How gentrification is affecting housing prices in Denver
When a formerly depressed neighborhood suddenly becomes hot, rapid growth can transform an area almost overnight. But it can also bring expensive growing pains. Is gentrification making Denver unaffordable?
Gentrification can happen quickly. As higher-income buyers move into a growing neighborhood, the cost of living goes up. Rents typically escalate, forcing poor and working-class families to move elsewhere.
For many residents, the effects of gentrification can quickly become an issue. The question is whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
How gentrification can help homeowners
As property values rise, homeowners often find themselves stuck paying ever-higher property taxes. Those who can’t afford the taxes must often sell their homes. But there is an upside: the opportunity to profit handsomely from a higher selling price.
Homeowners who stick around, meanwhile, can enjoy the economic benefits of gentrification, including new shopping, new restaurants, new job opportunities, better schools, and lower crime rates.
Gentrification in Denver
In Denver, the median home price increased from $162,000 in 2000 to $316,000 in 2015. That’s an increase of 95.1 percent — nearly double — over the course of 15 years. Much of the increase was driven by a rapid influx of new residents. In 2016 alone, more than 1,000 new households moved to Denver every month.
As a result, 42 percent of formerly affordable neighborhoods have gone upscale, according to a 2016 study by the Denver Office of Economic Development. That’s more than eight times the rate of gentrification nationwide.
Top 10 gentrifying cities in the USA
Nationwide, only about five percent of urban tracts that could be gentrified are actually going that route, according to the Denver Office of Economic Development. But in the top gentrifying cities, new higher-income residents are displacing the existing lower-income residents at a much more rapid pace.
The top 10 fastest-gentrifying cities are:
- Washington D.C.
- San Diego, CA
- NYC, NY
- Albuquerque, NM
- Atlanta, GA
- Baltimore, MD
- Portland, OR
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Seattle, WA
- Philadelphia, PA
How to buy in a gentrified neighborhood of Denver (without spending a fortune)
Without a doubt, gentrification is raising home values across parts of Denver, and finding a bargain isn’t easy. By the time a neighborhood starts heating up, real estate prices are already shooting skyward. But that doesn’t mean it’s too late to buy a home at an affordable price.
We Buy Ugly Houses Colorado buys homes in all areas of the city, renovates them, and then sells them at the best possible prices. No matter which neighborhood is next in line for gentrification, you can still find a great home to buy.
