Bow Mar's starter homes cost $1M+

Bow Mar's starter homes cost $1M+

Bow Mar has become a place where "starter home" means spending seven figures.

Why it matters: The tiny town straddles Arapahoe and Jefferson counties and shows how the definition of entry level has shifted in wealthy, supply-constrained neighborhoods, where even the bottom rung of the market is mostly out of reach.

Reality check: "Starter" in this case isn't what most people picture as a first home.

  • Zillow defines starter homes as the last third of a market's home values.

    • A record 242 U.S. cities now have starter homes beyond at least $1 million, Zillow found, up from 80 before the pandemic.

  • Colorado has just three: Bow Mar, Cherry Hills Village and Columbine Valley — each at least partly in Arapahoe County.

    • Zoom in: Bow Mar is a 520-acre enclave with roughly 300 single-family homes and a private lake, where only about a dozen properties hit the market in an average year.

  • The town's typical home was worth $2.34 million in May, according to Zillow, up roughly $700,000 from five years ago.
  • That's more than four times Arapahoe County's $516,600 average.

    • Between the lines: Large lots, mature trees, water access and a tucked-away feel draw buyers to the area.

    Bow Mar realtor and resident Ted Baer has been involved in more than 120 home sales in the town over three decades.

  • One client's 2,900-square-foot home is listed for $1.8 million.

    • What they're saying: More affluent buyers have continued to move in, Baer tells us.

  • Some residents now split their time at second homes in Aspen or Breckenridge, a reflection of how much money has flowed into the neighborhood over the past two decades.

    • Driving the news: Bow Mar is fighting with Littleton and Denver over a plan to gate public roads — a push that would make the neighborhood even more exclusive.

    Between the lines: Million-dollar starter homes remain rare nationally.

  • The typical U.S. starter home is still worth less than $200,000, but the trend is spreading.

    • The bottom line: Bow Mar is still in an outlier — for now. "Our list of $1 million starter homes is a cautionary tale of what happens when we don't build enough to meet demand," Zillow senior economist Kara Ng tells Axios.