September always brings a natural shift in the Denver housing market-not just because of the calendar, but because life changes pace, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.
Summer vacations wind down, kids head back to school and buyers and sellers alike settle into new routines and motivation. This year, the seasonal rhythm aligned with a remarkably steady market. Sales, prices and overall tone through 2025 have followed a consistent path. Still, the close of Q3 signals a moment to recalibrate; interest rates, which have defined so much of the year, are showing early signs of easing.
The seasonality and economic conditions of our market today are micro adjustments compared to a market where we see large swings in demand and prices, as we did during 2020 through 2022. These variations in the market seem uneventful compared to our lingering expectations of the previous market cycle, but they are no less meaningful. The subtle adjustments show a nuanced buyer and a nuanced seller, requiring tenacity, trust and expertise to make the perfect match.
Options continue for buyers; new listings in September increased slightly for both attached and detached homes, by 12.74 percent and 3.87 percent, respectively. The active inventory at month's end was up 17.62 percent year-over-year and 70.17 percent from 2022. This increase in active listings is a result of lower buyer demand, as the total number of new listings that have entered the market through the end of September is up 10.46 percent year-over-year and down 1.75 percent compared to 2022.
Buyers are increasingly opting for detached homes over attached ones. The sales volume for detached homes in September was up 6.55 percent year-over-year, while the attached sales volume decreased by 16.78 percent. Attached homes continue to see challenges in the increased costs of insurance and community maintenance, resulting in higher-than-historically-typical community dues.
Although the market has seen a large number of listing price reductions, the detached home market saw only a small decline in the median sale price in September, 1.79 percent month-over-month, while attached homes experienced a slight increase of 1.17 percent. Year-over-year, however, the median sale price for detached homes increased by 1.33 percent, while the median sale price for attached homes decreased by 3.35 percent. The number of days in the MLS has increased from 30 in August to 35 in September, representing a 16.67 percent increase and a 40.00 percent increase from September 2024. Pricing strategy is the most crucial element for sellers in this market, and as days in the MLS in-crease, determining when to wait for the right buyer and when it's time for a price reduction is a delicate balance.
The stress on buyer demand was eased slightly in September with a 25-basis-point reduction in the federal funds rate.
The anticipation of the rate cut brought the lowest mortgage interest rates we have seen so far in 2025, but it did not prompt a rush of buyers into the market. Whether they are holding out for additional rate cuts or feeling the uncertainty of inflation and employment, buyers remain cautious.
Learn more about the market from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.
Thank you to our partners at the Denver Metro Association of Realtors for compiling this information.
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