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Renters need to make $35 an hour to rent in Denver. Wait, what?

Yes, you read that right. Renters in Denver need to make $35 an hour to afford a median priced rental. $35 an hour is 4 times the minimum wage in Denver and is no small amount, especially for those just out of college and new to the area so it definitely caught me a little off guard. When you think about how many apartments are being built in Denver you would think that this number would be coming down soon. But even with the influx of new rentals to the market, vacancy rates continue to fall and rental rates continue to climb.

According to a recent article by the Denver Post, click here, the median rent in the Denver Metro area is $1,772 per month which means you would need to earn $70K a year toto abide by the rule of thumb that annual housing costs should not exceed 30 percent of a person's net income. If you were to rent in Centennial, you would need to earn $44 an hour and in Lone Tree, $59 an hour.

This is just another great example why it is such a great time to buy a home in Denver instead of rent. It is significantly cheaper to own verse rent in Denver right now, interest rates are still near an all time low and early next year we expect more inventory to become available for buyers.Home growth is expected to grow by 14% in 2015 making Denver the third fastest growing market in the country, just another good reason to own. If you are tired of throwing away your hard earned money on rising rents every month, let's talk and see if buying might be a better option for you.

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