Metro Denver home price gains, after running in the 7 percent range for most of the past year, accelerated back above 8 percent in February, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices.
The Denver home price index measured an 8.4 percent annual gain in February, up from a 7.6 percent increase in January and a 7.4 percent increase in December. The February pace tied with Detroit for fourth highest and was behind only Seattle, Las Vegas and San Francisco, which all saw double-digit gains. Nationally, home prices are up 6.3 percent year-over-year in February.
Denver’s home price appreciation has been below 8 percent since April 2017, when it was 8.2 percent.
David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in the report that home prices nationally have risen for the past 70 months, with the average annual gain at 6 percent. The record streak went from January 1992 to February 2007 and saw an average annual gain of 6.1 percent a year.
Cheryl Young, an economist with Trulia, said Denver is seeing a pace of hiring that is 2.5 times faster than the country as a whole, which is driving demand for housing. But a lack of homes for sale is causing first-time buyers to hit a brick wall.
“Those starting out in the housing market are facing the greatest frustration,” she said.
The inventory of starter homes is down 26.7 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier. That has pushed prices for the lowest-cost tier of homes in metro Denver up 14.9 percent the past year.
