Dwayne Romero, whose own house is worth up to $25 million, has accused ‘Wall Street behemoths’ of driving up rent while holding positions with BlackRock, Blackstone, and Airbnb
The Democratic nominee for Colorado’s Third Congressional District, Dwayne Romero, has made housing affordability a tent-pole issue for his campaign, accusing “Wall Street behemoths” of “buying up homes and driving up rents.”
Yet, for years, his real estate firm has made big money selling multimillion-dollar luxury homes in Aspen, where residential property is so expensive that even the city’s doctors and lawyers can’t afford to live. Romero also holds stakes in BlackRock, Blackstone, and Airbnb, his personal financial disclosure shows.
Romero told a Grand Junction news outlet that his top priority is “affordability” and that “prices and housing costs” is the most important issue to “all of the people in our district.” His campaign website notes, “We need to make sure the people who live in and love our district—from young people to families—can stay here. Right now, they are being priced out.”
The real estate firm Romero heads and cofounded, the Romero Group, boasts that it has sold “over 50 Million in real estate” since 2023. Its recent sales include $24.5 million and $23.8 million homes in Aspen, which sits within the third district and has the world’s most expensive residential real estate of any ski resort, according to a November 2023 study.
Housing costs there skyrocketed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and have priced out the majority of its workforce. Last year, there were 34 sales over $20 million—nearly triple the amount sold for that price in 2024—while the median single-family home sale price was nearly $14 million, a roughly 37.4 percent increase compared with the third quarter of 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Aspen is also home to some 80 billionaires, who have “run out the millionaires,” the Colorado Sun quipped in 2018, leaving blue-collar and even middle-class families in the lurch. Less than 30 percent of its workforce live in town, and most of them bought their homes decades ago, according to an Outside magazine article describing how the ultrawealthy have replaced the ski town’s “Gonzo Soul.” The rest, including doctors and lawyers, are forced to commute up to 90 miles, the Aspen Daily News reported in 2024. Vacation housing in Aspen is also exorbitant—a studio apartment listed on Airbnb was going for $550 per night—a discounted rate—midweek in late August.
Even the cheapest residential property the Romero Group recently sold is unreachable for the typical family, going for $2.9 million in Glenwood Springs.
The contrast between Romero’s housing affordability rhetoric and his real estate firm has not stopped national Democrats from lining up behind him. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently added Colorado’s third district to its “target list” of “districts in play,” meaning that Romero will receive strategic support from the group. The massive and rural district covers the Rockies’ western slope and most of the state’s southern border and has been held by a Republican for 15 years. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R.) won it by less than 1 percentage point in 2022 before moving across the state. The incumbent, Jeff Hurd, won by nearly 5 points in 2024.
Romero’s own Aspen home is worth between $5 million and $25 million, according to his financial disclosure form. Pitkin County assessed the four-bed, three-and-a-half-bath home at $5.7 million, but properties in Aspen often sell off-market through cash deals for far greater than their estimated value, in part due to the city’s highly competitive market.
Romero did not return a request for comment.
Romero’s financial disclosure shows that he holds shares worth between $1,001 and $15,000 each in Blackstone and Airbnb, which have been accused of worsening housing affordability by, respectively, buying up residential real estate to rent and converting long-term housing into short-term rentals. He also owns mutual funds managed by BlackRock, which has faced similar accusations of reducing housing supply by buying up inventory. All three companies have disputed those claims.
“We need to build more housing and bring down the cost of staying here,” Romero wrote on his website. “Let’s stop Wall Street behemoths from buying up homes and driving up rents, repeal outdated red tape that hinders construction, and invest in housing construction in our rural communities.”
Romero’s firm does manage an “affordable housing community” that serves Aspen and several towns in the surrounding area—though it’s located 21 miles away from the ritzy ski city.
Read the full article here
