I am a strong believer of always looking on the bright side. Here is a positive spin on the current sluggish Denver real estate market. While things may seem a bit dismal in the current Denver real estate market, conditions are far worse in other parts of the country.
The Denver Post reported this week that there was a one percent decrease in Denver area home prices from 2006 to 2007. To put this in perspective, a $300,000 home may have depreciated around $3,000. This just isn’t so bad when you take into the account the national mortgage meltdown and real estate slump.
While we drooled over the double-digit percentage appreciation that many other western states saw over the past few years, this is the main reason why Denver home values aren’t falling as much right now. In this case, slow and steady appreciation seems to be winning the race.
Just to give you an idea of market conditions in other parts of the country, The Denver Post article reported that homes in Detroit depreciated eleven percent from 2006 to 2007. During the same period, Las Vegas’ home values depreciated over five percent, Phoenix’s home values fell over six percent and home values in Tampa Bay, San Diego and Washington DC fell over seven percent. Ouch! I’ll take Denver’s mere one percent depreciation any day compared to those numbers.
What will it take for the Denver and national real estate market to rebound? The mortgage meltdown needs to get straightened out. The real estate market is reacting to the tightening mortgage constraints and is jittery over the mounting problems in the industry. In addition, the Denver market will benefit as other markets begin to rebound. In particular, we have witnessed many Californians, hoping to move to Colorado, having a hard time selling their properties. It will also help for interest rates to come down, the lofty amount of foreclosures to decrease and the overall economy and job market must remain relatively strong.
While the Denver real estate market has seen better days, look on the bright side and be thankful that our landing has been a rather soft one. If you have questions on the current conditions of the Denver real estate market, please don’t hesitate to contact TeamCox Realtors.