Real Estate statistics for sales across the Denver Metro area indicate that the real estate market is improving.  Prices are up, inventory is down, and sales are closing much more quickly than a year or two ago.  This is all good news for sellers!  But since the “devil” is usually in the details, it might be a good idea to take a closer look at those numbers to get a better feel for the recovery of any specific neighborhoods.  For example:  The Ranch, and The Ranch Reserve.

How have we been affected by distressed sales in The Ranch and Ranch Reserve?  The charts below break out the types of sales that we are still seeing in these neighborhoods.  “Distress” sales, such as shortsales and Foreclosured properties (BANK/REO/HUD) can take a toll on the home values in a neighborhood, since these are usually sold “as-is” and, depending on the property’s condition, may be sold significantly below market value.  This has the effect of bringing down the property values in the surrounding area when used as a “comparable sale” in home appraisals.  In high foreclosure and high shortsale neighborhoods, values may stay depressed for a longer period of time than a neighborhood that has mostly “normal” types of sales.

So how does the Ranch and Ranch Reserve stack up?  In the past twelve months, in both neighborhoods, only about 65% of the homes were sold in what would be considered a normal sale by an individual (no banks involved, no corporate approvals, etc).  Of the homes currently on the market (active, pending, or under contract), the market looks better in both The Ranch and The Ranch Reserve.  About 82% (18 of 22), of homes in The Ranch and 92% (11 of 12) of the homes in the Ranch Reserve are normal sales.

That’s a good sign for these two neighborhoods- hopefully one that will continue!  In recent years, home values in The Ranch and Ranch Reserve were in decline by up to 10% per year.  In Filing 6, for example, homes backing to the golf course sold for around $400k-425k in 2004, but recent sales of these homes are now closer to $380k!  We still have a lot of ground to make up to get back to the “pre-crash” levels.  But things are improving, with less distress sales and more demand in the overall market.  That should keep property values moving in the right direction (up)!

SOLD (in the Past 12 months):  

CURRENTLY ACTIVE, PENDING OR UNDER CONTRACT: