Arther, the Denver homebuyer, said that while more of his friends are considering purchases, the majority of them are being held back by mountains of student debt. In October, his lease will expire on his one-bedroom apartment on the 31st floor of a building that houses a Ritz-Carlton hotel.
“It’s super nice,” said Arther, who has a master’s in business administration from Colorado State University and works in the information technology department of DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. “But it seems like the housing market is exploding in Denver so there’s a lot of opportunity there.”
Competitive Market
It’s getting more expensive to live in Denver, for renters and buyers alike. Home values increased 14.7 percent in January from a year earlier, while the median rent rose 10.2 percent, compared with the nationwide average of 3.3 percent, data from Zillow show.
Arther said he’s been slow to jump into the sales market so far because he expects heavy competition. His budget is in line with Zillow’s median value for Denver of $286,000.
“There is less inventory in the traditional price range, where somebody is trying to buy their first home,” said Arther’s agent, Anthony Rael of RE/MAX Alliance. “They’re under $300,000 and it’s tough. If we doubled our inventory in that range tomorrow, it would be gone tomorrow.”