The warm kiss of 30-year mortgage rates below 6% in February appears to have awakened metro Denver’s housing market from its deep slumber. The number of home and condo sales in metro Denver last month shot up nearly 30% from January to 2,629, according to a monthly update from the Denver Metro Ass ociation of Realtors. While that is still 6.9% below the number of closings seen a year earlier, it is a marked improvement from January, when sales reached monthly lows last seen in 2008 during the housing crash. An even more encouraging sign of a market rebound came in the number of pending sales, or purchases still in process. Those are up 29.2% on the month to 3,737 and are running 15.3% above February 2025 levels. The busier activity was accompanied by a 12.1% increase in new listings and a near-record 9.2% rise in inventory. There were 8,988 homes and condos available for sale on Feb. 28, while new listings went from 4,454 in January to 4,995 in February. That allows home shoppers to have plenty of options available, even if they pick up the pace. “Buyers who entered the market early this year have benefited from softer pricing and lower mortgage rates. Inventory on the market that carried over from 2025 largely represented motivated sellers, negotiating on price and concessions,” Amanda Snitker, chairwoman of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and a local Realtor, said in comments accompanying the report. Snitker noted that multiple offers have returned for properties that are competitively priced, in prime condition and located in desirable locations. “Buyers are selective in this market, but they’re prepared to move quickly when the right opportunity comes along,” she said. Another sign that the market is warming up came in how much faster listings moved off the shelf. Listings went from a median of 53 days on themarket in January to 33 days in February, a decrease of 37.7%. The increased activity pushed the median sales price of a single-family home up 2.4% from $615,000 in January to $630,000 in February. The median sales price remains 2.2% below where it was a year earlier. Condo and townhomes, by contrast, continued to see price decreases, with the median price falling 2.82% from January and 5.25% over the past year to $379,000. That weakness reflects, in part, the higher HOA fees that attached properties are facing, due largely to higher insurance premiums. Over the past year through February, the average 30-year mortgage rate has moved from 6.76% to 5.98%, according to Freddie Mac. Crossing below 6% marked an important psychological barrier. But a sustained conflict with Iran that keeps oil prices elevated could put the downward move in interest rates at risk. Mortgage rates on 30-year loans were back up to 6.13% on Tuesday. ...read more read less