Colorado House Finders

Along I-25 south of Denver from Belleview Avenue to Lincoln Avenue in the area known as the Denver Tech Center, higher density, transit-oriented development has taken place over the past several years. Pushing this development was “T-Rex”, the $1.67 billion transportation expansion project whose goal was to “transform the way people in the Denver metro area commute within the area of the I-25 and I-225 intersection”. This area was, at the time, estimated to be the 14^th busiest intersection in the entire United States. 

By many measures, the T-Rex project was successful. The interstates widen to seven lanes in many spots, and 40 miles of light-rail track were laid. The T-Rex project finished 3.2% under its $1.67B budget and 22 months ahead of schedule in 2006.  

There are several mixed-use “mini-cities” or “villages” now popping up in this corridor within a half-mile walking distance of the light-rail stations. They combine several uses on one site in a coordinated way, and retail, office and residential developments are usually a part of it. 

The magazine Colorado Biz reported that during his promotion to urge voters to pass the 2004 FasTracks Initiative, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper urged voters to envision the region transformed into a network of “villages” connected by mass transit, with each village having places to live, work, shop and play. Walking would be a key activity and strolling to a coffee shop, corner store or hopping the train to get to work would be the way of life.

One of the most successful mixed use neighborhoods the City-Center Englewood, built between 2000 and 2002 on 55 acres that had previously been the Cinderalla City shopping mall.  This is truly a TOD – transit-oriented development, the term for mixed-use developments with a transit anchor.

The Belmar area in Lakewood, CO, a five million square foot mixed use, new urban center for this Denver suburb, was one of the first mixed-use developments in the Denver area. Though it is not currently connected with light rail, the area successfully mixes retail, offices, residential and entertainment venues. Getting around without having to jump in the car is key to the lifestyle in this area.  

The Colorado House Finders’ Real Estate Consulting team is experienced, professional real estate agents with certifications in Real Estate, Lending and Appraising, who specialize in Denver Colorado real estate.  For access to Denver MLS listings , contact Colorado House Finders or www.ColoradoHouseFinders.com. 

The Cherry Creek neighborhood in Denver was one of the top neighborhoods searched on the Colorado House Finders website last month.  Since Cherry Creek was one of the most popular neighborhoods searched, we felt it appropriate to provide our in-state and out-of-state visitors a more in depth view of the Cherry Creek Real Estate market.

The boundaries for the Cherry Creek neighborhood are bordered by East 6^th Avenue (North), East 1^st Avenue (South), University Boulevard (West) and Harrison Street (East).  The Cherry Creek neighborhood is a blend of old and new with homes representing architectural designs from every decade since the beginning of the 20^th century.  However, over the years the Cherry Creek real estate market has changed from smaller single family bungalows to luxury detached and attached single family homes and high-end condominiums valued at over $758 to $1,000 per square foot, such as those found in the North Creek complex at 1^st and Detroit.

The high level of interest in the Cherry Creek neighborhood is due in large part to peoples’ attraction to the community’s eclectic amenities, such as the diverse restaurants, art galleries, clothing boutiques, coffee shops, hair salons and evening venues.  In addition, the Cherry Creek neighborhood is bordered by the Cherry Creek mall, a major commercial retail center anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and the newly constructed Nordstrom and 160 other shops and restaurants.

Cherry Creek is definitely one of the most unique 10 block areas in Denver offering amenities to accommodate any lifestyle.  This is one of the main reasons for the double-digit increases in home values over the last few years and will be for many years to come.  If you are interested in knowing more about the Cherry Creek community and Cherry Creek real estate, please contact Colorado House Finders at info@coloradohousefinders.com.

A report produced by Standard & Poor and Yale University economist Robert Schiller states the Denver Real Estate market is showing early signs of recovery.  This is based on results from the study that illustrates how the Denver Real Estate market has seen a 1.3 percent appreciation in home values between May and June 2007 and 0.8 percent between June and July.

According to the study, the Denver Real Estate home appreciations peaked in February of 2001 after a 15% year-over-year appreciation for the past decade.  Whereas, several other markets around the country continued to see significant increases in home value appreciations.  Since Denver’s rate of home value appreciation stabilized before several other markets around the country, S&P Vice President Maureen Maitland stated “Now,

Economist Michael Kone, principal of Boulder-based Housingmetrics, said there is still “intense pain” for the lower end of the housing market in the Denver area, with a “huge bump” in foreclosures to come, as subprime mortgages adjust upward.  Colorado is on pace to see more than 37,000 foreclosures filed this year, a 30 percent increase over the record set last year. Colorado and the Denver area are among the top 10 worst areas in the county for foreclosure rates.  Expensive houses, Kone said, are doing much better in the metro area.  Also, as always, there are pockets of strength.

Based on analysis that was performed by Bright Rain Solutions between July 2005 through June 2006 and July 2006 through June 2007, there are 30 Denver neighborhoods that have seen between a 10% and 36.6% increase in home prices.  However, on the flip side, there are another 30 neighborhoods that have seen between an 11.2% and 57.2% decrease in home values during the same timeframe.If you are interested in additional information regarding the topics covered in this article or need additional information regarding real estate in the Denver Metro Area, please contact us at info@coloradohousefinders.com.

Just the other day my partner and I where showing a new client homes in the Highlands neighborhood in Denver CO.  The Highlands neighborhood is a very desirable neighborhood in the Denver real estate market, due to the bungalow style homes, urban feel, local shops and restaurants and proximity to Downtown Denver.   

Unlike many real estate markets in Denver and throughout the country, the Highlands neighborhood is one of the magnet communities that have experienced double digit (13 percent) home appreciation over the last year.  The problem with the high appreciation in a market like the Highlands neighborhood is that you get inexperienced agents that are unknowingly providing their buyers and sellers wrong advice.  This wrong advice could lend itself to a home buyer paying more than the house is worth and unforeseen negative home appreciation for many years. 

My client that I spoke of in the beginning of the article was working with an inexperienced agent who did not understand the Highlands neighborhood. However, they were fortunately also working with one of the Colorado House Finders’ appraisal consultants well versed in the Highlands community. 

The situation with our new client occurred when their inexperienced real estate agent made an offer on a house in the Highlands neighborhood that was overpriced by another inexperienced real estate agent.  Not understanding the Highlands market, this agent did not have the competency to advise the client on a reasonable offer to make on the house.  As a result, they made an offer on the house that was thousands of dollars over market value.  Fortunately, this client sensed doubt in their agent’s competency and as a result contacted one our appraisal consultants.  Our appraisal consultant provided a thorough analysis of the subject property and the Highlands neighborhood that clearly illustrated the subject was significantly overpriced for the market.

You are probably asking yourself why the purchase would have occurred and how the property would have appraised?  (more…)