Above comments jibe with my anecdotal evidence. Sister-in-law sold her house in a somewhat upscale suburb of Denver called Westminster in 2001 and did very well. Unfortunately, she bought in Boulder County shortly thereafter and is now down about $100k.
Denver has a disproportionate number of federal civil servants and contractors relative to other metro areas its size. When the federal government is finally forced to cut spending, Denver will get hit even more. Nice area in many ways, but like San Diego, real estate there is declining.
We just closed on our house in the Springs and got what I thought was a fair price, no more and no less. Plus it sold in less than a month and averaged one showing a day. Unlike Denver though, I’m not seeing any evidence of a decline, although it will eventually come. With all the Army and Homeland Defense coming here, we might be one of the last areas to fall. But I can’t help thinking that the peak in Colorado Springs is happening right now.
The guy who bought the house is from Las Vegas and apparently made alot of money on his house there.
Considering we had the house for less than three years, we did ok. The little bit we made just might end up in a down payment for something in San Diego, although not for a long time. We want to see at least a 40% drop before jumping in.
