Housing prices in Denver are high, but so is the return

The downside of the Denver metro area’s rising housing costs is obvious: a smaller and smaller percentage of residents can afford to buy a home. But for those who can, the return on investment in Denver is one of the most advantageous in the country, according to a recent survey by realtor.com.

The analysis found that the median return for homes was 8 percent nationally over the past year. Of the 100 largest metro areas, the annual return was as high as 14 percent and as low as 2 percent.

The rates were figured by comparing homes that sold over the past year and comparing that sales price with the previous one, going back as far as 2008. The profit was defined as the difference between the two sales, according to realtor.com.

Denver was sixth on the list with an 11 percent return.

Bridgeport, Conn., was No. 1 at 14 percent with a median home list price of $467,600. Boston, Nashville, Tenn., and Portland, Ore., rounded out the Top 10 at 10 percent each.

It’s not simply Denver’s growth that has affected real estate, but from where some buyers are relocating.

“There’s been just a huge influx of people and money into Denver,” Ryan Penn, an associate broker at 360dwellings Real Estate, said in the news release about the study. “I’m representing a couple of buyers who are relocating from Los Angeles, and they’re in contract to sign for a $1.3 million home. In California, they would pay three times more for something the same size.”

For those fortunate enough to have entered the market at the right time, and found value based on the location of their home, the could be sitting on a nice return.

“Even if you bought a home two years ago, you can be sitting on $100,000 of equity,” Penn said.