Why is Baker on the Denver neighborhoods-to-watch list for 2027?

Baker (median home around the mid $600s) sits walking-distance from two new professional sports venues: the new Broncos stadium at Burnham Yard and the NWSL women's soccer team's permanent stadium.

Baker has historically been the head-shop, dive-bar, gritty-and-cool part of Denver. That's about to change fast. The Burnham Yard development is 150 acres of mixed-use anchored by the new Broncos stadium, walking distance from the heart of Baker. The NWSL stadium is going up in Baker itself. Two pro sports anchors in a sub-$700K-median neighborhood is a once-a-decade catalyst.

The housing stock helps. Victorian row houses, brick bungalows, the Santa Fe Arts District right there, 10-minute bike to downtown. Walkability and nightlife scores are already strong. What's new is the institutional money coming in. Baker still has grittiness. That's exactly where the upside lives. If you can stomach a 3-to-5 year window before both stadiums break ground and open, Baker is the highest-conviction near-term play on this list.

Why is Cory-Merrill suddenly a buying opportunity in 2026?

Cory-Merrill is sitting at 14 months of inventory (a number I've almost never seen in central Denver), with only 3 properties going under contract last month vs 16 in February.

If you don't follow inventory metrics: under 2 months is an extreme seller's market, 4 to 6 is balanced, anything over 6 is an extreme buyer's market. Cory-Merrill at 14 is staggering for this part of Denver.

Closings have slowed sharply, 27 active listings are sitting, and I expect meaningful price adjustments over the next handful of months. That's why it's on the list, not because the neighborhood has changed, but because the numbers have. Fundamentals here are still strong: Cory-Merrill sits directly southeast of Wash Park where homes average $1.9M, and Cory-Merrill gets you the same schools and lifestyle for roughly a million dollars less. Median is holding around $1 to $1.2M. Prices haven't dropped yet, but negotiating power has shifted toward buyers. The next 3-6 months may be the best Cory-Merrill buying window of the last 5-10 years.

Is Cherry Creek still a good Denver investment in 2027?

Yes, Simon's announced major reinvestment in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center plus a wave of $1,000-per-square-foot condo developments are setting up a premium reset across the entire neighborhood.

I know I'll get pushback on Cherry Creek making a 'will explode' list, because it's already the top retail and luxury district in the state. But there's a difference between a neighborhood that's nice and a neighborhood about to step up to the next level.

Three dynamics push Cherry Creek into 2027: 1) Wealthy baby boomers are concentrating here as the wealth gap widens. 2) Simon is putting real money into reimagining the mall. 3) Luxury condo developments from the last 3 years are maturing and establishing a $1,000-per-square-foot floor that creates a halo effect on everything around them.

The condo market broadly has been soft and prices have paused. That's the opportunity. I have clients right now looking at attached homes in the $700K-$800K range, prices you wouldn't have seen in 2022. The play in Cherry Creek is never to find a deal. It's to get in before the next premium reset.

Why is Villa Park Denver's most underrated upside play?

Villa Park's median home is $420,000, sits between Federal and Sheridan just south of Sloan's Lake, with a 5-minute light rail ride to downtown Denver.

If you're not from Denver, you've probably never heard of Villa Park. That's literally the point. $420K median for a Denver-proper neighborhood that's a 10-minute bike to downtown is not normal. It's the closest neighborhood with the lowest median in the city.

Why I think it breaks: Sloan's Lake to the north got expensive ($850K to $1.2M for not much house). That demand has nowhere to go but south. East is covered, west is Edgewater, north is priced out. South is the obvious next move. The Federal Boulevard BRT is in design phase. The Burnham Yard Broncos-stadium catalyst is pulling investment to this part of town. Denver's 2023 West Area Plan specifically targets this neighborhood for higher-density redevelopment.

Honest disclosure: Villa Park has higher poverty rates than the rest of the city, mixed housing stock, average crime. This isn't a 'move your family in tomorrow' play. It's a buy-and-hold duplex or fourplex play where zoning lets you build density as the area rises. Done right, possibly the highest upside on this list.

Is Wash Park still worth buying into at $1.9 million?

Wash Park averages $1.9 million and 5280 just ranked it Denver's #1 neighborhood for 2026, with inventory compressing year over year as homeowners refuse to sell.

Wash Park doesn't really need an introduction. 165-acre park, Smith Lake, Old South Pearl Street, classic brick Tudor bungalows, tree-lined streets, the closest thing Denver has to a small-town feel inside the city.

Why a top neighborhood is on a 'will explode' list: supply. They are not making any more Wash Park. Inventory compresses every year. Existing homeowners don't sell because they have nowhere comparable to go. The little that does hit the market is competing with buyers from California, Texas, and Florida who look at $1.5M and think it's a deal.

Second, every neighborhood around Wash Park (Cory-Merrill, Platt Park, Bonnie Brae) keeps climbing, and Wash Park climbs right along with them. This isn't a get-rich-quick play. It's a buy-and-hold-forever play. Watch the same homes priced at $1.9M today hit $2.1M, $2.2M, $2.4M consistently in the years ahead.

What is the #1 Denver neighborhood for upside heading into 2027?

University Hills sits south of I-25 next to Wellshire Golf Course, with ranches in the $400s to $700s on 9,000 to 10,000 square foot lots, surrounded by Wash Park, Cherry Hills, and DU.

University Hills (or U Hills) is my #1 because it has the most asymmetric upside in central Denver. You've got the Colorado light rail station three blocks away, the High Line Canal running through it for biking and running, and you're surrounded by some of Denver's most expensive neighborhoods.

The property mix is what's interesting. East of Dahlia, you've got 1,000 to 1,500 square foot ranches selling $400K to $700K. West side has multi-million dollar single-family homes up to $2.5M. Southwest pocket has mid-century modern stuff. Baby-boomer rentals are starting to sell off as prices hit a ceiling, opening doors for first-time buyers.

Lots are 9,000 to 10,000 square feet, big enough to scrape and build a 5,000-square-foot custom home with strong comps to back the appraisal. Schools are great. Shopping is everywhere. North of Yale, density is going up. South of Yale, you can't increase density, so you reap all the neighborhood-rise benefits without losing the streets you live on. That's the package.