Lack of Foreclosures Driving Denver Home Prices Higher

Real estate values in Denver continue to climb higher and higher, thus far defying predictions from earlier this year that metro area home prices might finally be on the verge of falling. One big reason appears to be comparatively few foreclosures in Denver, other major Colorado cities and the state as a whole.

The revelations come from CoreLogic, whose just-released monthly loan-performance-insights report shows that mortgage delinquency rates across the country have hit an eleven-year low. And according to Colorado-specific statistics supplied to Westword, our state is leading the way when it comes to this trend.

Specifically, the rate of Colorado homes with payments that have been delinquent for thirty days or more stood at 1.8 percent in March, the most recent month for which figures are available. That's the lowest in the entire country, edging out North Dakota, whose delinquency rate was 1.9 percent. Moreover, Colorado's so-called serious delinquency rate for March is also number one, registering at 0.5 percent. The next two closest states are Idaho and Utah, at 0.7 percent. Finally, the March foreclosure rate of 0.1 percent bests every other state; several others are at 0.2 percent.

Although Denver's digits are the same as Colorado's when it comes to the serious delinquency and foreclosure rates, the metric for homes with delinquent payments of thirty days or more lands up a bit, at 2.2 percent. But despite this last figure, the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood market still has the second-lowest delinquency rate of ten major metro areas in the U.S. highlighted by CoreLogic, behind only the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward area of California, with which it ties for first in regard to fewest foreclosures.

The delinquency and foreclosure rates in Boulder and Fort Collins are even lower than those in Denver, with Colorado Springs, Greeley and Pueblo a tad higher but still far from excessive compared to states and cities across the country.

How do foreclosures impact home prices? When foreclosed homes flood markets, inventory increases, which lowers costs — and the more distressed the properties are, the further down the digits drift. In contrast, fewer foreclosures often means an absence of bargains, and that gives sellers a big advantage over buyers.

As many folks looking for a home in Denver know from bitter personal experience. Continue to see the delinquency and foreclosure rates for March 2017 and March 2018 for Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, Pueblo and Colorado overall.

Boulder

30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 1.0 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 0.2 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2018: 0.1 percent
30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2017 1.0 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 0.3 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2017: 0.1 percent

Colorado Springs

30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 2.2 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 0.8 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2018: 0.2 percent
30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 2.6 ercent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 1.0 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2017: 0.3 percent
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood

30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 1.6 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 0.5 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2018: 0.1 percent
30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 1.9 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 0.6 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2017: 0.1 percent

Fort Collins

30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 1.2 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 0.3 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2018: 0.1 percent
30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 1.3 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 0.4 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2017: 0.1 percent

Greeley

30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 2.2 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 0.6 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2018: 0.2 percent
30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 2.5 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 0.8 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2017: 0.3 percent

Pueblo

30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 3.7 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 1.2 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2018: 0.2 percent
30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 4.4 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 1.6 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2017: 0.4 percent

Colorado

30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 1.8 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2018: 0.5 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2018: 0.1 percent
30 Days or More Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 2.1 percent
Serious Delinquency Rate, March 2017: 0.8 percent
Foreclosure Rate, March 2017: 0.2 percent