The family homes that have found their way into Denver foreclosure listings should be a magnet to buyers of real estate, attracting investors and home seekers by the potential for exceptional value. But that hasn’t happened yet, and inventories of unsold distressed price homes continue to mount in record numbers.

The Denver/Aurora metropolitan area has recorded among the highest foreclosure filings rates in the States this year. One foreclosure filing for every 42 households paints an incredibly stark picture against a backdrop of nationwide concern that rates could increase now that lenders are tightening eligibility requirements for home equity loans and sub prime mortgages.

It is hard to comprehend the lack of real interest in foreclosure investing in this pretty city with its access to magnificent mountain ranges and ski resorts, a city that is strategically placed about half way between Chicago and Detroit and the West Coast cities, forming a natural distribution center. It can’t be that famous cold blast come October, followed by the November snow!

Families relocating to this capital of picturesque Colorado would find excellent discounts on foreclosure homes in many family friendly neighborhoods and suburbs in the Denver/Aurora metro area. Walking and biking trails weave alongside and through the city’s extensive parks system and through many popular residential areas. Home buyers can choose from the historic, established neighborhoods of North Denver, or the newer, more populated, spacious neighborhoods, south, near the Denver Tech Center. Quaint older construction homes amid turn of the century houses can be found in the core of the city, in the tree lined streets of Washington Park and Observatory Park, where the population is very diverse and has access within walking distance to World class museums, a zoo, and other large city amenities. The city center is home to the University of Denver, and opportunities for investors lie in meeting the demand for housing for faculty and students. Foreclosure opportunities abound in any neighborhood, suburb or city in the metropolitan area.

The lack of affordable housing for working families in Denver is said to be critical. The numbers of families paying out more than half their net income on housing needs, and/or living in substandard housing has grown significantly in the last decade. What an opportunity for that first investment in a foreclosed property destined for rental income and a positive cash flow almost immediately.

Why is it that the investor is so slow to return to this buyers’ market? Are the lenders not flexible enough to either help struggling borrowers with refinancing options, or offer potential buyers of REO incentives by way of robust discounts? What should the community leaders be doing to avoid further suffering as house prices decline?