Condo Median Reaches Record High

DENVER-The median price of a condo sold and closed in the Denver area hit a new high of $157,000 in September, according to the latest reports.

The reports by independent broker Gary Bauer and Jerry and Steve McGuire, a father-son team, at RE/MAX Professionals, are based on Metrolist data released on the last week of each month. The data is then adjusted for the number of weeks in each month; so five-week months can be compared with four-week months.

The median, or middle price, means 50% of the units sold for more and 50% of the units for less than that amount.The median typically is considered a better barometer of a market than the average price, because it is less likely to be skewed by high-end sales.

Another record condo record set was the year-to-date median price of $154,000. Bauer says one reason the median is rising is that more buyers are buying condos because single-family homes are so much more expensive.

While not a record, the report shows that the median price of a single-family home sold and closed is $235,000. And the average price of a single-family home is $283,019, more than $100,000 more than the average price of a condo at $173,541.

Bauer’s figures show that 42% of condo buyers are buying units priced at $149,999 or below, 36% of the units purchased are priced between $150,000 to $199,999 and 22% are priced at $200,000 or more.