December’s numbers answer two questions the market has been circling for two years: Who is still willing to transact and who has shut the front door (but left the window [...]

Fellow thrifty Denverites, we all know things don't cost what they used to: groceries, houses, even car maintenance. But there are a few things that haven't gone up a penny. In fact, they don't even cost a dime.

The dimming of The Mile High City’s festive lights and packing of the evergreen boughs signal the end of the winter holiday season. (But we all know the holiday cookies and mint mochas will grace your plate - and cup - for at least another month.)

When it comes to home, chimneys feel quintessential… a fixed part of home architecture that signals charm without explanation. But the earliest homes had no such crowning accouterment. Before the stack became a mainstay, fire lived at the center of the room while smoke drifted upward in search of an exit that rarely amounted to more than a hole in the roof. Warmth was uneven, and breathing was compromised. 

If you want to know where the Denver Metro Area real estate market is headed, don’t look at prices. Look at behavior. November’s data shows buyers slowing down, sellers conceding more, and a widening gap between how homes are listed and how they actually close. That shift, more than any rate headline, is what defines this December market and the new year to come.

Colorado’s holiday season has a habit of sneaking up in plain sight. One week the grocery store is still rearranging squash, and the next, you’re driving past a cul-de-sac where someone has committed to a lighting display that could power an entire mountain town. Invitations multiply. Events return from hibernation. Local shops try to outdo themselves with cheerful efficiency, which is honestly much appreciated.

Holiday shopping has a way of testing a person’s resolve. One minute you’re circling a mall parking lot while visions of peppermint mochas and steep discounts dance in your head. The next, you’re questioning every life choice that brought you to a big-box checkout line moving at the speed of your mom that one time she tried to hang the holiday lights.

Colorado wolf reintroduction started with the narrow 2020 ballot initiative that required the state to restore gray wolves by the end of 2023. It passed by a margin tight enough to reveal a state split not on science, but on identity. Urban counties voted yes. Rural counties voted no. The mandate stuck.