Six Colorado cities made it into a 2022 report of best cities for first-time homebuyers.
Denver might not be the best place to shop for first-time homebuyers, but it certainly isn't the worst.
Denver is ranked No. 58 best city for first-time homebuyers to purchase, according to a new SmartAsset report.
While cost of living is on the rise and a big concern for many Coloradans, the state made a splash in the report, with Fort Collins jumping from the No. 32 best city for first-time homebuyers in 2021 to No. 27 this year, while Colorado Springs took the No. 33 spot for 2022.
The report names Bellevue, Washington as the No. 1 spot for first-time homebuyers for 2022, but Denver-area suburbs continued to make a dent down the list: Lakewood is No. 76, Thorton is No. 84 and Aurora is No. 101.
The report compared 181 total cities across four categories: home market favorability, affordability, livability and employment. Denver's lowest-scoring category was livability, which takes into consideration the concentration of dining and entertainment establishments, violent crime rates and average commute times, the latter of which are on the rise in Denver as people return to offices.
The average cost of living in Denver as of the first quarter of 2022 was $3,537.73, a 12.9% increase from the same period in 2019. The Denver metro area is expected to hit the $1 million average price for a home soon.
Denver's affordability may be impacting the population, which shrunk by 6,167 people in the year ending July 2021. However, Denver is still a popular place to visit and a recent Zillow report found a Colorado suburb was the real estate website's third most popular market.
The home market favorability score, which measures the price-to-rent ratio, five-year home value appreciation and foreclosure rate, was Denver's best performing category in the SmartAsset report.
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Denver also ranked poorly when judged on employment, which the report based on the March 2022 unemployment rate and five-year change in median household income. The city has one of the largest gaps between median income and income needed to live comfortably.
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