Market Update, June 27, 2024

The median income for Denver-area households is $98,975. The median price for a home that sold last month was $603,000. In May 2010, the median price for a home sold was $212,500. The median income was $73,198.

Put into perspective, last month, median incomes were only about 16% of the cost of a median home, a stark contrast to 2010 when the median household income was about 34% of the cost of the median home.

When people say incomes haven’t kept up with the price of housing, they’re absolutely right.

In May 2010, if a buyer put 10% down on that median-priced home, they may have gotten a 30-year fixed mortgage with an interest rate of 4.86%. A typical monthly payment may have been about $1,481. At about 24% of the median income, this wasn’t cheap, but it was within the range of what economists recommend people spend on housing.

Some folks in Metro Denver bought back then and have similar payments today. That’s the beauty of a fixed-rate mortgage. Insurance, taxes, and HOA fees may go up, but you have a pretty good idea of what your payment will be for the life of the loan.

Today, that median home takes much more of a household’s income. Last month, a buyer may have gotten a 7.16% interest rate. The median payment with 10% down for that buyer could easily be about $4,320. That’s a whopping 52% of the median income.

Nationally, home builders are helping to increase inventory. Locally, we’d like to see that, too. Here, permits to build new homes rose steadily from 2009 to 2021, but have been down since 2021. More homes would help keep prices in check. Higher incomes and lower interest rates would help affordability, too.