Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Sizzling metro ZIP code: 80007

By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 4, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

Text size  

Related Links

More Real Estate

More stories »

For $559,900 you can buy a 4,997-square-foot home in the 80007 ZIP code in Arvada.

That six-bedroom, five-bathroom home has gorgeous views of the mountains, granite countertops and a finished basement.

The asking price of about $112 per square foot is a fraction of what you would pay in downtown Denver, Cherry Hills or the Polo Club.

For those neighborhoods with their own ZIP codes, pockets of high-end homes in northwest Arvada made homes in 80007 the most expensive in the metro area in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to DataQuick Information Systems, of La Jolla, Calif. That's based on ZIP codes that had more than 50 sales during the quarter and includes both new and resale homes.

More expensive neighborhoods, such as Cherry Hills and Cherry Creek, don't have their own ZIP codes. If they did, they would have shown much higher prices than the median price of $519,989 found in 80007.

Though home prices on average rose 3.5 percent in 80007 from a year earlier, overall, DataQuick presented a pretty grim real estate picture for the metro area. It was bleaker in January, the latest month available.

"Denver-area home sales in January were the slowest for that month in at least a decade," said Andrew LePage, of DataQuick.

"The median sale price (of $210,000) slipped back to its lowest level for any month in more than five years, falling 15 percent short of its summer 2006 peak," he said.

In the fourth quarter, only three ZIP codes (that had at least 50 sales) showed increases in both the median (half the homes costing more, half less) price and the number of sales vs. a year earlier.

They were 80212 in Denver, with a 1.7 percent increase in sales and an 8.5 percent increase in price; 80125 in Littleton, with an 18.2 percent increase in sales and a 5.6 percent increase in price; and 80439 in Evergreen, with an 18.4 percent increase in sales and a 12.2 percent increase in price.

Adams County, plagued by record levels of foreclosures, fared the worst of any single county, with the overall number of sales dropping by 14.1 percent and the median sales price dropping 9.8 percent.

Douglas County showed a 21.6 percent drop in sales, but eked out a 1.4 percent increase in prices, the only county that experienced an overall price gain.

The mostly negative numbers didn't surprise longtime Denver-area Realtor Larry McGee, president of the Berkshire Group.

"The fourth quarter was tough," McGee said. "I don't think any Realtor, seller or lender would argue with that. I'm surprised you found any positive data in the fourth quarter."

Deviree Vallejo, however, was pleased that several hundred people on Saturday attended a tour of new townhomes with modern architecture in the Denver ZIP codes of 80211 and 80212 that she and fellow Kentwood City Properties' broker Liz Richards were showcasing.

"It's because this is Highland," Vallejo said. "From October to February is the slow time of the year for real estate. And this year, the subprime market fell apart in August, which didn't help things. But despite the depressed real estate market, we still had a ton of showings in Highland."

Arvada, where the 80007 ZIP code had the top sales price in the fourth quarter, is really a real estate tale of two cities, said Gary Belhumeur, a broker with Ease Realty.

He said pockets of northwest Arvada, such as Westwoods Ranch, have big expensive homes, which many out-of-state buyers looking for "Colorado living" find appealing because of their size, price, views and proximity to the mountains and downtown Denver.

But a 10-minute drive away in the ZIP codes of 80003 and 80004 in northeast and central Arvada areas are some of the lowest real estate prices in Jefferson County.

Homes that sold for $220,000 a couple of years ago are now selling for $170,000 to $180,000, as foreclosures, bank-owned properties and short sales are dominating the market, he said.

"A couple of years ago if you asked to see a home for $130,000 in the Lake Arbor area, near 80th and Wadsworth, I would have laughed at you," Belhumeur said. "Not anymore."

He said people who have lived in the area for years are wondering if they should sell now, before prices fall even more.

"I tell them to wait because if they sell now, they will be killed," he said. "As bad as it seems now, you need to hold on. I, like a lot of people, think this is the bottom year."

Still, he fears once thriving neighborhoods of Arvada homes built from the 1950s to the 1970s could be abandoned. Newer, bigger homes in Arvada are holding their values much better, he said.

"Certain pockets in Arvada are having fairly dynamic appreciation," Belhumeur said. "It's like we have two extremes, two different markets. At the lower prices, we have this glut. But for the expensive homes, it seems we might even have a little bit of a sellers' market."

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207

Bottom 10 percent price change from '06

1. 80216 -39.2

2. 80010 -28.7

3. 80002 -23.6

4. 80223 -22.8

5. 80239 -22.3

6. 80011 -20.3

7. 80249 -20.0

8. 80111 -18.4

9. 80229 -18.2

10. 80204 -17.1

Top 10 percent price change from '06

1. 80202 16.2

2. 80112 15.8

3. 80126 13.9

4. 80016 12.8

5. 80439 12.2

6. 80303 10.8

7. 80305 8.6

8. 80212 8.5

9. 80237 7.5

9. 80127 7.5

Comments

  • March 4, 2008

    7:54 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Theoldguy writes:

    Nice neighborhood to stay away from the riff-raff and three sexual predators living in that zip code. I'll bet the real estate agents kept that under the rug.

  • March 4, 2008

    9:30 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    mytwosense writes:

    Theoldguy, unfortunately, you can find those predators in just about every zip code these days. Every time I move to a new area, I check the database, and several always appear. The most recent move, I was particularly shocked to find three live right in my immediate neighborhood. It's really, really scary. And - those are the ones that actually register. My understanding is that at least 25% of convicted sexual offenders never do.

    In my fervent opinion, we need to make THAT one of our top Homeland Security priorities.

  • March 4, 2008

    9:42 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Theoldguy writes:

    mytwosense

    On occasion there will be an episode either on CSI:Miami or CSI that will address the mind of a sexual predator. Having been around this type of human in a "professional setting" I am absolutely amazed at how they came to be, the way they justify themselves and what they do. This may party explain the sarcasm in my posts. I'm just glad that I made it to retirement and moved from the Denver Metro area.

  • March 4, 2008

    10:20 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Spencer writes:

    Sounds like these homes were built at Rocky Flats??

  • March 4, 2008

    1:30 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    MissSio writes:

    Just a quick note on the "sex offender" thing. My brother-in-law has to register as a sex offender whenever he moves. His crime? Being 18 when he mooned, yes MOONED a parade. Apparently showing your buttocks counts as indecent exposure, and since there were children around, he is now a sex offender. Not everyone listed is listed because they did something horrendous, some of them are victims of the system.

  • March 4, 2008

    1:34 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Diff writes:

    Can you hear it?
    It is opportunity knocking!
    But a nice smaller home in those areas that are down something under 200K - you can rent it for now and when (if) real estate market turns back up, these will be the homes with the most to gain..for now and if the market does not recover soon, You'll still have a good rental property with plenty of people looking to rent.
    The vacancy rates for homes has been dropping fast and rent rate are on the increase. As long as the housing market is in the down turn - there will remain a good number of good renters, when it turns up, there will be buyers.
    Can't hardly loose! at least if you understand you might need to be in for the longer term of 5- 10 years and you might get to make a huge profit sooner if things do begin to recover in the next year or so. It might only take you 2-3 years to come out far ahead.
    Opportunity knock but once!
    NO I am not in real estate....

  • March 4, 2008

    3:22 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Theoldguy writes:

    Froward69

    Colorado ranks 29th. Not the safest place to be.

    I moved well beyond Colorado, but close enough to watch the future implosion from a safe distance. I did pay attention, hence the move after retirement. In 1971 this was a nice state to live in since the population was less than half what it is now.

    MissSio

    I mooned another guy in another airplane at 7500 feet above Denver. The difference? I used discretion. No cops or witnesses at that height.

  • March 4, 2008

    5:50 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    FullDisclosure writes:

    FYI - not sure how many of you know, (those concerned with sexual predators living in certain areas/neighborhoods) but it is not up to realtors to tell prospective homeowners who is living in the neighborhood. Everyone has the right to know but saying(theoldguy) "the realtor keeping that one under the rug" may have misspoken. It's not the realtors duty to make sure the neighborhood is "safe". It's the homeowners responsibility to do their homework if they are concerned.

  • March 5, 2008

    4:31 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Fairfax writes:

    Nice quote from the realtor:

    "A couple of years ago if you asked to see a home for $130,000 in the Lake Arbor area, near 80th and Wadsworth, I would have laughed at you," Belhumeur said. "Not anymore."

    Your job is to be knowledgeble for your clients, not to laugh at them.

  • March 21, 2008

    8:44 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    ConcernedArvadan writes:

    Well, 80007 isn't all that great, not by any stretch - and they have their shares of foreclosures; just check public records.

    Sadly, until Arvada's City Council decides they will no longer carve up and re-zone every last parcel of land in the city, we will continue to see property values decline.

    We have a city council that is so desperate for the tax base generated by growth; they continue to plow ahead unchecked; mixing new housing within long established neigborhoods and approving ugly, large scale commercial development on just about every empty street corner.

    However, the worst are these developers pulling out of many planned housing units & communities without completing the development (ex. 72nd & Simms St. - Mapleleaf)... many of these residents are also facing foreclosure.

    A big "Thank You" Arvada City Council. Our property values continue to decrease as you continue to allow unchecked growth - without the means to accomodate the increased traffic, street maintenance, facilities, schools or water.

    We residents will end up paying the price for this ridiculous sprall.