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    I recall my real estate agent's pitch on South Lafayette Street: a great little place on a pocket park, but with over 20 offers, half of them cash. I still wanted to see it, despite the Denver market's chaos during pandemic summer 2020. With historically low inventory and as-is purchases, buyers had to act fast – or risk being left behind.

    "It was a bad time to be a buyer," says Britt Armstrong, a broker associate with Kentwood Real Estate. "The pace was frenetic." The market descended into mayhem, fueled by easy money and remote work freedom. With three percent interest rates, people moved to Colorado in droves – including those from New York.

    Now, the current market is a nightmare for everyone involved. "There's PTSD from Denver's pandemic market," Armstrong says. Today, it's more of a buyer's market, with slow-moving inventory and high interest rates making mortgages expensive. Sellers aren't happy either; houses are sitting on the market for 60 or 90 days.

    Armstrong notes that she's seeing regret among those who left their hometowns during the pandemic for a Colorado adventure. "A house is just four walls and a roof," she says. "Relationships and lifestyle make a difference." Many didn't find their dream here and are now returning home.

    I didn't find my dream home that summer, but I eventually settled on a townhouse in Rosedale in November 2020 – at asking price. Four years later, I'm still here, waiting for interest rates to fall.

    By the Numbers:

    63%: Projected percentage of prepandemic boardings RTD will get back to in 2024.

    ~65 million: Passengers projected to have used RTD services in 2024.