Denver's Housing Market Just Keeps Getting Tighter

DENVER (CBS4) - The housing market in Denver is jam-packed with demand high and supply low. Prices are reaching new highs and homes that go on the market aren't there for long.

The demand for a home is outpacing the supply right now, and veteran realtors are saying Denver's super-heated housing market is unprecedented.

Anthony Rael of the Denver Metro Association of Realtors says the competition for homes is so great, spending money to upgrade a home to sell it is no longer an absolute must.

"In certain price points, say under $350,000, you almost don't even have to do anything," Rael said. "It's shocking sometimes when you walk into these homes, you don't even have to clean them. I mean they can be somewhat dumpy and there's no improvements and they're still going well over list price."

The median price of a single family home sold in May came in just under $400,000.

What's driving the market? Colorado is no longer a secret. A solid jobs market and mass transit is helping to fuel the monthly migration of 10,000 people to the Denver metro area.

"A lot people that are moving here, especially the millennials, they want to be close to those light rail systems so they can get in and around downtown and out to the suburbs very easily," Rael said.

For people in their 20s and 30s, Rael says moving into a condo or townhome is a good intermediate step.

"People will move into whatever's available. It's a little bit easier in terms of the wallet to get into a condo in the greater Denver area right now."

Rael predicts that prices will top out in July, soften a little, and then rise again right through Christmas.