Luxury home sales highest since housing recession

The historic Richthofen Castle was the most expensive home to sell in Denver in June.

Luxury home sales jumped sharply again last month in the Denver area, sending million-dollar sales to their highest level since the pre-recessionary peak of the housing market, according to a report released today Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.

A total of 108 homes sold for more than $1 million in June, up 52 percent from last 71 sales in June 2011 and 42 percent higher than in May, when 76 properties priced at $1 million or more changed hands. Sales in June were the highest since Coldwell Banker began compiling the luxury report in 2007.

Coldwell Banker is not alone in reporting such a stellar month. Earlier reports by Kentwood Real Estate and independent broker Gary Bauer showed the same trend.

While luxury sales spiraled last month, the median sale price for a million-dollar home eased a bit, falling 2.1 percent from May and 4.2 percent from the same period a year ago, according to Coldwell Banker.

Other market indicators, however, were encouraging. Luxury homes sold faster last month, with properties spending an average of 146 days on market, down from 156 in May and 164 last June. Sellers also received 93.2 percent of their asking price on average, up from 92.6 percent a year ago.

The figures were derived from Multiple Listing Service data of all homes sold for more than $1 million last month in the Denver metro area.

“The luxury housing market in the Denver metro area really has been on fire,” said Chris Mygatt, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Colorado. “We saw it began last year and it continues to build as we go through 2012.”

Mygatt added that demand for luxury properties hasn’t slowed down despite the choppy stock market or uncertain economy.

“It really comes down to the fact that there are many qualified buyers out there who still see good values in the market,” he said. “They have the ability to take advantage of opportunities when the right property comes along, and they continue to do just that.”

Some key findings from this month’s Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage luxury report:

• The most expensive sale in the Denver Metro Area last month was an eight-bedroom, seven-bath 11,200-square-foot home in Denver that sold for $3.49 million. As first reported by InsideRealEstateNews.com, that was the Richthofen Castle.
• Denver boasted the most million-dollar sales with 31, followed by Boulder with 18, Cherry Hills Village with 13, Greenwood Village with 12. Other luxury homes sold in Evergreen, Castle Rock, Bow Mar, Breckenridge, Castle Pines, Elizabeth,  Estes Park, Fort Collins, Golden, Highlands Ranch, Keystone, Larkspur, Littleton, Lone Tree, Longmont, Louisville, Niwot and Parker.
• There were nine multi-million-dollar sales last month, down from 11 a year ago but up from seven the previous month. Homes sold in an average of 146.3 days compared to 164.4 days a year ago and 155.8 days the previous month.

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