Rising home prices and a lack of inventory have pushed the Denver and Colorado Springs metros into the top 10 most unaffordable housing markets in the U.S., The Denver Post reports. Metro Denver advanced four spots to the eighth least affordable market in the country, while Colorado Springs took the tenth spot in February’s affordability survey from OJO Labs.
The median home sold price in Denver rose over 20% year-over-year to $540,000 in February, the fourth highest price tag in the nation, surpassing even New York and Boston in the Northeast. Colorado Springs absorbed unmet demand from Denver and saw a subsequent median home sold price of $440,000, which is 5.62 times the median household income.
A lack of supply is driving strong home price appreciation and contributing to unaffordability. Colorado as a state had the fifth most competitive housing market in the country in February, with 58.4% of homes selling above the initial list price, compared to only 47.2% in January, [Patrick] Kearnes said.
“With historically low inventory, it looks like more bidding wars and more offers above list price are really driving up home prices,” he said.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Housing Markets
10 Housing Markets With the Highest Rate of Investor Homeownership
Cities with the highest share of investor homeownership are also the places seeing a slowdown in the market due to high costs
Housing Markets
10 Best Housing Markets for Sellers
Cities topping the list are in high demand due to affordability
Housing Markets
10 Luxury Housing Markets Where Prices Continue to Soar
US cities that have a high appeal for retirees see significant price increases