The record foreclosure rate has sent Colorado real estate into a tailspin. Prices are falling and inventory is growing in the housing market. But the state is still growing and is expected to top 5-million residents for the first time in 2008.
In Denver home auctions have become common place, and will become more common throughout the year as builders try to sell their excess inventories.
The real estate boom ended long ago in most of Colorado. High tech laid off thousands of employees in 2001 in Denver and the airline industry, for which Denver is a major hub, cut thousands after 911. The housing market had a second wind in 2004, but quickly ran out of gas.
Until last year Denver had a unique place in American real estate history. The market actually appreciated while the rest of the country was deflating. The credit crunch has changed all that and foreclosures will hit new record highs again in 2008, Housing Predictor forecasts.
 |
| City |
Forecast |
| Denver |
− 9.4% |
| Aurora |
− 9.1% |
| Boulder |
− 7.2% |
| Grand Junction |
4.0% |
| Colorado Springs |
− 7.9% |
| Fort Collins |
− 5.3% |
In some places at least the sound of pounding hammers has stopped for now. But builders are still constructing new homes in places like Commerce Park even though the new homes already built are selling at a snails pace.
Denver, which suffered through a slow and deteriorating market in 2007, is forecast to deflate 9.4% in 2008 by Housing Predictor before things improve with a growing job market.
The credit crunch has Aurora in its grips and it doesn’t look like it will let up anytime soon. Already plagued with an onslaught of foreclosures, the foreclosure rate will rise in 2008. With a record number of vacant properties the city is forced to maintain them.
New construction of housing is down, which is having an influence on the economy. Many large home building companies have laid off employees or have closed all together.
Aurora has a growing number of homes on the market and prices are declining fast, and are forecast to deflate 9.1% in 2008.
The once growing population of Colorado Springs has slowed. This scenic community offers plenty of outdoor activities and has been recognized by many publications for being one of the best cities to live in the country.
In Colorado Springs the market has flattened so much so that many investors are looking at it as a bargain shopper’s paradise. Housing prices have fallen and will deflate more in 2008 at an average of 7.9%.
In Grand Junction a natural gas boom sent the housing market to record high prices with an influx of new residents. Grand Junction will remain relatively healthy compared to the rest of Colorado through the year as a result. The job base is strong and prospects look promising for Grand Junction's housing market, despite fear triggered by the credit crisis.
Workers are flooding northwest Colorado to work the state's unprecedented natural gas boom. There are exceptions in many places of the country to America’s housing bust and Grand Junction is one of them forecast to appreciate 4.0% in 2008 on average.
As a college town the University of Colorado has given little Boulder its claim to fame. The housing market slowed over the last year and will see slower times again in 2008, deflating a projected 7.2%.
Fort Collins is a community where many have moved to escape the higher prices of the Denver real estate market. Fort Collin's housing prices should depreciate slightly on slower home sales at just 5.3% for the year, which is much better than other places.
