When 30-year fixed-rate mortgages momentarily dipped below 6% last week, real estate agents immediately saw their business pick up.

“People were coming off the sidelines. I got three offers today on a listing that had sat on the market earlier this month,” said LIV Sotheby’s agent Deviree Vallejo.

Vallejo handles some of Denver’s priciest houses, but she has one that just came on the opposite end of the market at $675,000, in Sunnyside, north across West 38th Avenue from Highlands and LoHi. That price is a tad above the median single-family home in the metro area now — tempting a buyer who has never owned, and who has been absolutely priced out of the market.

BUILT 1900

Her listing at 2109 W. 41st Avenue is a remodeled bungalow originally built in 1900, showing three bedrooms and a newly updated bath, a wide-open kitchen-family-dining area, a second-level loft, a basement with some finished space — just under 2,000 feet of living area plus a single-car garage and a fenced-in backyard.

More to the point, the site is a block from The Wolf’s Tailor on Tejon Street, with a Michelin star, plus a “green star” for eco-friendly practices. Those are earning lots of culinary compliments and a complaint or two about how expensive dinner and drinks there can be.

Ten years ago, Sunnyside was a Highlands pocket neighborhood with discount prices and few good eateries.

“Now it has these little spots that you might walk by and then find out it was written up as one of best restaurants in Colorado,” said Vallejo. She adds that one can still stroll from here into LoHi, have drinks, and return home to a place that’s quieter.

Meanwhile, even at slightly lower rates, a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage would be running around $3,800 all in, insurance and taxes included, at a moment when landlords are offering deals to stay put in apartments. But Vallejo said that’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.

“Rental rates have come down, and people are getting free rent and a washer-dryer, but there are still a lot of people who really want to own,” she said. “You have to figure in the lifestyle change. At some point you grow out of downtown, you want a yard, and everybody has a dog. Would you rather walk into a space that feels like a hotel?  I want to walk out in my backyard and water my tomato plants.”

HIGHER END RISK

There’s also the lure of building equity that never comes with renting. What if prices actually drop after the contract is signed? Social media are always broadcasting that fear — some predicting another 5% drop in the market, and others more dire.

Vallejo said it’s too early to say what Denver will do in 2026. But she sees the high end, where most of her business is, as having the greater risk of that drop.

“If rates stay where they are, we’re going to see more demand, and you won’t see decreasing prices,” she said. “And in this submarket, I don’t think prices are coming down.”

She’ll have 2109 W. 41st open this Sunday (Feb. 1), from 10 a.m. until noon.

OPEN THIS SUNDAY:

WHERE:  2109 W. 41st Avenue, Denver; from 16th and Central in LoHi, head north on 16th two blocks to Tejon Street, head north on Tejon, past West 38th, three more blocks to West 41st, turn left.

SIZE: 3 bedroom/1 bath, 1,999 sq. ft. 

PRICE: $675,000  

OPEN: Sunday, Feb. 1, 10 a.m.-noon    

WEB:  SeeDenverHomes.com   

AGENT: Deviree Vallejo, 303-931-0097