THE ISSUES
Colorado Faces Significant Housing Affordability Challenges
Our state continues to attract new residents and jobs. With this growth has come ever-increasing housing prices. The high cost of housing is apparent throughout Colorado’s large cities, suburban areas, and even some of our small towns. Employers have struggled to attract service industry workers due to the lack of affordable housing, young professionals cannot afford starter homes in our metropolitan areas, and—at the extreme end of the affordability crisis—we see increasing evidence of homelessness in many of our communities.
The high cost of housing is apparent throughout Colorado’s large cities, suburban areas, and even some of our small towns.
Recent news reporting highlights several aspects of Colorado’s housing affordability crisis:
- According to U.S. News, Colorado ranks as the third-least affordable state in the nation when median income is compared to median home sales prices.
- A 2019 survey published by Housing Colorado and the National Housing Conference showed that several categories of essential workers, including childcare workers, firefighters, dental assistants, plumbers, and bank tellers, cannot afford to rent or own a median-priced home in most of Colorado’s metropolitan areas.
- The average price of a single-family home in the Denver metro region topped $600,000 for the first time in the summer of 2020.
- According to the City and County of Denver, wage growth in the city has lagged increases in both rental and for-sale housing prices since 2013, mirroring market dynamics in other cities in Colorado. In Colorado Springs, more than half of renters pay more than 30% of their income on rent.
- The affordability crisis on the Front Range has spilled over into Colorado’s rural areas and smaller communities, which have less ability to absorb higher housing costs.
- As with larger cities in Colorado, Durango has a limited supply of housing on the market, leading to a median sales price for single-family homes of $517,000 and $340,000 for townhouses and condominiums.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated housing affordability concerns across Colorado, as service sector employees have faced job losses while housing costs continue to increase.
- In a 2018 survey, one-third of Coloradans surveyed reported being fearful about losing their homes in the coming year due to the unaffordability of monthly payments.
OUR PLATFORM
Tackling all of the problems that contribute to Colorado’s high housing costs is a big task. CHAP’s initial area of focus is: removing zoning barriers to the development of affordable forms of housing.