June brought some relief to homebuyers in the metro Denver market, as the number of new listings soared to 7,826 — the highest number to hit the market in more than a year, according to the most recent report from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.

That number was 19% higher than the number of new listings in May, and 3% higher than the biggest month of new listings in the past year, July 2020 with 7,636, the association’s June report shows.

Denver’s housing market eases a bit, but buyer challenges remain

But average closing prices continued to climb. In June, it rose to $643,645 for all single-family homes and condominiums, up 3.58% from May and up 26.76% from June 2020.

The report shows sales volume also ticked up, with $3.9 billion worth of homes sold in June, a 13.2% increase from May and 25.65% year-over-year.

The number of new listings spiked the level of inventory from May — but it remains historically low for a market the size of Denver’s.

June’s inventory level stood at 3,122, up 50% from May but down more than 51% from June 2020. The association reported that was the biggest month-over-month spike in inventory it has ever recorded.

“Big percentage changes happen when the market starts with the low inventory that Denver has recently seen,” said Andrew Abrams, association chair and head of of the DMAR Market Trends Committee, in a statement.

“For the first time in what feels like a long time, buyers have to compete with less competition, and therefore, the extreme bidding wars have drastically decreased. Sellers are now adjusting their listing strategy to what the comps suggest. However, while inventory did drastically increase from the previous month, we are still at less than one-third of the total inventory compared to 2019 at this time.”

Denver homebuyers grappling with frantic seller's market

The market speed didn’t pump the brakes in June. Average days on the market dropped to just 10, down 9% from May and a whopping 60% from June 2020.

“The theme of buyer fatigue, holiday travels and an overall decrease in buyer demand has only started to be reflected in July’s market trends report,” Abrams said. “Whenever there is a shift, whether it is seasonal or unprecedented circumstances, adjustments are normally made slowly. … While buyers may be feeling exhausted, the opportunity to get a house under contract at list price is starting to become more realistic.”