Colorado Real Estate: The Top Cities

By: Lane Hornung

Lying at the foothills of the mighty Rocky Mountains, the state of Colorado with an average elevation of 6,800 feet is the state with the highest elevation in the United States. Its capital and largest city, Denver, is nicknamed "The Mile-High City" because its official elevation, measured on the fifteenth step of the state capitol building's west side, is one statute mile (5,280 feet or 1,609 meters) above sea level. Colorado Springs is the second largest city in Colorado, while Boulder and Fort Collins are two other hot spots.

The entire state offers landscapes of striking beauty with mountains and plateaus and is rich in gold, silver, and other minerals. Once primarily a mining and agricultural state, Colorado's economy is even now driven by mining and energy industries, telecommunications, defense and other service industries. It is also a large employer of federal workers with many federal government offices located in Denver.

From a real estate point of view all four cities have been witnessing a developmental boom for several years now. While Denver has witnessed an explosion of development downtown in recent years with the Downtown Denver Partnership estimating that 13,760 residential units have been built in the city’s center since 1990, there is still a strong demand for high-priced properties in the area with a spate of new projects coming up. Museum Residences and Art House Projects are two such developments designed and built by top-notch architects. While Museum Residences is coming up next to the Denver Museum of Art, the Art House Project is coming up next to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Both projects have been designed to make “Home is Where the Art is”.

Colorado Springs on the other hand is going through a phase of urban renewal. The city has set up a Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority which has designated four areas as urban renewal sites since 2001: downtown’s southwest side; the City Auditorium block in the heart of downtown; the North Nevada Avenue corridor in the center of the city; and the Gold Hill Mesa property on the Springs’ west side. As a result there is now a development boom going on in the area and many new residential properties are coming up in a planned manner with good architecture and amenities.

In Boulder a change in demographics has triggered a similar real estate boom. Boulder County’s median family income has doubled over the past 13 years from $47,800 in 1992 to over $90,000 now. Similarly real estate values have also more than doubled during the same period – medians from around $122,000 in 1990 to over $300,000 now. The median rent has also shot up from $480 in 1990 to over $900 now. Boulder, therefore, is today a very hot real estate market.

In Fort Collins the emphasis is on second-home and resort ventures. Demographically, Fort Collins is presently witnessing an increase in health worker and medical worker populations with many new health offices, medical centers and hospitals are coming up in the area. These workers, however, do not have very high median incomes, so homes in the lower end of the market will find more takers than up-market, high value properties. So, from an investment point of view, Fort Collins is ideal for investment in second homes, resort ventures and homes for the middle class.

Colorado as a whole is on the upswing. In 2004, the state had the 10th highest job growth in the country, with a healthy chunk of that coming in the professional and business services sector. The bottom line is that Colorado has many job opportunities and is a pleasant place to live, which has led to an increasing number of people calling it home.

The author recommends that you visit http://www.cohomefinder.com for more information on Colorado real estate. -----------------------