the region’s economic development efforts, said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the chamber’s Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.
“There are so many rankings that go around,” he said. “Obviously, we jump at the great ones. The next day, Forbes came out and said Denver is the sixth-best place to do business.”
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
