Denver Home Sales Jump in June

Denver-region home sales for June spiked from May, but activity remains at the lowest level for a June in at least 11 years. For the Denver-Aurora metro area, 4,562 new and resale homes and condos closed escrow, an uptick of 31.5% from May but down 10.5% from a year ago, according to a report from MDA DataQuick, a firm that tracks real estate trends across the country. It’s the lowest June total since DataQuick’s began tracking statistics in the Denver region. The only category that posted an annual gain were resales and condos, which rose 6.5% from a year ago. The median price paid for all new and resale homes and condos climbed to $210,000, the highest level since $215,000 in August 2008. It’s a jump by 6.1% from May but down by 4.5% from a year ago. At its peak in June 2006, the median sales price in Denver registered at $247,569. Government-insured FHA loans, an attractive form of financing used by first-time home buyers, made up 47.5% of all June activity. Absentee buyers, who are usually investors or second-home buyers who have their property tax records sent to another address, bought 19.6% of all homes last month. Write to Jon Prior.