Colorado Association of REALTORS® focuses on sensible policies for state’s housing shortage and pathways to homeownership

Leaders of the Colorado Association of REALTORS® (CAR) and their more than 25,000 members celebrate the start of the 2025 legislative session focused on finding bipartisan solutions for the state’s lingering and growing housing shortage, including improving housing inventory, access and affordability, insurability, as well as overall pathways to homeownership for Coloradans.

“It is more important than ever that we focus on collaborating on bipartisan solutions to address our statewide housing crisis and allow more Coloradans to achieve the American Dream of homeownership,” said 2025 CAR President and Summit County REALTOR® Dana Cottrell. “We’re looking forward to continuing our work with state leaders and their stakeholders to define and implement meaningful solutions that support the creation of housing options that meet the needs of a wide range of Coloradans.”

The 2024 statewide Pulse Poll conducted by the Colorado Health Foundation found that 90% of Colorado renters aspire to own a home however, more than half (52%) believe they are unlikely to own one based on affordability. In addition, the recently released National Association of REALTORS®(NAR) Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reports that first-time buyers have decreased to just 24% of the market share, the lowest share since NAR began collecting the data in 1981. The results and perception by such a large number of Coloradans may be due in part to Colorado facing a shortfall of at least 100,000 homes in meeting our state’s  housing needs, partly fueled by a severe shortage of condominium development. The lack of supply amid growing demand has led to a statewide median sales price of $578,000 for a single-family home according to the Association’s Market Trends data.  

Key issues and solutions highlighted by CAR include: 

• Enacting policies that encourage builders and developers to create more for-sale housing units, especially at more attainable price points below the statewide median price.
• Condominiums are an important housing option yet development between 2018 and 2022, across 11 front range counties, which collectively house more than 80% of Colorado’s population, was 76% lower than between 2002 and 2008. According to a report released by the Common Sense Institute (CSI) on the decline of condominium construction in Colorado, this has amounted to 14 new rental units for every one new for-sale condo in recent years, despite consumer demand for starter homes remaining high. Between 2002 and 2008, condos comprised 34% of all multifamily unit starts across an eight-county Denver metro region. In 2022, condos were just 3% of all multifamily housing unit starts. Spiking insurance costs make condos less attractive to developers. The frequency and cost of construction liability litigation has driven insurance companies to raise insurance rates for developers. Notably, CSI also reports that insurance costs for condominiums surged to 5.5% of a project’s hard costs. That was more than 233% higher than multifamily rental home projects, which had insurance costs as low as 1.1% to 1.65% of project hard costs.
• Exploring financial incentives to help would-be homebuyers achieve the American Dream and get their foot in the door on homeownership.
• Ensuring homeowners insurance remains available and attainable. Bankrate reports that the cost of Colorado’s homeowners’ insurance is the eighth highest in the nation, climbing nearly 60% in the last five years. Insurance affordability is now a major factor in whether a consumer can afford to buy a home in Colorado.

“We must do better in providing pathways to homeownership as every Coloradan should have an opportunity to own a home and secure stable housing,” said CAR’s Chief Executive Officer Tyrone Adams. “Owning a home allows Coloradans to stabilize their housing costs through a multi-year mortgage and helps communities retain essential workers. With a significant housing deficit, our association leaders and our boots-on-the-ground members across the state are eager to work with our elected leaders on solutions that can deliver a healthy real estate market that we know is so critical to the vitality of our communities.”

The Colorado Association of REALTORS® is the state’s largest real estate trade association representing over 25,000 members statewide. The association supports private property rights, equal housing opportunities and is the “Voice of Real Estate” in Colorado.  For more information, visit https://www.coloradorealtors.com.