Denver Housing Market

[COlady]

What is your take on the Denver housing market?? Have we finally hit the bubble? Is it going to burst soon?

We bought our 1700 sq foot house in South Denver as a foreclosure in April 2008 for $175,000 and we could sell it now easily for $350,000. We've made a lot of improvements over that time (it's a completely different house) but I definitely wouldn't pay $350,000 for our newly improved house.

My brother just turned 30 and is starting to settle down a bit. He's ready to ditch his downtown rental condo and buy either a condo or a house.  I keep telling him that I'd be really worried about buying right now. I think rents are going to start going down in the next year - the influx of condos being built is insane. But then again, I don't know how many people are moving here to keep the demand going on the new supply.

What is everyone's opinion?

[solon]

Oh man, if only I had a crystal ball!

The Denver housing market sure seems to be on fire right now. There are tons of stories just like yours, where people bought a house and now it is worth significantly more than they paid.

Does that mean we are nearing a crash? Maybe, maybe not!

[COlady]

Oh man, if only I had a crystal ball!

The Denver housing market sure seems to be on fire right now. There are tons of stories just like yours, where people bought a house and now it is worth significantly more than they paid.

Does that mean we are nearing a crash? Maybe, maybe not!

If only we wanted to move....BUT where would we go?? Our house is starting to feel pretty cramped with two kids (I know, I know most mustachians would disagree). I couldn't buy a new house in the Denver area right now, it would cause me way too much anxiety. I sleep well at night knowing we have $200k of equity sitting in our house. I suggested to my husband that we should remortgage it (current mortgage is around $130k) to the max or at least to a great amount and invest the proceeds in Vanguard index funds. He is risk averse and thought that was a terrible idea. Opinions on this as well???

[jda1984]

If only we wanted to move....BUT where would we go?? Our house is starting to feel pretty cramped with two kids (I know, I know most mustachians would disagree). I couldn't buy a new house in the Denver area right now, it would cause me way too much anxiety. I sleep well at night knowing we have $200k of equity sitting in our house. I suggested to my husband that we should remortgage it (current mortgage is around $130k) to the max or at least to a great amount and invest the proceeds in Vanguard index funds. He is risk averse and thought that was a terrible idea. Opinions on this as well???

I could see taking some equity out of the house to invest, though I wouldn't want to take so much that you would be in danger of being underwater if the crash you suspect comes.  It might not (or delay), and you could do the same thing later (refinance).  If interest rates on long term secured debt stay low it seems like that it is a decent plan.

[clarkfan1979]

Denver is a very desirable place to live based on quality of life, not really jobs. There will always be a demand for people to live in Denver. However, it would make sense for houses 50% above the median to take the biggest hit, if there is a correction.

There are many high paying tech jobs in Denver. It is a mini Silicon Valley. Even though the housing prices in the Boulder area are crazy expensive, it actually makes sense based on the tech salaries.

[FireDAD]

We bought our house in Estes Park last April and it is up 12% in just over a year. My wife works in real estate here (not as an agent) and all signs point to it getting more and more crazy each month. We are starting to get offers before houses hit the market, bidding wars, and houses selling for over asking.

If you look at the past these are all the signs of a bubble ready to burst, but I think it is just CO catching up with other desirable places in the country. If you compare us to other boom areas in the country we are still pretty far behind. CO real estate is a bubble, but I think it is a bubble that has a couple years left to expand.