Denver Home Sales Dropped 17% in August. The $862,500 Loan Limit Matters More Than the Median Price.

Denver metro home sales fell 17.35% from a year earlier in August, and prices barely moved. The Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR) counted 3,068 closings at a median price of $594,495, which is down 1.74% from July and essentially flat against August 2025.

REcolorado, the MLS that supplies the data, counts a slightly different set of homes and shows 3,118 closings at a $595,000 median. Same story either way. Fewer people closed, and sellers didn’t drop prices to chase them. DMAR’s market trends committee described it as three signals pointing three directions: sales fell sharply, while inventory (13,080 active listings, up 0.16% from a year ago) and prices stayed flat.

What does the Denver median price tell a buyer?

Very little about how you’ll be financed. A $594,495 median says what the typical home costs. It says nothing about the number that decides which rulebook your loan follows, and that’s the loan amount compared to the conforming limit.

The split inside the market is where it gets interesting. DMAR reports detached prices held flat in August, while attached prices (condos and townhomes) fell nearly 4.87% from a year ago. In the $750,000 to $999,999 range, the attached market has 10 months of inventory, the most of any price category DMAR tracks, and only 18 attached homes closed in that band.

What is the conforming loan limit in Denver?

For 2026, the single-family conforming limit is $862,500 in Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Jefferson and Douglas counties, and $879,750 in Boulder County. Those are the FHFA’s 2026 figures as listed by Colorado lenders Journey Home Lending and 719 Lending. Mountain counties run higher. Eagle County, for example, is $1,249,125.

Where is the edge? The limit applies to the loan, not the price.

Most buyers read the limit as a price ceiling. It isn’t. It caps the loan, so your down payment decides which side you land on.

Here’s a hypothetical on a $950,000 Denver-area home. These are examples of the math, not terms I’m offering.

• 20% down ($190,000): the loan is $760,000. Comfortably conforming.
• 10% down ($95,000): the loan is $855,000. That’s $7,500 under the $862,500 limit.
• 5% down ($47,500): the loan is $902,500. That’s $40,000 over, so it’s a jumbo loan.

Same house, same buyer, different rulebook, and the only thing that changed was the down payment. With 10% down, the most you can pay and stay at the limit is about $958,000. With 20% down it’s about $1,078,000.

This matters most for self-employed buyers. Conforming loans follow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines, which are written down and consistent. Jumbo lenders set their own, and in my experience they tend to want more reserves and a closer read of the business. I’m not telling anyone to put down more or less. Putting less than 20% down on a conforming loan usually means mortgage insurance, so there’s a cost either way. I’m saying decide with the limit in front of you, because the $750,000 to $999,999 range is exactly where a few thousand dollars changes the program.

How a late-surfacing property can break a file

Here’s another hypothetical, and it’s a pattern I see a lot.

A Denver business owner gets an offer accepted at $950,000 with 10% down. The loan is $855,000, just under the limit. On the application he lists his home and his business. He doesn’t mention the Summit County condo that sits in an LLC, with the payment made by the business. It seemed like a business matter, not a personal one.

Then due diligence does its job. Property records, the credit report and the tax return’s rental schedule all point to it. Underwriting adds that payment to his debts, his debt-to-income ratio jumps past the limit, and a loan that fit on paper three weeks earlier doesn’t fit anymore.

Every property gets found. The only question is whether it’s found on day one, when we can structure around it, or in week three, when you’re under contract. List everything you own, including anything held in an entity.

Should a self-employed Denver buyer start with bank statements?

No. Start with the tax returns. Plenty of loan officers hear “self-employed” and jump to a bank statement loan, which usually carries a higher rate. That’s the expensive answer, and it shouldn’t be the first one.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can sometimes accept one year of returns from a self-employed borrower, typically when the automated underwriting approval allows it and the business has operated for at least five years. Add-backs like depreciation can also raise qualifying income more than people expect. Read the returns first. If they work, use them. Go to bank statements only if they don’t. I wrote more on how write-offs change your numbers in Why Your Tax Write-Offs Are Hurting Your Mortgage Application, and on where the market is heading in Conforming Loans Just Lost Their Majority.

And if your loan lands above $862,500, that doesn’t automatically mean non-QM. It means jumbo, which is a different program with its own rules.

What to do before you tour

1. Look up your county’s limit. Denver metro is $862,500 and Boulder County is $879,750.
2. Run the loan amount at two or three down payments on the price range you’re considering, and see which side of the limit each one lands on.
3. List every property you own, including anything in an LLC, and hand the list over at the start.
4. Have your returns reviewed first by someone who underwrites self-employed files.
5. Know your second option if the returns come up short, before you’re in contract.

I’m a mortgage broker with NEXA Lending, and I work with borrowers all over Colorado, including the Denver metro and Boulder. As a broker, I can shop your loan across a wide network of lenders instead of being stuck with one bank’s programs. Send me your returns and the price range you’re looking at, and I’ll tell you plainly which path fits. Programs, rates and approval depend on your full file.

Sources: DMAR August 2026 Market Trends Report (opens in a new tab), REcolorado August 2026 housing market reports (opens in a new tab), FHFA conforming loan limits (opens in a new tab), 2026 Colorado conforming limits (Journey Home Lending) (opens in a new tab), 2026 Colorado conforming limits (719 Lending) (opens in a new tab).