A majority of Colorado voters say home ownership is only going to become less attainable, voicing broad concerns about the cost of living and the state’s broader affordability, according to results from a bipartisan poll released Tuesday.
The poll, conducted for the Colorado Polling Institute Nov. 26-27 by a team of pollsters, also found a worrying lack of trust in a slew of societal institutions among voters likely to participate in the 2024 election. It underscored that the cost of living and housing affordability here are the most pressing issues facing the state, echoing recent surveys and what state political leaders have stressed as their priorities.
An “astounding” 63% of the 652 likely voters interviewed said they expected the housing market to worsen, said Democratic pollster Kevin Ingham in a call with reporters.
He conducted the poll with Republican pollster Brent Buchanan, and the survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. The pollsters weighted the sample to reflect likely 2024 election turnout.
The poll asked respondents about 11 issues for state government to address, asking them to choose two. The cost of living topped the list, chosen by 40% of respondents, followed by crime and public safety (29%), housing affordability (28%), homelessness (25%), and the economy and jobs (20%).
“Cost of living is the clear and acute No. 1 (issue) for those worried about the direction of Colorado,” Ingham said.
Fifty percent of respondents said the state was headed in the right direction, versus 43% who felt Colorado was on the wrong track. That result split by party affiliation, Ingham said, with Democrats the most likely to be optimistic in a state dominated by Democratic politicians.
Still, housing anxiety darkened that overall positivity.
The poll put voters in three categories: long-term residents who’ve been in the state for more than 20 years; “settled transplants” who’ve been here for five to 20 years; and newcomers who moved here within the last five years. Though those groups often had differing opinions across the poll’s full breadth, a comfortable majority said they expected the possibility of buying a home to become less attainable, not more.
Colorado legislators will return to the State Capitol in less than a month, and their agenda includes a debate over land-use and zoning reforms to address the state’s sagging housing stock, coming after major legislation died earlier this year. Democratic lawmakers also plan to pursue bills aimed at preventing evictions and improving housing affordability for renters.
Voters were closely divided in the poll on whether increasing rents were caused by greed (39%) or by market forces (43%), with a slight tilt toward the market. Amid those increases, evictions have hit record highs in Denver and have surged statewide.
Gov. Jared Polis has emphasized his desire to focus on building more housing, particularly along transit corridors. The pollsters delved into that specific priority, known as transit-oriented development, asking if respondents would support the state’s establishment of building targets for local governments to meet, along with providing state funding assistance. Just under half of respondents said they supported it, while nearly 30% expressed opposition.
Adding to the gloomy economic outlook was a sense among respondents that hard work is no longer rewarded with economic security. Fifty-nine percent said they’d lost faith that the state’s economy rewarded working hard and “playing by the rules,” Ingham said.
“We have large majorities telling us that core pillars of the American dream … are becoming unattainable in Colorado,” he said.
Among other findings from the poll:
Pollsters asked respondents how much they trusted seven societal institutions. Just two — small businesses and election administrators — were trusted by a majority of respondents. Positions were more evenly split on local governments, the state government and journalists in Colorado. The least-trusted institutions were the federal government and large corporations.
Respondents were asked about Initiative 50, a conservative-backed measure set to appear on the 2024 ballot that would cap property tax rate increases. Support and opposition were roughly even at more than a third of respondents apiece, while 31% of voters said they were undecided.
Pollsters also asked respondents’ view on how people who are homeless and have drug addiction or mental health problems should be treated. Voters were split on whether treatment for those problems should be voluntary (43.9%) or compulsory (42.8%).
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