Affordability and politics are among the reasons people move in and out of Colorado, real estate agents say

Data from Colorado demographers show that fewer people are moving to Colorado today than they were 12 years ago, and migration trends within the state are changing. Twelve years ago data showed people were moving to more urban and liberal areas such as Denver and Arapahoe counties, but in 2021 more people will leave Denver and move to Colorado. The data shows that they went to more rural and conservative counties. In fact, Weld and Douglas counties were her two counties seeing the most new residents statewide in 2021.

Moreover, tens of thousands of people have left Colorado entirely in recent years, according to US Census Bureau data.

Some local realtors provided insight into why they’re seeing these changes.

“I think the move out of Colorado has mostly to do with affordability,” said Kelly Moyet, a Northern Colorado real estate agent and spokesperson for the Colorado Real Estate Association. That’s the biggest reason to watch it,” he said.

Moye said many people have invested in homes over the past year to get more out of them.

“I have one client that comes to mind. This guy sold his house in Louisville and moved to Colorado Springs. They got more homes with that money. “He was just commuting to Denver.

Moye also believes the pandemic is another factor in the immigration shift within Colorado.

“Many of our clients need space, they need a home office, they need a garden, they need space from their neighbors.Suddenly, this dense environment has become very unpopular. The big exodus from downtown Denver has been very interesting over the last few years,” Moye explained. “People started moving away from living downtown and living close to work, saying, ‘You don’t have to live near work. I think I started saying, ‘Take me there,’ or Grand Junction is a good place.”

But Sunny Banka of the Colorado Association of Realtors, a metropolitan area real estate agent south of Denver, said that some clients who are members of the Colorado Association of Realtors say their reasons for leaving the state are political. Some said they expressed their reasons.

“It’s also something I see in my own real estate career that I haven’t seen in the last 44 years when there was a kind of outflow of clients who sold their homes in Colorado and moved to other states. , and some of the interesting reasons behind it are…to tell you what they’ve done for freedom because of some politics in Colorado and some of the changes we’re seeing. There are a lot of people to tell.As you know, some political actions have been taken, both at the state level and at the local level,” Banka explained.

Twenty clients moved to Florida last year alone, she said.

“I had four or five clients who moved to Idaho, and all of those families had children, so they moved because of school and school obligations,” Banka said.

According to the latest Census Bureau data from 2015 to 2019, Texas, California, Arizona, and Florida were the top four destinations Coloradons traveled to.

Banka says her clients have moved the most people to Florida in the past year.

“It’s not because Colorado isn’t a beautiful and wonderful state. It’s because some of the things they’re seeing and some of the changes they’re seeing are very sad,” Banka said.

Krista Barker is one of those clients. She said moving was a difficult decision for her, but one that she felt was important.

“I moved here in 1977 and fell in love with the mountains. It was a great cow town,” recalls Barker. “I love it. He could go from one end of town to the other in 20 minutes. It was great.”

This year she moved from Aurora to Borussia County, Florida, near Daytona Beach.

“Crime, homelessness, political atmosphere. It’s time to pack up and get closer to my family.” We went to the post, came across syringes and bullet cases, heard gunshots, in the middle of the night…it was no longer safe.”

When asked what she liked about her new community, she offered a few points.

“Everyone is friendly and they actually wave when you’re walking the dog or something in the car,” she said. “I’ve found that’s not the case anymore in Colorado… lots of good friendships, lots of like-minded people.”

Barker also added, “They don’t allow panhandlers. They don’t allow homeless people to put up tents. They cracked down on the Daytona Beach spring breakers…that’s the kind of situation I feel comfortable with.” There’s only one. I feel safe.”

But that sentiment isn’t what he sees in people moving out of the metropolitan area north of Denver, Moye said.

“If so, I think it’s too bad,” she said. “I think we live in an incredibly perfect place for many reasons. It means you can move if you don’t like where you are.That’s why realtors are here to help you.”