'Don't Wait': Aurora Homeowners Rush To Sell As Rising Interest Rates Slow Hot Real Estate Market
DENVER (CBS4)- After a year of record price hikes in real estate across the Denver metro area, sellers are feeling pressure to lower prices.
Prices jumped $100,000 in less than a year in just about every zip code in Aurora, according to the Colorado Association of Realtors. Median home price data show dramatic spikes from 2021 to 2022:
Zip Code 80011 - $399,500 to $484,000
Zip Code 80013 - $450,000 to $550,000
Zip Code 80015 - $502,500 to $632,000
But sellers looking to cash out on that appreciation are facing competition now, said Aurora Realtor Sunny Banka of Sunny Homes and Associates.
"Things are starting to balance out just a little bit so you have to be a little more realistic."
Banka advised sellers Dale and Loretta Lindsey to drop the asking price for their ranch-style home by $20,000 to $575,000 after just a couple of weeks on the market.
Banka said, "We're seeing a few price reductions in certain price ranges and certain areas and a lot of that is due to the increase in the interest rates - which is exactly what the intent of raising the interest rates was to do. Was to help slow down the market."
After 28 years in their home, rising prices played a role in the Lindseys' decision to leave Colorado for retirement. Dale Lindsey said, "I wanted to go somewhere that was cheaper to live. So we started looking and we ended up here in Missouri."
Now the Lindseys have advice for other sellers, Loretta said, "Don't wait. If you're gonna do it, do it now. We wondered if we would have been able to get it on the market two weeks even one week quicker than what we did, it would have been sold."
Banka says buyers and sellers looking to move should act sooner rather than later as interest rates are expected to continue rising, "It's important to note that for every $100 that a buyer's payment goes up - they need about $300 or $400 to qualify for that extra $100 in payment increase. So it's a big deal."
"In my 43-year real estate career, this is not the first time we have seen housing prices increase to this level. Major price increases occurred in the 1980s, the late 1990s and 2012. Just like all other goods that are increasing, we may see a decrease, but it is very rare that those price drops ever get back down to where they were. An easy way to describe the housing market is three steps forward and maybe one step back. Housing has always proven to be a good long-term investment, regardless of the interest rate," said Banka.
As of April 26, there are 300 active listings in Aurora. Banka added, "So we still have an inventory shortage, we are just not seeing the inventory be absorbed as quickly as we were seeing a month or so ago. This is a good opportunity for buyers. They probably will not be in a bidding war. This opens up the opportunity to get into a home."
