Few cities have benefitted more from the current booming economy than Denver. In fact, Colorado’s capital city earned the designation as the “best economy in the nation” for 2018.
Fueling the Mile-High City’s success is business real estate. When the recession ended, the city’s office market blossomed, reaching unprecedented levels with eight consecutive quarters of positive net absorption.
That promise is not stopping the hesitancy of investors. Simply put, they fear too much of a good thing. Seventy-five percent of them believe that a recession will come within the next two years. Many cite the post-traumatic stress syndrome created by the Great Recession of 2008.
More than ten years have passed since many financial institutions began handing out subprime mortgages to seemingly any prospective homeowner who applied. A perfect storm of catastrophe struck as rates were on the upswing and home prices were on the decline. Combined with a construction boom, the supply of residences was outpacing the demand.
The term “underwater” became the parlance of the time. Mortgage borrowers who once enjoyed the ease of a subprime mortgage then found difficulty making payments for real estate already valued less than the mortgage. Many simply could not afford the roofs over their respective heads.
The seeds were planted for the stock market catastrophe eleven years ago. The bullish approach in real estate finally gored the economy.
Denver’s heralded recovery is due to a variety of factors that include:
- A Millennial population increase of 18.7 percent from 2011 to 2016
- Metro Denver jobs increasing by 15.7 percent from 2013 to 2018
- The Mile-High City’s unemployment rate of 2.9 percent as of June 2019
A younger generation looking to put down roots in a city where employers are establishing and growing their operations can only further spur the real estate and employment markets. While economies have peaks and valleys – particularly those evidenced by recent stock market volatility – Denver remains a popular destination to find both a career and a home.
Planting business or residential roots in Denver may necessitate an experienced real estate lawyer’s guidance.