Note comments  below Condo Graph

Price change analysis is a tool used by the relocation services industry to assist in determining the best time to transfer employees in relation to the best time to buy and sell those employees homes.  Different markets have different peak sales times, and as real estate becomes increasingly global, the cost of buying an executives home becomes a factor in relocation process.

While it would seem to be obvious just when the peak home selling or buying seasons may be for any given market, graphing the data is very useful in our understanding of the obvious. In the case of both of the graphs above, one for detached homes and the lower graph representing condo prices, the peak period in 2009 remained high during the latter half of the year due to the tax credit artificial manipulation of the housing market.

Available resales homes in the Denver area market peaked in June of 2009 at approximately    21, 000 units, well below the 2008 peak of approximately 27,000 units.  From the June peak, inventory declined steadily through December, before increasing slightly in January of 2010.  Sellers will attempt to take advantage of the tax credit market by offering their homes for sale early in 2010, but many home owners will remain out of the market in 2010.  A combination of values being less than loan balance and consumer caution will work in favor of long term market stability by keeping the available market below buyer needs.

The Denver area home resale market is still very much in a recovery mode from the drastic average price reduction in January 0f 2009.  Average prices will rise earlier than normal in 2010 as a result of the Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit.

Average days on market is a reflection of inventory vs. buyers.  From the recent peak in February of 2007, days on market have declined somewhat consistently with the well known changes in the market.

While the Condo market reacts somewhat differently than the detached housing market, the same overall decline in days on market is seen in this sub-market.

This combination bar and line graph shows the relationship between inventory and home average home prices, with the average price plainly rising as the inventory declines.