Summer: the 4th, lots of sun, and maybe afternoon rain should the clouds gather moisture from the mountains and as they move over the Front Range they hopefully get tired of carrying the wet and dump it on us.
A good month to talk about some local statistics and local market guesses.
As you know, rates are up, over double from last summer, and maybe also know, or can guess, that residential real estate sales have slowed. Most houses listed in May, if not sold right away, have seen price reductions. Its has been difficult to price listings these days as agents wait for recent closed sales data. Even though rates have been climbing for many months, it seems like May was when we saw a slowing begin. However, there is lots of good news for Denver when we look at growth.
Denver added close to 100,000 jobs last year, many from firms from California, bringing totals back to the highs before COVID. Continued job growth puts pressure on wages and they have been climbing. The trends suggest Denver will add 22,000 new households this year, highest in the last 20 years. Also for this year, Denver is expected to add 50,000 jobs and median household income will top $110,000.
Denver’s tech sector continues to grow and now the median household income is above all metro areas beside the Bay Area and Washington D.C. Our median age lands 1.6 years below the national average which promotes demand in the 20-34 age group for apartments. Class A (nicest) apartment demand is up and is bringing all other units along for the ride. As can be expected, central Denver apartments rent the fastest and for more money than the suburbs, with RiNo and Five Points being popular due to proximity to modern lifestyle locations like restaurants and bars. SE Aurora is the only area with vacancies over 4%.
In 2018, the busiest year for apartment construction in a while, 10,500 units were added and the tally in 2022 will be less, but not by much, with most units being built in RiNo and Five Points. Vacancies are thought to drop to below 2.9% this year, the lowest in 20 years, even though rents increased by 17% in 2021. Rent increases will be slower this year but again, not by much. The last two year average came close to 12% per year.
Wondering why all the growth? Here are some reminders:
CITY OF DENVER NOTABLE RANKINGS
#14 BEST PLACES TO LIVE
(U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT 2021)
#6 BEST SPORTS CITY
IN THE U.S
(WALLETHUB.COM, 2021)
#2 HEALTHIEST COUNTY IN THE US - DOUGLAS COUNTY
(USNEWS.COM, 2021)
11TH BEST PERFORMING LARGE CITY
(MILKEN INSTITUTE, 2021)
#9 IN THE US IN TECHNOLOGY TALENT
(CBRE REPORT, 2021)
#1 FOR ECONOMY IN THE US
(US & WORLD NEWS, 2022)
3RD BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN COLORADO
(USNEWS.COM, 2021)
4th BEST PLACE IN AMERICA FOR BUSINESS & CAREERS
(FORBES, 2019)
12TH FASTEST GROWING METRO AREA IN THE U.S.
(US CENSUS, 2020)
#12 TOP CITY FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
(NICHE.COM, 2022)
4TH MOST DESIRED CITY TO LIVE FOR COLLEGE GRADS
(AXIOS, 2022)