Just like everywhere else in the country, Denver is a place where sales this year are well off the mark from a few years ago…but Denver is a very different market in terms of how the immediate future looks. The most obvious indicator of that is the surprising lack of supply of homes and condos in lower price ranges, available for sale this spring.

Jack O’Connor, principal in the new RE/MAX Professionals, shows a listing at 1298 Bellaire in Denver. The home has 3,400 square feet including a finished basement, at $585,000. Home inventories are at the lowest level in the 7-county area in six years.

“Denver is a declining inventory market, especially in the starter home ranges,” broker Jack O’Connor told me, as the new month’s Metrolist data came out this week. more »

By Mark Samuelson

Builder John Keith has a rare commodity: a series of family-sized luxury homes in Stapleton that, despite the economy, is selling pretty fast. Fast enough, that Keith is taking his award winning Architect Collection plans——each with 2.5 kW of solar on the roof——to a small number of sites where he can offer them in Lowry.

Solar builder John Keith at Lowry’s Wings Over The Rockies Museum.

During 2008, a year that was slim pickings for most builders, Keith’s Harvard Communities sold 25 homes in Stapleton. That was before President Obama came to Denver to sign the Stimulus Bill, giving an introduction during his speech to Boulder-based Namaste Solar, Harvard’s solar contractor. “For the rest of the week,” Keith said, “Namaste was one of the most Googled words on the planet.” more »

By Mark Samuelson

Montclair neighborhood just west of Lowry has lots going for it, including good access to Lowry’s Town Center, lower prices than much of the surrounding area, along with some of Denver’s most eclectic architecture…such as a contemporary house you can tour this afternoon that could as likely be a few blocks off Hollywood Boulevard as Denver.

Mable Sutton of Leonard-Leonard & Associates, who partners John Patterson, has the listing on 7070 Richthofen, with modern architecture in Montclair.

Realtors aren’t sure who designed 7070 Richthofen Parkway, built in 1978…but it might have been lifted from Dr. Seuss–modern, and more than a little offbeat, even some rococo twists and turns. “It’s a perfect single-family alternative for somebody who might want a loft, but doesn’t want an HOA,” says Realtor Mable Sutton of Leonard Leonard, who’s partnering on the listing with David Patterson. more »