Saturday, July 26, 2008

THE BEST RENTAL MARKET IN 20 YEARS - PART FIVE

LIST PRICES ARE ON THE RISE

Altos Research, a real estate research firm that advises investors on market conditions around the country, reports that Denver now has the fastest rising list prices in the country.

According to Altos, in May the Denver MSA (metropolitan statistical area) showed an average increase in list prices of 3.7% over the numbers reported for April. Over the past year, Altos says list prices have increased by more than 7%.

So why all the negative reporting?

Despite the case I've made here over the past few days, the fact remains there is still a lot of pain in our market. Private owners (especially those at the lower price points) have had a very hard time competing against banks that have been willing to sell homes for 10 - 20% below market value. We have had nearly 80,000 foreclosures in the past two years. And the memory of being number one in the nation in foreclosures in 2005 and 2006 (when much of the rest of the country was still in "party mode") is still fresh in people's minds.

But times have changed. And those who study the numbers can see it.

We'll wait for the Denver Post to come around. But in the meantime, there is lots of opportunity to be had in the Denver Metro rental market.