Denver had a record drop in sales of existing homes in 2009. But inventory has declined considerably and prices have stabilized or even gone up slightly in some markets.

Metrolist data released Thursday that sales of existing homes had dropped 12% - a new record. The biggest percentage drop previously was a 4 percent decline from 2007 to 2008.

The Median price of homes sold was about the same at $219,000.

I expect the sales decline to continue sales of homes above the $600,000 price point will continue to be sluggish until people start to feel more secure with their jobs.

It could be worse if Colorado’s job market wasn’t doing fairly well. Colorado’s unemployment rate hovered around 7 percent in 2009, while the national rate was about 10 percent.

Metro Denver ended 2009 with 16,456 unsold homes on the market, a 16% improvement over a year ago.

On a bright note, Metro Denver home prices ranked at the top of the most recent Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.