Key Takeaways
- Closed prices are flat: median close price $594,495, essentially unchanged year over year (DMAR, August 2026), while Redfin's city median sale price was $619,090, up 4.9%.
- Asking prices are down: median list price $574,900 across the metro, down 4.2% (Realtor.com, August 2026).
- Zillow's modeled value is sliding: $533,060, down 2.7% (Zillow ZHVI, July 2026), with a 1.5% metro decline forecast through July 2027.
- Supply sits far above pre-pandemic levels: 12,998 active metro listings in August 2026 against 8,769 in August 2019 (Realtor.com).
- Condos and townhouses carry the weakness: attached median days in MLS of 45 against 24 for detached, and attached prices down 4.87% (DMAR, August 2026).
- Holding costs keep climbing: hail drives 26% to 54% of a Colorado homeowners insurance premium by county (Colorado Division of Insurance, February 2026).
The Denver housing market in 2026 is slow and well supplied rather than cheap. Houses that are priced right and ready to show still sell in about a month. Everything else sits and gets cut. That split is the whole story for a Denver owner weighing a listing against a direct cash sale.
This guide keeps each source separate, because averaging them produces a number that describes no real house. Redfin tracks city closings, DMAR tracks 11-county closings, Zillow models a typical value, and Realtor.com tracks unsold listings.
Denver Housing Market 2026 at a Glance
Denver entered the fall of 2026 with flat closed prices, soft asking prices, and inventory near a decade high. The Denver Metro Association of REALTORS put the median close price at $594,495 in August 2026, essentially unchanged year over year. Its count of active listings across the 11 counties it reports was 13,080 (DMAR Market Trends Report, August 2026 data).
| Metric | Value | Change YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Median close price (DMAR, 11 counties) | $594,495 | Essentially unchanged |
| Active listings (DMAR) | 13,080 | Up 0.16% |
| Median days in MLS (DMAR) | 27 days | 3 days faster |
| Median sale price (Redfin, city) | $619,090 | Up 4.9% |
| Median days on market (Redfin) | 28 days | 3 days faster |
| Sale-to-list ratio (Redfin) | 98.6% | Up 0.3 point |
| Listings with a price drop (Redfin) | 47.2% | Down 0.68 point |
| Typical home value (Zillow ZHVI, city) | $533,060 | Down 2.7% |
| Forecast (Zillow, Denver metro) | Down 1.5% to July 2027 | Base date July 2026 |
| Median list price (Realtor.com, metro) | $574,900 | Down 4.2% |
| Active listings (Realtor.com, metro) | 12,998 | Up 2.1% |
DMAR, Redfin, and Realtor.com figures are August 2026; Zillow figures are July 2026. DMAR covers 11 Front Range counties using REcolorado MLS data, Realtor.com covers the Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro, and Redfin and Zillow are citywide.
Why do four sources report four different Denver prices?
Each source measures a different set of houses over a different footprint, and none is wrong. Redfin's $619,090 is the midpoint of city closings. DMAR's $594,495 is the midpoint across 11 counties. Zillow's ZHVI of $533,060 models a typical Denver house, sold or not, pulling in the city's large condo stock. Realtor.com's $574,900 is the midpoint of what sellers were still asking.
Read together, they describe a two-speed market. Clean, well-priced houses close within a few points of asking, holding the closed medians up. The rest sit and get reduced, dragging the list median down. Redfin recorded price drops on 47.2% of Denver listings in August 2026.
A single Denver average built from a Zillow ZHVI, a Redfin sale median, and a Realtor.com asking price describes no real house. If a valuation does not name its source, month, and geography, ask for all three.
Inventory and Days on Market Against Pre-Pandemic Norms
Denver metro inventory in August 2026 ran about 48% above the same month in 2019, and houses sat 19 days longer. The table uses the Realtor.com inventory series for every August back to 2019.
| August | Active listings | Median list price | Median days on market |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 8,769 | $498,564 | 38 |
| 2021 | 3,847 | $600,000 | 18 |
| 2022 | 6,471 | $636,490 | 31 |
| 2025 | 12,735 | $599,990 | 58 |
| 2026 | 12,998 | $574,900 | 57 |
Realtor.com Research inventory core metrics, Denver metro, August of each year.
Supply has roughly tripled from the August 2021 low, and the August median list price sits 9.7% below the August 2022 peak of $636,490. Asking prices gave back four years of gains while inventory rebuilt.
DMAR's own history cuts the other way. Its August average since 2002 is 15,191 active listings, so this August's 13,080 sits below the long-run norm (DMAR, August 2026). That average includes the 2006 to 2011 glut, when the record hit 31,664. Against 2019, today looks well supplied. Against 2006, it does not.
Months of supply is where the softness shows
DMAR treats four to six months of inventory as balanced. In August 2026 the attached market, meaning condos and townhouses, ran 8.46 months of supply below $300,000 and 5.73 months from $300,000 to $499,999. The $750,000 to $999,999 attached segment carried roughly 10 months, the deepest supply DMAR tracks.
Detached houses are in a different market. Detached inventory fell 4.21% year over year while attached inventory grew 9.94%, and detached houses sat a median of 24 days in the MLS against 45 days for attached (DMAR, August 2026). Detached prices held flat; attached prices fell 4.87%. If you own a Denver condo, that gap matters more than any citywide figure.
Denver Home Prices 2026 by ZIP Code
Denver home prices in 2026 span nearly 3x across the city, and 24 of 27 ZIP codes were down year over year. The values below are Zillow ZHVI figures, modeled values rather than sale prices.
| Area | ZIP | Zillow ZHVI, July 2026 | Change YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capitol Hill | 80203 | $346,664 | Down 5.3% |
| Westwood, Barnum | 80219 | $420,899 | Down 3.7% |
| Montbello | 80239 | $426,535 | Down 2.9% |
| Baker, Athmar Park | 80223 | $453,094 | Down 3.5% |
| Lincoln Park, Sun Valley | 80204 | $527,699 | Down 3.4% |
| Five Points, Cole, Whittier | 80205 | $568,225 | Down 2.5% |
| Park Hill | 80207 | $585,059 | Down 2.4% |
| Hilltop, Mayfair | 80220 | $645,815 | Down 0.4% |
| Berkeley, Highland, Sunnyside | 80211 | $700,586 | Down 2.4% |
| Central Park | 80238 | $757,723 | Down 2.0% |
| Platt Park, University | 80210 | $821,992 | Down 0.3% |
| Congress Park, Cheesman Park | 80206 | $850,722 | Up 1.1% |
| Washington Park, Cherry Creek | 80209 | $968,958 | Up 1.0% |
Zillow ZHVI ZIP time series, July 31, 2026.
The pattern is consistent. The ZIPs holding value are established, detached, near-central and Cherry Creek addresses. The ZIPs falling hardest are the condo-heavy core and the value tier, led by Capitol Hill at 80203, down 5.3% to $346,664. A Capitol Hill condo and a Washington Park bungalow are not in the same market.
What is driving the Denver housing market in 2026?
Three forces explain most of it: migration reversed, apartment construction kept delivering, and mortgage rates never came down. None is a crash, and all three push the same direction.
Migration reversed
Denver County lost population in 2025 for the first time since 2021. The Census Bureau estimated 740,613 residents on July 1, 2025, down from 741,591 a year earlier, with net migration of negative 5,152 against positive 11,063 the year before (U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 county estimates).
The statewide reversal is starker. Colorado's net migration fell from positive 58,308 in 2024 to positive 3,256 in 2025, with domestic migration turning negative by 12,100 (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). The remote-work inflow of 2020 and 2021 has stopped adding buyers.
New apartments kept opening
Metro Denver absorbed a large amount of new rental supply, and it shows up in what a condo is worth. Apartment vacancy hit 7.6% at the end of 2025, the highest in 16 years, with more than 34,000 vacant units (Apartment Association of Metro Denver, January 2026). Roughly 15,330 units were completed in 2025 and 20,000 in 2024.
Average asking rent was $1,758 in the first quarter of 2026, down 3.4% year over year, with record concessions near $180 a month (Apartment Association of Metro Denver, April 2026). Cheap rent with weeks free pulls against an entry-level condo purchase, which explains much of the attached-market weakness.
Mortgage rates and the payment
Rates moved the wrong way over the past year. The 30-year fixed averaged 6.76% as of September 10, 2026, up from 6.35% a year earlier (Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey). That difference lands on top of rising insurance and HOA costs.
The Reassessment Shock and the Laws That Followed
Denver's 2023 reassessment raised values sharply, the legislature cut assessment rates twice in response, and the 2025 reassessment then came in lower. The clearest measure of the 2023 shock is how many owners fought it. Protests to the Denver Assessor jumped from 8,716 in 2021 to 24,661 in 2023, then fell to 10,850 in 2025 (Colorado Division of Property Taxation, 55th Annual Report, May 11, 2026).
Colorado reassesses in odd years from a fixed appraisal date, so assessed values always trail the market (C.R.S. 39-1-104(10.2)). The 2025 values were set from sales through June 30, 2024. Denver's residential assessed value for local government levies fell 3.9% from tax year 2024 to 2025, while statewide residential value rose 2.96% (Division of Property Taxation, May 2026).
The law changed twice in 2024. SB24-233 created a growth limit on local property tax revenue and a value exclusion for owner-occupied primary residences. Then HB24B-1001, passed in the August 2024 special session, cut rates further and reworked the limit.
| Provision | What it does |
|---|---|
| Residential rate, 2025 | 6.25% local government, 7.05% school (HB24B-1001) |
| Residential rate, 2026 forward | 6.8% local government, school rate held at the 2025 level (HB24B-1001) |
| Primary-residence exclusion | From 2026, the lesser of 10% of actual value or $70,000 comes off first (SB24-233) |
| Local revenue growth limit | 5.25% times the years in the reassessment cycle, waivable by voters (HB24B-1001) |
Colorado's next reassessment sets 2027 values from the June 30, 2026 appraisal date, which is already behind us and lands in the softer market described here. If your 2025 notice still reflects a 2022 peak, the next cycle catches up.
Property tax is also why some Denver sales happen at all. If a tax bill or HOA dues have gotten away from you, timelines matter. Our guides to Denver HOA dues and foreclosure under HB24-1337 and stopping a foreclosure in Colorado cover the Public Trustee clock, where the cure right closes about 15 days before the sale (C.R.S. 38-38-104).
Hail, Insurance, and Roof Age
Hail is the largest single driver of Colorado homeowners insurance costs, and it now shapes Denver transactions. The Colorado Division of Insurance surveyed 20 carriers covering 80% of the market. It found hail accounts for an average 26% to 54% of a homeowners premium by county (Colorado Division of Insurance, February 11, 2026). Along the Front Range and Eastern Plains the share runs near 50%.
Wildfire is not the Denver story. Only about 1% of a Denver County premium goes toward wildfire risk, per the same analysis. The state responded with SB26-155, creating a state enterprise aimed at fortified roofs and insurance availability.
For a seller, this lands on the roof. August 2026 storms brought golf-ball-sized hail and 70 mph winds across eastern Colorado, and repeated losses mean more claims, higher premiums, and stricter underwriting (DMAR, August 2026). A buyer's insurer may decline an older roof, ending a financed deal after inspection.
Seasonality: What Fall Does to the Numbers
Denver's selling season fades after July, so a fall seller is choosing between waiting for spring and selling now. DMAR's inventory peaked at 13,115 listings in July 2026 and edged down to 13,080 in August. Closed sales fell 18.99% from July to August, and median days in MLS rose from 21 to 27.
Waiting has a price that usually gets skipped. An empty Denver house still owes property tax, insurance at Front Range hail pricing, utilities to protect the pipes, and yard or snow service. Six months of that comes out of the proceeds, and Zillow's metro forecast points 1.5% lower by July 2027.
What This Means If You Are Selling
Most Denver sellers with a house in good condition should still look hard at listing it. Detached stock sat a median of 24 days in the MLS in August 2026 and sold at 98.6% of list inside the city. A well-presented house may net more through an agent than any cash offer, even after commission.
A direct cash sale earns its place in narrower cases, because the market's remaining speed sits on stock a lender will finance. A Denver house with knob-and-tube wiring, a gravity furnace, a clay sewer line, or a roof no insurer will write can sit while the 27-day median rolls on without it. Add a Public Trustee sale date or an out-of-state owner, and the math changes.
| Factor | Listing with an agent | Direct cash sale to Propcash |
|---|---|---|
| Time to contract | 27-day median in MLS, 45 days for attached (DMAR, August 2026) | Typically a few days from submission |
| Close after contract | Loan, appraisal, and inspection calendar | As few as 7 days, on your date |
| Commissions and fees | Commission plus seller closing costs | No fees or commissions charged to you |
| Condition and roof age | Lender, inspector, and buyer's insurer all weigh in | Sold as-is, condition priced into the offer |
| Showings | Required, through a slow fall | None |
| Best fit | Move-in-ready detached houses, time to spare | Condition problems, hard deadlines, out-of-state owners |
Propcash is a direct cash homebuyer, founded in 2026 and based in Nashville. We buy the house ourselves, so you work with the decision-maker. You can get a cash offer on your Denver house and set it next to what a listing would net after commission, repairs, and carrying costs.
Inherited houses are the one Denver situation where a court sets the calendar, since Colorado's small-estate affidavit cannot pass real property. Our guide to selling an inherited house in Colorado covers what a personal representative needs first. For how a cash sale works locally, see our Denver cash home buyer page or the Colorado cash buyer overview.
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Let's chatFrequently Asked Questions
What is the median house price in Denver in 2026?
It depends on the source, because each measures a different set of houses. The Denver Metro Association of REALTORS reported a median close price of $594,495 across its 11-county footprint in August 2026, essentially unchanged year over year. Redfin reported a median sale price of $619,090 inside the city, up 4.9%, while Zillow's modeled ZHVI for Denver was $533,060 in July 2026, down 2.7%.
Is the Denver housing market going up or down in 2026?
Closed prices are roughly flat and asking prices are falling. The DMAR median close price was essentially unchanged year over year in August 2026, while Realtor.com's metro median list price fell 4.2% and Zillow's ZHVI fell 2.7% through July 2026. Zillow forecasts a 1.5% decline for the metro through July 2027.
Is Denver a buyer's market or a seller's market in 2026?
It leans toward buyers, and much further in the condo and townhouse segment. DMAR treats four to six months of inventory as balanced, and in August 2026 the attached market carried 5.73 months of supply from $300,000 to $499,999 and about 10 months from $750,000 to $999,999. Detached houses still move, at a median 24 days in the MLS against 45 for attached.
How long does it take to sell a house in Denver right now?
DMAR recorded a median of 27 days in the MLS in August 2026, up from 21 in July and faster than the 30 days in August 2025. Redfin reported 28 median days on market inside the city, and Realtor.com 57 days across all active metro listings. Each measures time to contract, not time to cash, since a financed buyer still needs a loan, an appraisal, and a closing date.
Why did Denver property values fall in the 2025 reassessment?
Colorado reassesses in odd years from a fixed appraisal date, so the 2025 values reflected sales through June 30, 2024 rather than current conditions. Denver's residential assessed value for local government levies fell 3.9% from tax year 2024 to 2025, against a statewide increase of 2.96% (Colorado Division of Property Taxation, May 2026). The 2027 values come from the June 30, 2026 appraisal date.
Does a cash sale make sense in the Denver housing market in 2026?
Often it does not. A well-presented Denver house with time on its side may net more listed with a good agent, and the August 2026 data says clean detached stock still clears in about a month. A direct cash sale fits narrower cases: condition problems a lender will not accept, a fixed deadline such as a Public Trustee sale date, or an out-of-state owner carrying an empty house. Propcash will say so if listing is the better move.
Data Sources: DMAR Market Trends Report, August 2026 data (REcolorado MLS). Redfin (August 2026). Zillow ZHVI and Home Value Forecast (July 2026 base). Realtor.com Research inventory core metrics. U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 county estimates. Colorado Division of Property Taxation, 55th Annual Report (May 2026). Colorado General Assembly SB24-233, HB24B-1001, and SB26-155. Colorado Division of Insurance (February 2026). Apartment Association of Metro Denver. Freddie Mac PMMS. Refreshed quarterly. Propcash is a direct cash homebuyer, not a brokerage or law firm.