Showings Recover at Your Castle

By Lon Welsh

Home showings in Denver dropped dramatically after the expiration of the tax credits on April 30 like they did throughout the country. Only now are we beginning to see some increase in broker showings of our listings.  A large outsource vendor for managing showings, the Centralized Showing Service, operates in more than twenty states.  They had seen volume drop more than 40% in the majority of their markets the day after the credit expired.

We were not immune from this trend in Denver.  At one large local real estate firm, showings dropped from 10 showings per listing per month (March and April) to 5 showings per months (May and June).  Discussions with other local managing brokers revealed similar results (see graph).

Detached Single Family homes and Condos experienced more showings in August at Your Castle Real Estate. Click to enlarge.

Not surprisingly, the number of homes under contract declined materially in the months following the expiration of the tax credit.  After all, it is difficult to put a home under contract without showing it.  The good news is that the number of showings per listing increased +28% in July and August, from 5.2 to 6.7.  This time last year, we were in the range of 10.  Part of the “showing gap” is that inventory has increased +12% compared to last year.  The rest is just lagging demand.  As we get further from the tax credit, that should correct itself.

In the meantime, if you have sellers that are curious about the level of buyer activity, you now have the facts to share with them.  Every showing counts!