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Your Guide to Thanksgiving Weekend Events 2021
The year is coming to a close and Thanksgiving is just days away! Communities, locals and businesses are rallying together to finish the month off with a little holiday spirit and a whole lot of gratitude. See what Colorado has lined up for Thanksgiving Day and the year ahead:
Thanksgiving Day Run
Each year, cities across the state plan Thanksgiving Day runs & walks to raise funds for community organizations. The Mile High Turkey Trot in Denver is four miles long and has had 10,000+ participants in years past! Registration fees go toward United Way, an organization that assists families and individuals in poverty. Likewise, the Thanksgiving Day Run in Fort Collins has been going strong for 28 years now! This four-mile event is open to runners, walkers and kids in support of RamStrength, a local organization that supports cancer survivors. Lace up your shoes and start your Thanksgiving Day by giving back to those in need.
Pop-Up Markets
Check out the Colorado Holiday Maker’s Market at the Aztlan Community Center. 80+ local vendors will be selling their handmade, high-quality products on Sunday November 28th from 12p-5p. The Wolverine Publick House will also be opening their doors to local artisans for the Little Zurich Open Air Holiday Market. This outdoor marketplace is free to attend and offers visitors the chance to participate in a variety of activities including candle dipping and wreath making while you enjoy ciders, wines and hot chocolates around the fire pit.
Free Horse Carriage Ride
Break up your holiday shopping with a horse carriage ride in Fort Collins! Head down to the Foothills Mall on Saturday November 27th from 5p-7p to enjoy a ride in a Clydesdale pulled carriage designed to give a slow tour of the shopping complex. Pick-up location is across from the Cinemark Theater and Bistro.
Holiday Lights
Ring in the holiday season by exploring the newly hung lights across Colorado! The Grand Illumination is held the day after Thanksgiving to bring the community together for the lighting of downtown Denver. The Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Zoo, and Butterfly Pavilion will also be adorning their spaces with holiday lights, but the festive displays don’t stop there! Downtown Colorado Springs, Seven Falls, Estes Park, and Gunnison will all hold lighting ceremonies to show their holiday spirit.
Support the Rapids & Donate to a Great Cause
The Colorado Rapids, Major League Soccer Team in the Denver Metro area, have made it to the playoffs and will be playing the first Thanksgiving Day game in MLS history at the DICK’S Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. This is a huge accomplishment in an of itself, but the league isn’t stopping there. For every fan inside the park prior to kick off of the Western Conference Semi Final Playoff, the Colorado Rapids and Kroenke Sports Charities will donate fifteen meals to the Food Bank of the Rockies. Show your support while helping families facing hunger this holiday season!
When in Doubt, Hike it Out
Show gratitude for the awesome state we live in by jumping on a trail at one of Colorado’s 41 state parks. Lory State Park, Eldorado Canyon State Park, Golden Gate Canyon State Park, and Cheyenne Mountain State Park are just a few areas that are worth exploring.
Latest Ranking
CoreLogic produces one of the most respected and widely-used home price index reports in the United States.
They track home price appreciation in the largest markets across the Country.
Here are the highlights from their most recent report:
- Home prices are up 9.2% Nationally
- This is the highest increase since February, 2014
- Denver ranks fourth among the largest 10 cities
- Denver’s appreciation was 8.8% over the last year
- Phoenix was first at 13.7%
Save Your Spot
A quick, simple Fun Fact for you this week…
It’s time to sign up and register for our annual Market Forecast event.
We will be live in Denver on January 15th at the Wellshire Events Center.
And In Fort Collins on January 16th at the Marriott.
Both events start at 5:30. Choose which location works best for you.
Matthew Gardner, our Chief Economist, is the Keynote speaker.
Click the links above to RSVP.
It’s time to register for our annual Market Forecast event. We will be live at 5:30 on January 16th at the Marriott in Fort Collins. Back by popular demand is our Chief Economist Matthew Gardner. Save your seat HERE.
Job News
There is an abundance of great news when it comes to employment in Colorado.
The unemployment rate is incredibly low at 2.7% which is almost a full percentage point lower than the U.S. average.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Metro Denver added 28,300 jobs over the last year which ranks 15th out of all metropolitan areas nation-wide, many of which have much larger populations than Denver.
While this is positive news, what is even more remarkable is what is happening in the other, smaller cities along the Front Range.
Anytime job growth exceeds 2.0% per year, it is a sign of a very healthy economy.
Here is what the other Cities have seen in terms of job growth over the last 12 months.
• Fort Collins 2.6%
• Greeley 2.5
• Colorado Springs 1.9%
Case-Shiller
The Case-Shiller Home Price Index is a well-known report in the real estate industry and a valuable way to gauge what is happening in various markets across the Nation.
The report tracks home price appreciation in the 20 largest markets in the country.
Their most recent report shows that, Nation-wide, home prices are up 2.1% year-over-year.
Last year prices were rising at 6.3%. So, prices are still going up but not as fast as they were.
The city with the highest appreciation over the last 12 months is Phoenix with 5.8% growth followed closely by Las Vegas at 5.5%.
Denver came in at 3.4% which makes it tied for 8th place out of the 20 cities.
Our Forecast
This past Wednesday and Thursday evenings we had the pleasure of hosting our annual Market Forecast events in Denver and Fort Collins.
Thank you to the 700 people who attended. We appreciate your support!
In case you missed the events, here are some highlights including our forecast for price appreciation in 2019:
• In 2018 Prices went up:
o 8% in Fort Collins
o 8% in Loveland
o 8.5% in Greeley
o 8% in Metro Denver
• Inventory is (finally) showing signs of increasing:
o Up 25% in Northern Colorado
o Up 45% in Metro Denver
• There are distinct differences in months of inventory across different price ranges = opportunity for the move up buyer.
• There are several reasons why we don’t see a housing bubble forming:
o New home starts along the Front Range are roughly 60% of pre-bubble highs 14 years ago.
o Americans have more equity in their homes than ever, $6 Trillion!
o The average FICO score of home buyers is significantly higher than the long-term average.
o The home ownership rate is back to the long-term average.
• Our 2019 Price Appreciation Forecast:
o 6% in Fort Collins
o 6% in Loveland
o 7% in Greeley
o 6% in Metro Denver
If you would like a copy of the presentation, go ahead and reach out to us. We would be happy to put it in your hands!
Still Up
All the talk of the market cooling off might make someone think that prices must be going down.
The truth is prices are still going up.
Here are the latest year-over-year appreciation numbers from the Federal Housing Finance Authority (they track 243 markets all across the Country):
Colorado Springs 11.44%
Greeley 10.53%
Denver 9.97%
Boulder 9.89%
Fort Collins/Loveland 8.64%
HQ3?
The Front Range may have lost out on Amazon’s HQ2, but that doesn’t mean their company won’t affect our economy.
Denver was in the running for Amazon’s massive new second headquarters that supposedly would bring 50,000 new high-paying jobs and $5 Billion of investment.
In the end Amazon chose to split the headquarters among two East-Coast cities and many in Colorado breathed a sigh of relief.
But they are will continue to be an economic force in our state.
Over the past two years, Amazon has greatly expanded its footprint in Metro Denver, opening up a sorting center in Aurora, fulfillment centers in Aurora and Thornton, a Prime Now center in Denver and a new delivery center in Centennial.
They will soon have 3,000 workers here and that number is expected to grow significantly.
What’s Starting?
Here are some interesting stats from our friends at Metro Study who study new home activity along the Front Range.
• New home starts are up 14% compared to last year – this is really good news and is helping to relieve the shortage of housing inventory
• Every product type saw an increase in starts compared to last year (single family, town-home and condominium)
• Condominiums saw the largest increase in starts by a long shot, up 112% over last year- this is excellent news for first time buyers and those looking for product in lower price ranges.
