DENVER (KDVR) — Renters have a harder time breaking into homeownership in Colorado than most of the country, depending on the city.
Both rental costs and homeownership costs in Colorado are some of the nation’s most expensive, matching only coastal markets. As of March 2023, the median sales price for a Denver area single family detached home was $620,000, requiring a top-tier income to afford both down payment and monthly mortgage payments.
Renters have a such a large bridge to cross in much of Colorado that a majority will never be able to buy a home, according to an analysis by moving firm HireAHelper. Analysts crunched home prices and renter incomes in over 200 metro areas to see how many renters could afford a home assuming a 6% down payment and current interest rates.
In most of the nation’s cities, more than half of renters cannot afford to break into the homeownership market. In 17 of them, at least 90% of renters can’t afford to buy a home. Two Colorado metros – Boulder and Fort Collins – are on that list.
In the Fort Collins-Loveland area, 96.7% of renters are priced out of homeownership, the fifth highest rate in the U.S. In Boulder, 93.1% are, which is the nation’s ninth highest rate.
The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro is less prohibitive, but still in the top 25% of the country for the share of renters blocked out of homeownership by expense. About 81% – more than four in five – Denver area renters cannot afford a home.