According to a recent report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, luxury home sales in the Denver metro area went up in November when compared to November of last year. The median sale price, however, did see a drop when compared to the same time last year. While this is certainly good news when compared to last year, the same report found that sales dropped when comparing November to October of this year. While 44 luxury homes were sold in November, 48 luxury homes found a new owner in October.

Some of the other findings from the report include:

•    The median sale price of million dollar homes dropped by 5.9 percent in November when compared to October, with the median sale price in November being $1.23 million.
•    The median sale price of million dollar homes dropped by 10.2 percent when comparing November 2010 to November 2009.
•    The most expensive sale to take place in the Denver Metro Area was the sale of a 4,586 square foot, four-bedroom, five bath home that sold for $3,050,000 in November.
•    12 million dollar homes were sold in Denver in November, making it the area with the most million dollar homes sold. Boulder was a close second with 10 homes, while four million dollar homes were sold in Cherry Hills Village.
•    On average, sellers received 89 percent of their asking price when selling their homes, which is up from the 88 percent figure from November of 2009. It is down from the 93 percent figure, however, that was enjoyed in October of 2010.
•    It took an average of 151 for million dollar homes to sell in the area, which is up from the 119 days it took last year as well as the 111 days it took in October.

“The upper end market has been improving, but very tentatively in the second half of the year,” said Chris Mygatt, who is the president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Colorado. “The reason is because buyers are being patient and selective. They want to see what’s on the market and they don’t feel a sense of urgency to buy. Once high-end buyers feel confident that the Colorado economy is steadily improving and employment is improving, they are going to move first.”

Historically, the performance of the luxury real estate market has been an important indicator that the recession is coming to an end, as luxury buyers have the means to make the large investments that helps to pull the market back up.

“Once the high-end truly rebound, that usually pulls the rest of the market back up with it,” continued Mygatt.