Denver has fewer fixer-uppers than the rest of the country

Fewer fixer-uppers means real estate developers are increasingly looking to scrape properties. It also means fewer affordable homes.

staff photo
Denver on an autumn day. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Denver on an autumn day. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Like, a lot fewer. Nationally, the number of fixer-uppers rose 12 percent when compared to five years ago, according to an analysis by Zillow.

But in Denver, the number of fixer-uppers fell by 25.3 percent. 

That puts Denver with one of the lowest increases in fixer-upper properties. Sacramento won that race though — the city has 46.1 percent fewer fixer-uppers than they did five years ago.

Of course, with not many foreclosures and low serious delinquency rates, it’s not surprising that there’s not a lot of fixer-uppers in Denver. What is surprising is that there was a small increase in the mid-level fixer-uppers.

In Zillow’s report, they broke down the increases among homes prices within the top, middle and bottom tier. In another not-shock, the stock of fixer-upper homes priced in the bottom tier dropped precipitously too.

Low tier homes saw the biggest decrease in fixer-uppers.

Low tier homes saw the biggest decrease in fixer-uppers.

What does it matter? Well, with fewer fixer-uppers, that means real estate developers are increasingly looking to scrape properties. Plus, for some, fixer-uppers are an opportunity to get a more affordable home. In other words, it’s another signal of Denver’s growing affordability crisis.

 

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