A housing market report released by Clear Capital shows that the West region has been the front-runner of the recovery in the single-family housing market, with a strong year-end finish.  The West region saw year-over-year growth of 11.8% and was the only region to see quarterly price gains in December, with 2.1% growth.

Denver has played a significant role in the strong regional rebound.  The report shows that Denver’s housing price index had 1.6% quarter-over-quarter growth and gained 11% from the fourth quarter of 2011.  According to another report released by Metrolist Inc., there were 3,400 Denver homes sold in December 2012, an 8% increase from the number sold in December 2011.  The average December sales price was $289,926, which is 1% higher than November 2012 and 14% higher than December 2011.  Additionally, the average number of days on the market fell 32% from the 107-day average in December 2011 to a 73-day average in December 2012.

Despite the strong recovery, we should expect a slight slowdown in 2013.  The Clear Capital forecast of 2013 year-over-year growth in the West region is 2.8%, which likely indicates a moderating recovery as buyers adjust to a higher priced market.  The Clear Capital report also predicts that the Denver/Aurora metropolitan statistical area (MSA) should see prices remain essentially flat with a 0.2% price drop.  Overall, the housing market should continue to see upward growth, but at a more modest rate.

Photo: bbrown6 (flickr)

The recent uptick in multi-family housing construction in some parts of Colorado indicates that developers may be feeling the same way. 

It will be interesting to watch whether this results in sustained multi-family growth. 

Of course, as this DenverUrbanism.com blog post suggests, as time goes on and Millennials start having their own children, their desires may change.

It will be interesting to see how this generation’s preferences impact urban and suburban residential markets.

In addition to the solar farm, the PrairieStar development includes many additional green touches including a community garden, an irrigation system using nonpotable water and an energy center for recharging electric cars.

In negotiations between developers and local municipalities, this type of sustainable (and sustainably marketed) project is likely to shed a different light on the developer.  Not only does it appear that sustainable developments like PrairieStar are particularly marketable to the end user, but in the current green climate they should be appealing to the local jurisdiction for entitlement approval.

Photo by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Flickr)

“The 55+ segment of the market is still stalled in most regions,” said NAHB’s Chief Economist, David Crowe. “Since the builders’ potential buyers are having difficulty selling their existing property, they are unable to move to a more appropriate home.” Noting that a large share of prospective buyers for active adult housing are still in the workforce, and expect to remain so, Crowe added that “many buyers and renters are concerned about their current job security, and may be holding off on any decision to move until the economy becomes more predictable.”

Read the entire report here.