(The Center Square) – Consumers’ ability to afford a home in Denver and throughout Colorado continues to decline, according to a new report.
The Homebuyers Misery Index, compiled by the Common Sense Institute, worsened in all of Colorado’s counties and throughout many parts of the Denver metro area since the think tank’s last report in August 2023. CSI’s Free Enterprise Competitiveness Housing Index currently ranks Colorado last in a ranking of 50 states and the District of Columbia.
“Despite a glimmer of hope facilitated by declining mortgage rates in the fourth quarter of 2023, available inventory remained restrained as homeowners clung to their homes financed with sub-3% mortgage rates, keeping the cost of housing stubbornly high,” according to the 29-page report . “New housing permits also remain suppressed in the fourth quarter, with all Denver metro area counties forecasted to end the year in a housing supply deficit status.”
The unaffordability index jumped 7% in Mesa County while Boulder’s increased 3%.