There were 24,494 foreclosures filed with public trustee offices in the seven-county Denver area in 2008, an 11.8 percent drop from the record 27,785 filings in 2007.
Although 2008 was the second-worst year on record, it is a far cry from the 41.5 percent increase in foreclosures posted in 2007 from 2006.
Colorado was hit with foreclosure problems earlier than most of the country, responded with a hotline and legislative action sooner, and, as a result of both of these factors, is coming out from under the problem sooner as well.
The City and County of Denver's strong edge in building permits over the surrounding suburbs as construction rapidly declined, Denver's lead in reducing foreclosures, Denver's relatively stable real estate prices, and three years of double digit declines in crime rates all point to the continuing health of Denver's central city, as the rich migrate to the core (reversing the interstate highway system driven flight of the wealthy to the suburbs) and the less affluent drive until they reach homes that they can afford.
Las Vegas, where I spent the holidays is littered with commercial and condominium buildings whose construction has been abandoned mid-project as a result of their real estate bust, and there are strip malls everywhere with fully outfitted restaurants with signage that have either closed or failed to open for business. In contrast, the Denver projects upon which construction has begun are continuing to go up, and there are even new projects going up in places like Denver's Cherry Creek Mall area.
Yes, Denver, does seem to still be capturing the residual wealth from the coasts, as it has been doing for well over a century.
ReplyDeleteThe 'burb v. central city inversion is more interesting to me personally.
ReplyDeleteIt's not an inversion, it's a reversion. Cities emptied out due to FHA racist policies such as red-lining. European cities didn't suffer the same fate in the 20th century.
ReplyDelete