Denver finished 2014 strong in closings, after an active year for housing starts. The large amount of closings in the fourth quarter previews the momentum expected to continue throughout this year. The greater Denver area spent 2014 catering largely to the move-up buyer, and the number of new homes available under $300,000 is rapidly shrinking. The majority of new homes sold in the fourth-quarter were priced between $300,000 and $450,000 with a median new home price of $413,800. Check out Denver’s stats for the fourth-quarter below.
"Strong demand for move-up buyers, combined with rising costs, have placed more emphasis on higher priced product over the course of the last several years. The trend [in Denver] continues as all price points above $350,000 have experienced market share increases since 2013 with the strongest growth in the $400,000-$500,000 segment."
"Sellers certainly appear to have gained leverage in recent years, especially with strong job growth and heavy in-migration into the region, [which has fueled] strong demand for housing. As a result, sales stayed near all-time highs with 53,719 sales in 2014, roughly the same as the previous year, and slightly off the record year in 2004."
"By historical standards, total inventory months of supply is as high as its been in the last decade. However, builders are not operating under normal conditions with tight supplies of lots and a thin trade labor market slowing home completions. As demand continues to grow, builders will likely face a similar scenario in 2015, playing catch-up to get homes built."
Richmond American (MDC) was the leading builder by closings in the fourth-quarter, and with other big publics like Lennar and KB Home also making that list, they will likely be the sales leaders into 2015.
