A look back at 2019: Big multifamily sales, “opportunity zones,” and lots of development
Source: Andrew Dodson of the Denver Business Journal
A lot happened in 2019 for the Denver real estate market. Here are a few highlights.
Opportunity Zone Projects
Investors and developers invested around $1 billion in opportunity zones, a plan known as a “once in a lifetime federal economic development program” that allows investors to defer and possibly eliminate capital gain taxes by investing in underdeveloped neighborhoods.
iBuyers Came to Denver
Zillow and Open-door bought hundreds of homes, allowing sellers to close in as little as week. Although we saw more of this is 2019, it actually represented only 1% of the housing market. As convenient as it may sound, ask one of us to tell you about the downfalls (hello 8-10% fees!)
Apartment-community Sales Galore
What happens when you mix low interest rates with increased rental rates? Apartment deals. New construction and old apartment buildings were traded frequently in 2019, including trading Union Denver to Daydream Apartments (with plans to utilize Airbnb ahead) and the iconic Poets Row on Cap Hill to a buyer that made contemporary updates to the vintage sites.
Broadway, Alameda Station Development
South Broadway is about to get a major addition. This 10-acre development will have 887 residential units, 380,000 square feet of office space and 180,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space across the five building layout! As for Alameda Station, 75 acres of land with 1.25 million square feet of retail/residential space will get an addition 8+ million square feet of development. Talk about big changes.
New rule bans ‘coming soon’ marketing
Source: Andrew Dodson of the Denver Business Journal
Beginning this January, real estate agents will no longer be allowed to market listings as “coming soon.” The driving force behind this? Agents will try to market to their network and score both sides of the transaction. This new rule creates an even playing field for all buyers and agents, but some brokers aren’t happy with the change.
Cushman & Wakefield says, ‘Denver is just freaking hip’
Source: Cushman & Wakefield
It’s official: Denver is cool. We already knew this, but now we have a report to back it up. While other cities have one or two “cool streets”, this report has dubbed the entire downtown Denver area as one big “cool street.” We have our creative employment, tech-driven market, and urban revitalization to thank for this! Here are a few details on two of the featured Denver “cool street” areas:
Highland
The Highland neighborhood is chock full of cool streets. While it’s one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods, it’s been an area of recent (and many) revitalizations.
Find homes for sale in Highland.
RiNo Arts District
The RiNo Arts District was once an industrial neighborhood. As creatives have flocked to the area, it has transformed from warehouses and factories to breweries, galleries, and restaurants as far as the eye can see. The district spreads into three neighborhoods; all which are seeing major transformations and growth.
Find homes for sale around the RiNo Art district in: Five Points, Elyria-Swansea, and Globeville.
Download the free report to see what other Denver hoods were featured!
Seven Numbers that Explain Denver Real Estate in Early August
Source: Megan Arellano at The Denverite
We will go ahead and put your mind at ease: this article isn’t talking about seven-figure home prices! Instead, Denverite brilliantly breaks down the seven different numbers that are affecting the Denver real estate market.
From Denver’s ranking in the Case-Shiller index, to the number of construction complaints the City of Denver has received, this is a fantastic cheat sheet to help understand whats going on in the Mile High City.
Denver’s Most Expensive Neighborhood for Renters is a Culture Capital
Source: Denver Business Journal
Denver real estate has thrown us an interesting curve ball and we love where it’s taking us. Golden Triangle, one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods, is the most expensive area to rent (we’re talking median rent of $2,100 for a one bedroom!). The art scene, local restaurants and bars, and all of the happening festivities draw people into this culturally rich, upscale neighborhood. But wait for it….
It may be ridiculously pricey to rent in Golden Triangle, but it’s not ridiculously pricey if you want to buy, with properties for sale starting at $219k.* Which means you can buy in this hood and have a mortgage that is less than the median rent. We’ll take it!
*at the time this article was written.
Selling your Denver Metro Home isn’t the problem. It’s finding a new one to buy.
Source: Ben Markus at Colorado Public Radio
With Denver’s hot seller’s market, everyone thinks sellers have it easy. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth (unless a seller is moving to the south or midwest. In that case: they’ve got it made!).
A seller can sell their place fairly easily. But if they want to stay in Denver, they’ll have to deal with the lack of housing inventory with the rest of us. This is causing sellers to stay put and opting to remodel (rather than replacing) their homes.
Denver future home appreciation shows no signs of letting up
Source: Ben Miller at Denver Business Journal
“Is the Denver market going to pop?” This is one of the most frequently asked questions we hear from buyers
The short answer: no.
The long answer: Denver’s low unemployment rate, insane population growth, and short supply of homes is proof that the market isn’t letting up any time soon. In fact, Veros estimates that Denver’s homes will appreciate 10.3 percent over the next year, placing us at #2 under Seattle in the “strongest markets in the country” category.
We’ll take it!
Fed Raises Interest Rates for Second Time in 2017
Source: Lauren Gensler at Forbes
The Fed is confident in the U.S. economy and has decided to raise interest rates for the second time in 2017! This is the result of a lower unemployment rate (which is news we like hearing about!) and an economy that continues to thrive. Buyers, don’t fret: as of May, mortgage rates are still sitting pretty at 4.01%.
Homes Statewide in Short Supply Heading into Peak Selling Season
Source: Aldo Svaldi at The Denver Post
“Slim pickings” now refers to more than just Denver real estate — there is a short housing supply for all of Colorado (even Pueblo!). Housing inventory is down 32% from this time last year, with only 20,100 active real estate listings in the entire state. As expected, buyers are quickly snatching up these homes and they are flying off the market.
99 percent of Denver homes regain or surpass pre-recession value, Trulia analysis says.
Source: Aldo Svaldi at The Denver Post
