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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Denver.

Axios Denver

Get smarter, faster about what’s happening in your backyard with local reporters John Frank, Alayna Alvarez and Esteban L. Hernandez.

Axios Denver Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

A guide to fun things to do in Denver this weekend.

Axios Denver Weekender

Weekender

Axios Denver Deep Dive

Deep Dive

Denver Members

Membership

Home-swap networks are growing as owning a vacation property has become less attractive.

 Our thought bubble: "The Holiday," anyone?

Driving the news: Last month, San Francisco-based Kindred announced it raised $15 million to expand its members-only business into Europe.

The platform, which includes listings in Denver, has more than 2,500 homes in over 50 cities across North America and will debut in major overseas cities such as London and Berlin later this year.

The big picture: Across the country, demand for second homes is down more than half from pre-pandemic levels, fueled by high costs, a cooling short-term rental market and a pullback in remote work, per a new Redfin report.

Zoom in: Colorado mountain properties are still hot, but Denver is feeling the decline, Scott Castro, a local investment property specialist, tells Axios.

"No one wants to buy a second home right now" because of elevated interest rates, Guide Real Estate's Castro says.

Local officials cracking down on short-term rental rules have also hampered interest, he says.

Some people who bought vacation homes during the pandemic boom are now turning them into long-term rentals to pay the bills, Castro says.

Between the lines: The way people travel has changed, boosting the "sharing economy" that's now flush with Airbnb-style rental marketplaces.

How it works: Kindred has a "give-to-get" model. You earn credits toward booking a place by hosting a member in your own home.

The intrigue: There are no nightly rental fees. For each trip, members cover the cost of cleaning and a service fee capped at $25 per night.

Membership is pay-as-you-go, and there's a waitlist to join, as homes are accepted based on supply and demand across locations.

The bottom line: Sharing is caring — and one way to offset pricier vacations during what's expected to be a record-setting travel season.

Buying a vacation home is out. Trading homes is in.

Illustration of two keys, passing through a phone and trading places. 

Real estate

Illustration of two keys, passing through a phone and trading places.

Home-swap networks are growing as owning a vacation property has become less attractive.<ul><li> Our thought bubble: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="&quot;The Holiday,&quot;" data-vars-click-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDi5zH18vxU" data-vars-content-id="13f50e4a-2811-4509-bddc-eb7bb1910e23" data-vars-headline="Buying a vacation home is out. Trading homes is in." data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDi5zH18vxU" target="_blank">&quot;The Holiday,&quot;</a> anyone?</li></ul>

Real Estate

Axios Denver, anchored by John Frank and Alayna Alvarez, is here to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in their own backyard.

Denver is one of the top 11 metros adding the most new single-family homes for rent, data show.

Why it matters: Built-to-rent housing can provide the opportunity to move into a brand-new, single-family home without a huge down payment or long-term commitment, Axios' Felix Salmon reports.

The Denver metro is short almost 70,000 homes for sale or rent, one of the widest housing gaps in the country, a new Zillow analysis shows.

What's happening: Those houses have found a growing niche among would-be buyers who can't afford — or find — a single-family home, and those opting not to buy for lifestyle reasons, Doug Ressler of real estate research firm Yardi Matrix tells Axios.

Driving the news: The metro's built-to-rent supply almost doubled in the last five years, surging by 91%, per a recent report from listing service RentCafe.

The trend is expected to persist. Denver made the top 15 for the number of such homes currently under construction, per the data.

By the numbers: Across the Denver metro, 888 single-family rentals were added between 2017 and 2022, bringing the total supply to 1,869 — the 11th-largest in the country, according to RentCafe.

Plus, 920 built-to-rent units are currently under construction and expected to be completed in 2023.

Zoom in: "Especially in lifestyle markets," like Denver, "people want a maintenance-free type of living, because they may want to go get on their trail bike, they want to do other things," says Ressler, manager of business intelligence at Yardi Matrix, which provides data for RentCafe.

"The Denver area is prime" for these kinds of houses, he says.

What they're saying: "Built-to-rent housing is quickly emerging as an essential, and highly desirable, sector of America's housing market," says David Howard, CEO of the National Rental Home Council.

Be smart: Single-family rentals are nothing new. Like multi-family housing, the market has developed over many decades, according to commercial real estate company CBRE.

The bottom line: Building more single-family rentals isn't going to solve the housing crisis, but it could help ease the supply crunch.

Data: National Rental Home Council, U.S. Census Bureau; Chart: Thomas Oide/Axios

In Denver, there are 632 built-to-rent units planned or under construction per million inhabitants, according to the National Rental Home Council.

State of play: These houses aren't available everywhere. In 10 states, there is no single-family, built-to-rent construction ongoing or even planned, the group found.

Arizona leads with 2,011 units planned or under construction per million inhabitants.

The big picture: National construction of new build-to-rent homes hit a record high last year, with more than 14,500 houses completed and three times as many under construction, per RentCafe.

New single-family rental homes are on the rise in Denver

Built-to-rent housing is one way to aid Denver's housing supply shortage.

Illustration of a plywood house that is also an upward arrow. 

Denver is one of the top 11 metros adding the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="most new single-family homes" data-vars-click-url="https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/market-snapshots/build-to-rent-single-family-homes-construction/" data-vars-content-id="68c6c732-74b6-4a83-8830-0135ba78cbf3" data-vars-headline="New single-family rental homes are on the rise in Denver" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/market-snapshots/build-to-rent-single-family-homes-construction/" target="_blank">most new single-family homes</a> for rent, data show.Why it matters: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Built-to-rent housing" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/05/20/us-rental-home-housing-shortage-america?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_sanfrancisco&amp;stream=top" data-vars-content-id="68c6c732-74b6-4a83-8830-0135ba78cbf3" data-vars-headline="New single-family rental homes are on the rise in Denver" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/05/20/us-rental-home-housing-shortage-america?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_sanfrancisco&amp;stream=top" target="_self">Built-to-rent housing</a> can provide the opportunity to move into a brand-new, single-family home without a huge down payment or long-term commitment, Axios&#x27; Felix Salmon reports.<ul><li>The Denver metro is <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="short almost 70,000 homes" data-vars-click-url="https://www.zillow.com/research/affordability-crisis-missing-homes-32799/" data-vars-content-id="68c6c732-74b6-4a83-8830-0135ba78cbf3" data-vars-headline="New single-family rental homes are on the rise in Denver" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.zillow.com/research/affordability-crisis-missing-homes-32799/" target="_blank">short almost 70,000 homes</a> for sale or rent, one of the widest housing gaps in the country, a new Zillow analysis shows.</li></ul>

Data: Moody's Analytics; Table: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the average asking monthly rent in the Denver metro area was $1,744, up 9.3% from a year earlier, per economic research firm Moody's Analytics.

Why it matters: Affordability concerns are starting to weigh down the booming rental market.

What's happening: Many would-be home buyers chose to rent longer last year, sustaining apartment demand, economists at Moody's Analytics say. But people are hitting their spending limit.

For the first time in over two decades, households now have to spend 30% of their income on average rents, a new report says.

What they're saying: Year-over-year rent growth slowed in the second half of the year across the board, "and we expect further deceleration as new supply makes it to market at the same time the labor market softens," senior economist Lu Chen tells Axios.

Zoom out: Rents are already falling in cities that were near the epicenter of the pandemic home-price boom, Axios' Matt Phillips reports, citing Realtor.com data.

What we're watching: New apartment construction. The expected surge in supply could help bring down prices.

Yes, but: Experts say most cities will "remain undersupplied with the kind of affordable units that see the highest demand," per The Wall Street Journal.

Denver rents rose nearly 10% going into 2023, new report shows

Affordability concerns are starting to weigh down the booming rental market.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the average asking monthly rent in the Denver metro area was $1,744, up 9.3% from a year earlier, per economic research firm Moody&#x27;s Analytics.Why it matters: Affordability concerns are starting to weigh down the booming rental market.

Business

News

Data: McKinsey Health and Wellness Survey; Chart: Axios Visuals

Wellness is increasingly a key priority for consumers, according to the latest research from consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

The big picture: The estimated spend on wellness products and services is more than $450 billion in the United States and rising at more than 5% annually, McKinsey found.

Digestive or gut health, women's health and sexual health are among the areas driving more of that spending and purchasing power, Anna Pione, a partner at McKinsey, tells Axios.

Between the lines: Millennials are the key group to watch. They prioritize health and wellness more than any other generation, Pione says.

Reality check: Health products like supplements fall under the purview of the Federal Trade Commission, meaning they are not regulated the same way as prescription medication, which is managed by the Food and Drug Administration.

What's next: Consumers want more offerings to fully meet their needs, particularly for sleep and mindfulness, which includes therapy and meditation, per the research.

"In both of those categories there's a lot of evolution in terms of what is being brought to the table," from sleep tracking apps to direct-to-consumer mental health services, Pione says.

Consumers can't get enough health and wellness

The estimated spend on wellness products and services is more than $450 billion in the U.S., research shows.

Consumers

Wellness is increasingly a key priority for consumers, according to the latest <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="research" data-vars-click-url="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/still-feeling-good-the-us-wellness-market-continues-to-boom" data-vars-content-id="d76563eb-25c8-45b3-b444-33b6755935c8" data-vars-headline="Consumers can&#x27;t get enough health and wellness" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/still-feeling-good-the-us-wellness-market-continues-to-boom" target="_blank">research</a> from consulting firm McKinsey &amp; Company.The big picture: The estimated spend on wellness products and services is more than $450 billion in the United States and rising at more than 5% annually, McKinsey found.

New Denver homes are popping up and selling quickly, but supply still can't match demand.

Why it matters: As U.S. mortgage rates hit a 20-year high, golden handcuffs are locking up Denver's housing inventory, and that's fueling buyers' appetite for new builds, according to real estate experts.

The big picture: Sales of existing U.S. homes — the great majority of houses sold nationally — slid 19% from a year earlier, while new home sales soared 24%, according to June figures.

What they're saying: "What we're seeing in Denver is the new construction tends to be on the outskirts of town," Kelly Moye, a local Compass agent and spokesperson for the Colorado Association of Realtors, tells Axios.

Northern Colorado, Southern Colorado and the Eastern Plains areas are now popular for builders because there's water and more land, so "they're able to provide a really nice new home for less money," Moye says.

Axios Denver reader Lauren Watkins said she started looking at houses in March and considered a new build, but ultimately purchased a home in Centennial.

"We decided we would rather be in a fixer-upper in a nice neighborhood that was established, rather than a new home in an 'okay' area that was further away from the city that lacked trees and neighbors," she said.

Between the lines: The number of listings coming onto the Denver metro market is down roughly 29% compared to June 2022, per Redfin.

State of play: The new-build boost comes after rising rates curbed pandemic-driven home buying demand.

Builder confidence is now at its highest level since June 2022, having declined every month that year, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

What we're watching: Some builders are offering smaller, more affordable houses to lure first-time buyers, Axios' Matt Phillips reports.

Data: U.S. Census Bureau; Chart: Axios Visuals

The number of new homes sold in the West rose 35% in June compared to a year earlier, per the U.S. Census Bureau.

Existing home sales fell nearly 23% during that time, according to regional figures from the National Association of Realtors.

What's happening: New homes comprised nearly a third of total inventory in May, exceeding their typical 10%-to-15% share, according to chief economist Robert Dietz at the National Association of Home Builders.

Go deeper: Old houses now cost as much as new houses

Denver's new builds can't meet housing demand

It's one side effect of record-high mortgage rates.

Illustration of construction workers analyzing a house on top of a stack of money.

Housing

New Denver homes are popping up and selling quickly, but supply still can&#x27;t match demand.Why it matters: As U.S. <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="mortgage rates hit" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/22/mortgage-rates-current" data-vars-content-id="e5b34797-4e2d-4674-9e1d-78826c0f0e53" data-vars-headline="Denver&#x27;s new builds can&#x27;t meet housing demand" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/22/mortgage-rates-current" target="_self">mortgage rates hit</a> a 20-year high, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="golden handcuffs" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/07/08/housing-supply-colorado-mortage-rates" data-vars-content-id="e5b34797-4e2d-4674-9e1d-78826c0f0e53" data-vars-headline="Denver&#x27;s new builds can&#x27;t meet housing demand" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/07/08/housing-supply-colorado-mortage-rates" target="_self">golden handcuffs</a> are locking up Denver&#x27;s housing inventory, and that&#x27;s fueling buyers&#x27; appetite for new builds, according to real estate experts.

Sami Sparber

Featured stories

Denver's new builds can't meet housing demand

New single-family rental homes are on the rise in Denver

Buying a vacation home is out. Trading homes is in.

Consumers can't get enough health and wellness

Denver rents rose nearly 10% going into 2023, new report shows