The Denver Housing Market is both overpriced and un-affordable to first-time home buyers per a recent Morgan Stanley poll. 89 percent of wealthy people in the Metro area agree with the Morgan Stanley survey. The market is out pricing first-time home buyers. Many people in the real estate community are growing concerned about a possible bubble. Todd Hauer, a Morgan Stanley financial advisor, thinks that the 2008 economic crisis is still on people’s minds. People are very cautious as a result.
There is a split between poll respondents in that 49 percent backed the Denver Housing Market. They feel that people between the ages of 25 and 75 should invest in the Denver area. However, 51 percent did not feel the same way. Hauer said that due to the 2008 housing bubble, whenever the real estate market or any other asset class goes up, risk also increases. The same applies to the reverse.
According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price indices, Denver Metro is number one in home price appreciation for half of 2015. In 2015, Denver was second in the nation among the principal cities four times out of the year. In the month of December, they were in third place. Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco followed behind. In the same year, home prices in Denver rose 10.2 percent in comparison to 5.4 percent nationally. Investors are worried due to the rapid increase.
Other interesting notes from the survey include: 55 percent felt that there will be a recession in the next five years. Overall, 90 percent of the people felt that the federal government should address healthcare costs. 86 percent of the people felt that they should discuss the economy, and 80 percent said that they should tackle infrastructure.
In 2016, renewable energy got ranked the highest among Denver’s wealthy investors. 64 percent of the people gave solar a favorable rating and 56 percent rated wind as favorable. Natural gas was at 49 percent. 41 percent of battery-powered electric vehicles trailed natural gas. Only 6 percent of oil stocks make up the S&P 500 index per Hauer. This is compared to 12 percent when oil sold at $85 per barrel a few years ago. Hauer notes that Denver’s wealthy are for renewable energy. They want to protect the environment since it is a big part of the economy.
Per Hauer, wealthy investors were concerned about the cost of higher education. Overall, 93 percent of the people thought that the high costs of education are not justifiable while 55 percent strongly agreed that the expenses were legitimate. 70 percent of people thought that a college education is a must for today’s students.
People are also beginning to question the high costs of education. It has been continually going up. Both parents and students are questioning the value of their studies for tuitions of $100,000 in state and $200,000 out of state respectively. People are getting fed up, but large amounts of them are saying that a college education is not optional and that they have to do it. At the same time, they are questioning the value they are getting.
