Variety of metro Denver properties price $1M drops as mortgage charges rise

Right before the pandemic, about one in 20 homes in metro Denver was valued at $1 million or more, and by January of last year, that figure had risen to more than one in 10, according to a study from real estate brokerage Redfin.

Rising mortgage rates have put downward pressure on home prices, causing that ratio to fall from 10.4% at the start of 2022 to 9.7% of homes at the start of this year, Redfin estimates.

Denver’s slippage of 0.7 percentage points ranks as the ninth-largest drop in the country, but it is modest compared to some of the declines seen further west. San Francisco’s share of $1 million plus homes has fallen from 86.3% to 80.3%, while Oakland’s has gone from 50% to 44.8%. Seattle has gone from 30.9% to 27.5%. San Francisco’s rival for high-priced homes, nearby San Jose, is also seeing slippage, but not as severe, going from 81.7% to 79.2%.

“Home values are coming down from their peak and fewer sellers could fetch seven figures – but that doesn’t mean buyers are getting a break,” said Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao in comments accompanying the report. “The typical homebuyer’s monthly mortgage payment is even higher than it was when home values peaked in the spring because rates are so much higher and although home prices have come down, they certainly haven’t crashed.”