By Prerna Kapoor, CLHMS | REAL Brokerage | September 7, 2026
I had a showing in south Aurora last week where the sellers pulled me aside afterward and asked why nobody was writing offers the way they had eighteen months ago. I’ve been getting some version of that question a lot this month, and the numbers that just came out from REcolorado for August give a pretty specific answer.
Denver Metro homes took a full week longer to sell in August than they did in July. Prices barely moved. And more new listings hit the market even as fewer buyers signed contracts to close. None of that means the market fell apart. It means the market did exactly what late-summer markets tend to do, just a little more so this year.
What REcolorado’s August Report Actually Shows
REcolorado, the MLS that covers most of the Denver metro, published its August numbers on September 4. Closed sales came in at 3,118 homes, down 13% from August of last year and down 15% from July. The median closed price was $595,000, essentially flat compared to a year ago and down 2% from July’s $605,000.
New listings told a different story. 4,892 new properties hit the market in August, 4% more than the same month last year, even though that was itself a 10% drop from July’s pace. Pending contracts moved the opposite direction from closed sales: 3,341 homes went under contract, down 7% year over year but up 3% from July. Active inventory sat at 13,211 listings, giving buyers about 18 weeks of supply to choose from.
Why Days on Market Jumped a Full Week
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The number that actually stopped me was median days in MLS. Homes took 29 days to go under contract in August, up from 22 days in July. That’s a real shift in a single month, and it lines up with what I’ve been seeing on showings in Parker and Aurora since early August: more buyers touring two or three times before writing, more asking for a second opinion from a parent or a financial advisor, fewer people willing to waive an inspection just to win.
None of that is buyers backing out of the market. It’s buyers taking the extra week because they can. With 18 weeks of inventory and gross sales volume down 12% year over year, there’s less pressure to move fast on a home that isn’t quite right.
What This Means If You’re Selling Right Now
A slower days-on-market number isn’t a reason to panic, but it is a reason to price carefully the first time. I wrote about the relationship between days on market and your final sale price a few weeks ago, and August’s numbers are a live example of it: homes priced right for what buyers are actually willing to pay in this specific slice of the market are still moving inside a normal window. Homes priced for last year’s pace are the ones sitting past 29 days and eventually needing a reduction.
Concessions are also part of this conversation now in a way they weren’t two years ago. If you haven’t looked at what a competitive concession package looks like for your price point, that’s worth doing before you list, not after your first open house comes and goes quietly. I go through the tradeoffs in more detail in this guide to seller concessions and buyer credits.
What This Means If You’re Buying Right Now
Rates haven’t given buyers much room to work with. Freddie Mac’s weekly survey put the 30-year fixed at 6.71% as of September 3, up slightly from 6.66% the week before and from 6.50% a year ago. That’s not a dramatic move, but it’s another data point in a year where rates have mostly stayed in a tight band instead of dropping the way a lot of buyers were hoping for back in the spring.
What’s actually changed in your favor is time and selection. 13,211 active listings and 18 weeks of supply means you’re not competing against ten other offers on the first weekend a home hits the market the way buyers were in 2021 and 2022. If a rate in the high 6s is what’s holding you back, it’s worth working through your options with a lender before you assume you’re priced out. I put together a breakdown of rate lock strategies that’s worth reading if you’re getting close to writing an offer.
This is the third month in a row I’ve written one of these updates, and the theme hasn’t really changed: late August looked a lot like this, just with slightly tighter numbers across the board. If that pattern holds into fall, buyers who’ve been waiting on the sidelines may find this is closer to the window they were hoping for than they realize.
Quick answers
Is Denver Metro a buyer’s market or a seller’s market right now?
With 18 weeks of inventory and homes taking a week longer to sell, it’s leaning more toward buyers than it has in recent years, though pricing still depends heavily on the specific neighborhood and price point.
Should I wait to sell until the market speeds back up?
Waiting doesn’t guarantee a faster sale later, and it means carrying two sets of costs if you’re also buying. A well-priced home with a realistic concession strategy is still selling inside a normal window in August’s data.
Are mortgage rates going to drop before the end of the year?
Nobody can say that with certainty. Freddie Mac’s rate has stayed in a fairly narrow band all year, so it’s worth planning around today’s numbers rather than waiting on a rate that may not arrive.
Prerna Kapoor | REALTOR® | Luxury Home Specialist
REAL Brokerage | 720-949-5450 | info@prernakapoor.com
CLHMS • RENE • PSA • ABR | International Sterling Society Award Winner
Prerna specializes in residential real estate across Parker, Aurora, Lone Tree, Castle Pines,
Highlands Ranch, Cherry Creek, Greenwood Village, and Centennial. She speaks English, Japanese,
and Hindi.
