The Denver metro area now leads the nation in fastest falling home values, according to the SP Case-Shiller Home Price Index, bringing some relief to buyers and frustration for sellers.Data from the SP shows Denver metro home va lues dropped 2.2% in February compared to a year earlier the largest decline of any metro area in the United States.The Colorado Association of Realtors said the decline reflects a flattening of the market after years of above average prices increases. Watch the full story in the video player below. Denver leads nation in fastest falling home values after years of increases"When we zoom out and look at the long term trends over the last 15 years, the Denver Metro area has seen year-over-year price increases on average of about 7% every year, and that's really large compared to the 5% that we saw nationally," Colorado Association of Realtors spokesperson Cooper Thayer said.Thayer said more inventory sitting longer on the market and less buyer motivation are driving the current trend."Buyers are facing quite a few affordability constraints, especially when it comes to prices after a long, multi-decade stretch of crazy appreciation. We're also seeing struggles in HOA dues, insurance and increases in taxes. So all of that, combined with our elevated interest rate environment, makes it a little more difficult for buyers to find attainability," Thayer said. He said home sellers may face more obstacles compared to a few years ago, and should expect to make concessions with buyers."Buyers definitely have more negotiating leverage than they've had in the past few years. Right now we're seeing, on average, the original list price compared to the close price is about a 5% difference," Thayer said. "We're typically seeing about 60% of transactions have some form of concessions, and the average amount of that is about $5,000 to $10,000."For prospective buyers, like Denver resident Noa Nadler, the data is good news for house hunting. "We've been looking at the trends, and it looks like they are... the prices did not go up in the last two years, which is very unusual," Nadler said.However, she continues to encounter roadblocks notably high interest rates and homes in her price range being snapped up soon after they hit the market."Most of them go on the first weekend that they go on market," Nadler said. "I'm less picky than I used to be, and you just have to go really fast."Thayer said Denver's rental market is also having significant impacts on the for-sale market, as more rental housing inventory drives down rent."We've had such an explosion in the supply of rental housing in the Denver Metro area that prices of rentals have actually come down a bit. And right now, it, on average, costs about 80% more on a monthly basis to purchase a home than to rent one. So that adds to that lack of buyer motivation and why buyers are really picky when purchasing a home, because they know they can rent a very similar home for almost 50% of the price," Thayer said. ...read more read less