Priced out, packed in: Colorado renters squeezed by costs, policy gridlock and population growth
By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
Colorado’s affordable housing crunch – especially in the rental sector – has been building for years. Reports from the Common Sense Institute and Bell Policy Center trace the tipping point to around 2015, when demand consistently began outpacing supply.
The last decade has seen rising home prices, stagnant wages and insufficient new construction which has made the situation worse due to recent immigration pressures and allegations of resource allocation issues.
Origins and escalation of the crisis
Bell Policy Center noted a statewide rental rate increase from 30.9% in 2009 to 34.8% by 2022, with urban counties like Denver reaching 50.1%.
In just a year, Colorado slipped further down the affordability scale, now rank...
