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For the first time in 7 years, metro area home prices dropped (slightly)

Even with the market beginning to balance out, overall, Denver is still a seller's market right now.
Credit: KUSA
A home for sale in Highlands Ranch.

DENVER — The average price of homes sold in February in the Denver metro area was just over $430,000, a 2.18 percent drop over the prices at the same time a year ago, according to the latest report from The Denver Metro Association of Realtors.

The last time there was a decline year-over-year was in 2012.

The homes were on the market for an average of 41 days, the report says, a 22 percent increase from Feb. 2018. 

Those numbers are for detached single-family homes in the Denver metro area. 

RELATED: Why the Colorado Association of Realtors wants you to pay attention to their housing reports and not Zillow's

Condos in the same area sold for around $297,000 on average, a 2.3 percent drop from the year before, the report says. 

Home sales started off strong last year but saw a steep drop in the second half of the year; 2018 ended with a 5.5 percent decrease.

Experts said the year-to-year drop isn't surprising.

"The first half of last year was so crazy that if we would have kept going none of us would be able to afford to live here," said Jill Schafer, the market trends chair for the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. "But now that we're normalizing a little bit, I think we will see more people who want to sell but need to buy, now they'll have some options. Whereas before they were like, 'I don't know where I'd even go because there's nothing available.' "

RELATED: Your 'Buy' Power: A look at how far your dollars go in today's metro Denver housing market

The February report also showed that more single-family homes sold than went onto the market during the month. 

According to Schafer, this means the supply surplus is beginning to level out. 

The number of active condo listings continues to increase and outpace the number of sales.

Even with the market beginning to balance out, Schafer said in the report that overall, Denver is still a seller's market at this point.

RELATED: More inventory and slower price climbs: Is metro Denver's hot housing market cooling?

The Market Trends Report uses data from home sales and listings in the 11 counties in the Denver metro area: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson and Park. 

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