Denver, Colorado Real Estate and Relocation Information

The city of Denver began with the rush to find gold. Prior to the gold frenzy, the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians roamed the plains. The first settlement was near the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River where placer gold was discovered in 1858. Quickly the settlement grew with gold seekers from the east, and the town was named for the Governor of Kansas, James Denver. With the arrival of 100,000 settlers, Colorado was named a territory in 1861.

Denver’s quick growth made developing the town a priority, and soon railroads began serving the new city, two newspapers were established, and supply stores dotted the landscape to serve the neighboring mountain mining towns. Settlers began to farm and ranch on the high plains where Denver is located, and agriculture and related businesses soon dominated the region. In 1876 Colorado became a state and Denver its capitol.

If gold gave the town its beginning, in the 1880s silver gave it its riches. Mansions sprang up, built by the new silver barons. But the silver collapse of 1893 ended the silver era, and the city once again began to change and diversify. By the early 1900s the city had become the economic hub of the Rocky Mountain west.

After World War II Denver became an oil and gas center and the downtown area began to grow. In the 1970s a plethora of skyscrapers dominated the skyline. Tourism and service industries claimed their share of the economy. In the 1990s telecommunications and technology gave Denver a boost and the city began to redevelop what by now were outdated rail yards, old manufacturing sites, and decommissioned facilities such as the Denver Stapleton Airport and the Lowry Air Force Base

Today Denver’s population is in excess of 550,000, and the metro area’s population is 2.4 million. Denver’s population has more than doubled since 1960, its downtown is the 10th largest in the nation.

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Denver Myths and Real Estate Prices

• As one writer has pointed out, people who have never visited Denver subscribe to some myths about our city. Number one, Denver is not in the mountains. We live in the high plains right next to the mountains.
• Second, we don't normally have severe winters (2006-07 was an exception!). Ours is a temperate climate with many 60+ sunny winter days. Yes, we do have snow, but it usually lasts on the ground just a short time, and doesn’t collect in huge piles as it does in our mountains where you’d want to have a lot of snow in the winter. And we’re known for having 300 days of sunshine annually.
• Third, Denver is not noticeably a “western” town, with cowboys and Indians and covered wagons. Today Denver is a sophisticated, thriving urban center with many revitalized New Urban design infill developments such as Lowry and Stapleton. Central Denver’s neighborhoods are a rich variety of old mansions, apartment buildings, single family homes, new townhomes and condos and parks.
• Denver real estate market conditions vary from month to month. The average price at this writing for a single family home in Denver is $315,000. Average price for Denver condos and ownhomes runs about $190,000.
• If you want to know what's new in central Denver, check out this terrific site. http://www.denverinfill.com

Denver Real Estate Prices for January 2008
(data from August 1, 2007 to January 31, 2008)

3,906 detached single family homes were sold with a median list price of $196,425. On average homes took 92 days to sell and sold for a median price of $191,085. Median Price is generally a better measure of sold price than average, which is skewed by a few high-priced homes at the top and bottom ends. Lowest sold price for detached single family homes was $22,500; highest sold price was $4,350,000. For condos and townhomes (attached family homes) the lowest sold price was $240 [original data may be incorrect, which could affect percentages below] while the highest was $2,695,000. The median sold price was $160,000, while the average was $215,882.
 
The ratio of sold to list price was 96.62% for detached homes. The ratio of sold to original price was 88.91% which means that sellers are still listing homes at too high a price. The net sold (after seller concessions such as down payment or closing cost assistance, and the like) to original list price was 88.11%. To simplify, if a seller originally listed their home at $200,000, they realized $176,220 from the sale.
 
By the time the seller finally reached a marketable price after having listing it too high, the sold to list ratio improved to 96.62%, and the net sold to list price was 95.75%.

Denver Shopping and Dining

• The downtown area, revitalized during the 1970s, has continued to keep pace with Denver’s growth and is a vital center for living,working,entertainment and dining. In fact Denver is second only to San Francisco in restaurants per capita, and has more microbreweries per capita than any city in the country. Denver is ringed with world-class shopping areas, including a thriving downtown shopping arena, the 16th Street Mall.
• If you’re in the market for books, national chain stores like Borders and Barnes & Noble compete with local bookstore doyenne Joyce Meskis’ Tattered Cover, located in the old Helen Bonfils Theater, newly moved and renovated. Long a Denver institution, the Tattered Cover provides a place for gathering, coffee, and browsing among the largest collections of books in the city. Friendly clerks, who work at the Tattered Cover because they want to rather than need to, are there to answer your most arcane questions.

Denver, Colorado Attractions

Cultural attractions make Denver one of the West’s most sophisticated cities. From its beginnings, Denver residents have always supported the arts. The Tabor Grand Opera House opened in 1881.

• The newest arrival on the Denver scene is the Frederick C. Hamilton addition to the Denver Art Museum, designed by world-renowned architect, David Leibeskind scheduled to open in the fall of 2006. The dreams were never small.
• In 1995 the city hired Michael Graves, another world-renowned architect, to design an addition to the Greek Revival city library originally built in 1910.
• Other attractions include the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the Colorado Ballet, the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and the Denver Botanic Gardens.
• Professional sports abound with the Colorado Rockies, the Denver Broncos, the Colorado Avalanche, the Colorado Rapids and the Denver Nuggets. All but the Rapids have built new stadiums in the last decade. The Rapids will be moving to Commerce City and a new stadium is in the process of being built at this writing.

Denver, Colorado Parks and Recreation

Denver is a city of parks thanks to Robert Speer, Mayor of Denver during the early1900s and his City Beautiful vision. Speer spearheaded the building of parks in Denver and in the mountains further west. As a result Denver’s parks system is extensive, and provides residents with many places to seek refuge from the hectic pace of everyday life. Residential areas surround the city parks and are very desirable places to live.

Lakeside Amusement Park is one of the oldest in the country dating from the early 1900s, and offers a classic Cyclone roller coaster, 39 rides such as the daring Chipmunk roller coaster, the Dragon roller coaster for less hardy souls, a Tilt-A-Whirl, a newly renovated Whip, two steam trains from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair in operation for nearly 100 years, a ferris wheel, merry-go-round, bumper cars and boats and many kiddie rides. Picnicking is a highlight for the whole family. This is a place not to miss for families considering relocating to Denver.

Denver has much to offer its residents, and over the years has attracted new settlers from around the world. It is a mobile city where people relocate then leave for new jobs elsewhere. Many stay and come to appreciate the city as the best place to live in the United States.

Denver, Colorado Zip Codes

• 80202, 80203, 80204, 80205, 80206, 80207, 80209, 80210, 80211, 80212, 80214, 80215, 80216, 80218, 80219, 80220, 80221, 80222, 80223, 80224, 80226, 80227, 80228, 80229, 80230, 80231, 80232, 80233, 80234, 80235, 80236, 80237, 80239, 80241, 80246, 80249, 80260, 80264, 80290, 80293, 80294

Denver, Colorado Hospitals and Medical Centers

• Centura Health-St Anthony Central Hospital
• Centura Health-Porter Adventist Hospital
• The Children’s Hospital
• Denver Health Medical Center
• Exempla-Saint Joseph Hospital
• Natl Jewish Medical & Research Center
• Presbyterian/St Luke's Medical Center
• Rose Medical Center
• University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

Denver, Colorado Weather

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