Denver real estate is hot, but how is south Denver's Sterling Ranch neighborhood doing?
The backyard of Parkwood's model home in Sterling Ranch
The Denver real estate market is hot! Many Denver homes are selling quickly and for high prices these days. Bidding wars on select well-priced, updated homes are back (be sure to check out our article How to win a bidding war in Denver - right now), and the single-family home price average is a record $601,863.
But how are Sterling Ranch home resales performing?
We've been fortunate that our experience in Sterling Ranch, including in part with clients and friends who found us through our Sterling Ranch Roundup New Construction Home Package (in short, as your realtor we guide you through the entire new build process at no additional cost to you; we're paid by your builder, and your new home is the same price whether you use a realtor or not) has given us a great feel for the local Sterling Ranch real estate market.
So let's chat about the resales (13 homes) and builder spec homes (55 homes) that have closed so far in 2020.
Here are the 13 Sterling Ranch resales that have closed in 2020:
To start with, check out the "DOM" column. This is the "days on market" metric and reflects how long a home is listed before it goes under contract - one number we use for gauging how healthy a local real estate market is.
Right now, the 2020 average is 89 days. Keep in mind this includes the March-May time period when stay-at-home orders had a large impact on the real estate market. You can see how more recent homes are on the market much shorter time periods.
Also, 89 days is longer than more central Denver communities but isn't far off from several other southern Denver communities that often compete with Sterling Ranch in our experience representing buyers and sellers (Castle Pines, certain Littleton neighborhoods, and others come to mind).
Interestingly, the "days on market" metric for builder spec homes - basically, homes that Sterling Ranch's builders start and build without a buyer under contract yet under the assumption they can sell the home while it's being built or after it's finished - is 82 days.
Spec homes aren't quite the same as resales, but they directly compete with resales and are another metric we follow closely at Focus Real Estate.
Here are the 55 builder spec homes that have closed so far in 2020:
I could write a novel about a number of the metrics in these reports, but what are some quick thoughts on my end?
Not surprisingly, Sterling Ranch's resale home goes for $724,223 on average. Spec homes average $620,135. We don't have enough resale data yet in Sterling Ranch to make too many assumptions as to why there's a $100k+ difference, but here are a few theories.
Does the difference account for the anecdotal "new home discount" you sometimes hear about? Because of the long wait time to build a new home, or even a mid-construction spec home, it's sometimes suggested new homes can sell for a little less than resales. After all, it's hard to wait 6-18 months for a new home.
Or is it simply that we're comparing apples to oranges, and the resale pool doesn't match the same builder/floorplans/upgrades that are in the builder pool? This feels like a likely explanation to me.
On another note, a client I showed these metrics to today asked if 13 resales feels low to me. I thought this was an interesting question.
I said it doesn't since it seems many people stay in their new homes for 3-5 years, so that's when you'd expect to see more resales. Many Sterling Ranch homeowners have owned for 1-2 years, so the resale market is still small. Also, remember this report is only closed homes. I know of a number of under contract homes in the neighborhood that will be closing soon that will impact these numbers.
So there you have it!
If you'd like to chat more about Sterling Ranch real estate, shoot me a note at Mariel@Focus-Realtors.com. Don't forget we're a full service brokerage that lists homes for 1.5% with professional photos, a 3D digital model, staging consultations, inspection assistance, MLS and Zillow and major website listings, Instagram ads, and much more.
We'd love to help you!
-Mariel
Mariel Ross is a realtor who specializes in helping clients budget for, design, and build their dream homes or find the resale of their dreams. At Focus Real Estate we've helped clients build hundreds of new homes around Denver with Lennar, Parkwood, Richmond, Wonderland, Shea, and many other builders. We've also listed many beautiful homes and represented buyers throughout Denver on resales.
Learn more about what I do here, as well as the cost. In short, if you build in Sterling Ranch or just about every other new neighborhood in Denver your builder pays your realtor, not you, so our services are at no additional cost to you - which is how we're able to offer our free New Home Package.
If you'd like to chat, shoot me a note at mariel@focus-realtors.com and be sure to "Like" the Roundup on Facebook.
The Sterling Ranch Roundup is powered by Focus Real Estate. We also list and sell homes around Denver for a 1.5% listing commission. We'd love to sell your current home, and represent you when you purchase your new home.