Denver · August 2026

We tested 25 things people say about Denver housing.

Only 8 of them held up.

15

claims showed no relationship at all once the numbers were checked.

212,660Parcels read
154Neighborhoods
12–97%Owner-occupancy
13,061LLC-owned homes

Denver's assessor publishes who owns every home and where that owner gets their mail. When the two addresses differ, the owner does not live there. Put that beside Zillow's rent and value figures and you can check what people say about this market instead of repeating it.

Every Denver neighborhood, by who lives there

Each mark is one of the 154 neighborhoods. Further right means more homes lived in by their owner.

median 7912% owner-occupied97%

Are the ZIPs that appreciated most still appreciating?

The clearest pattern in the data.

2-3-9-14-19-9-7-4-11801238020380204802058020680206802078020980210802118021280216802188021980220802218022280223802248022780230802318023680237802388023980246802478024780249Home value growth, 12 months (%)Home value growth, 3 years (%)

Each dot is one Denver ZIP code. If nothing were really going on, a pattern this strong would turn up less than once in 100,000 tries.

All 25 claims, strongest to weakest

Longer bars mean a stronger pattern, whichever side they fall on. Only the ones marked held survived the full check.

Are the ZIPs that appreciated most still appreciating?heldDoes yield fall as prices rise, as investment theory expects?heldDo owners live in the newer housing and renters in the older?heldAre the ZIPs that rose over three years still rising this year?heldDo LLCs concentrate in older or newer housing stock?heldIs rent accelerating in the most owner-occupied ZIPs?heldHave rent and home values moved together over three years?heldIs rent accelerating where LLC ownership is highest?heldDo trusts hold the more valuable homes?noAre trust-held homes concentrated in older, long-held neighborhonoDo the most expensive ZIPs to buy also rent for the most?noHave home values risen faster in owner-occupied ZIPs?noHas rent risen faster where the yield was already attractive?noDoes older housing throw off more yield?nothese move together →← these move in opposite directions

What held up

01

Are the ZIPs that appreciated most still appreciating?

If nothing were really going on, a pattern this strong would turn up less than once in 100,000 tries.

very strong link · r = 0.841 · 28 ZIP codes

02

Does yield fall as prices rise, as investment theory expects?

If nothing were really going on, a pattern this strong would turn up less than once in 100,000 tries.

strong link · r = -0.793 · 28 ZIP codes

03

Do owners live in the newer housing and renters in the older?

If nothing were really going on, a pattern this strong would turn up about once in every 100,000 tries.

strong link · r = 0.739 · 28 ZIP codes

04

Are the ZIPs that rose over three years still rising this year?

If nothing were really going on, a pattern this strong would turn up about once in every 5,000 tries.

strong link · r = 0.645 · 28 ZIP codes

05

Do LLCs concentrate in older or newer housing stock?

If nothing were really going on, a pattern this strong would turn up about once in every 1,700 tries.

strong link · r = -0.609 · 28 ZIP codes

06

Is rent accelerating in the most owner-occupied ZIPs?

If nothing were really going on, a pattern this strong would turn up about once in every 130 tries.

moderate link · r = -0.495 · 28 ZIP codes

07

Have rent and home values moved together over three years?

If nothing were really going on, a pattern this strong would turn up about once in every 80 tries.

moderate link · r = 0.468 · 28 ZIP codes

08

Is rent accelerating where LLC ownership is highest?

If nothing were really going on, a pattern this strong would turn up about once in every 70 tries.

moderate link · r = 0.461 · 28 ZIP codes

What did not

No relationship was found for any of these, though several get repeated confidently around Denver. With 28 ZIP codes a small effect could still hide, so none of these is called false, only unproven.

  • Has older or newer housing appreciated faster?coin-flip odds
  • Has rent risen faster where owners live in their homes?coin-flip odds
  • Do LLCs cluster where the rent-to-price yield is highest?coin-flip odds
  • Has rent risen faster where LLCs own more of the housing?coin-flip odds
  • Does newer housing rent for more?coin-flip odds
  • Are LLC purchases concentrated at the cheap end of the market?coin-flip odds
  • Is yield lower where owner-occupancy is higher?coin-flip odds
  • Do LLCs concentrate in the expensive ZIPs or the cheap ones?coin-flip odds
  • Is owner-occupancy just a proxy for how expensive a ZIP is?coin-flip odds

And 6 more.

Ownership from City and County of Denver assessor and address records. Rent and value from Zillow Research public data. The questions were written before testing and re-run unchanged; because 25 were asked at once, the results are corrected for false discovery, a harder bar than the usual one. These are correlations, not causes. Updated August 2026.

Wondering what this means for your block?

I can pull the ownership picture for your street and tell you what it does and does not say about your home's value.

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