Is the American Dream of home ownership turning into a nightmare?

Hedge funds and pension funds are competing head-to-head with young couples trying to buy houses in Colorado right now. Buyers are facing all-cash offers, bidding wars, and sight-unseen offers thousands of dollars over asking price within minutes of a home hitting the market.

Average sales prices for homes and condos in Denver recently hit a record high $623,279.

The median price of homes sold in Colorado Springs climbed to a record of $425,000.

Denver Gazette reporter Dennis Huspeni calls it a seller’s market on steroids.

“This is unheard of from my history in the market. I’ve never seen it like this,” longtime Denver Realtor Billy Van Heusen told Huspeni. “Everything is out of whack and there’s no inventory.”

In many of the nation’s top housing markets, including Colorado, roughly one in five houses sold is now bought by someone who never moves in.

Interest rates and inventories are so low in many big cities, investors are finding big returns in snapping up houses and renting them out.

“The fear is that the larger, corporate investors are buying up huge quantities of homes and taking them off the market and out of the inventory of homes for sale, which exacerbates the severe housing shortage that many cities have,” Gazette real estate reporter Rich Laden tells me. “They also pay cash and sometimes will pay way, way beyond a home’s market value. Rank-and-file buyers get aced out by the big corporate buyers, and the above-market purchase prices they pay drive up prices for everyone.”

Buying a house isn’t what it used to be, in other words.

To help you understand and navigate what’s going on, The Denver Gazette and 9News are assembling a panel of experts to provide a close look at issues surrounding the explosive residential real estate market in Colorado. The online forum will take place at noon Tuesday, June 29, and you can register at denvergazette.com/housing.

Viewers will hear from residential real estate professionals, lenders, Colorado Housing and Finance Authority representatives, financial advisors, and developers about everything from how the market became so unpredictable and how the process of home ownership has become so challenging, to how to compete for a home.

This will not be a “how to buy a home” seminar, rather an information session on the market and the ins and outs of home ownership and how those dreams have become harder to reach for many.

Denver Gazette Business reporter Huspeni and 9News anchor Alexandra Lewis will cohost the discussion, and panelists will include:

• Jenny Usaj of USAJ Real Estate, who has been in the downtown-Denver market for 15 years. Usaj is also on the Denver Metro Association of Realtors Market Trends Committee.

• Lydia Lin, ONE Realty. A Colorado native, Lin can offer advice to those from ethnic communities trying to buy.

• Matt Rankin, vice president of operations for Taylor Morrison Construction, who will address questions about the home building market and the impact of shortages in building materials.

• Dan McMahon, Home Finance Director for the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA). McMahon will address how people who can barely make ends meet, but want to buy a home, compete with those paying cash, paying thousands over asking price or simply having the ability to pay inflated prices.

• Charlie Farrell, CEO, Northstar Investments. Farrell can address questions prospective homeowners have about the best way to get their finances ready to jump to the front of the line.

You can ask your questions directly to our panelists during the virtual forum. And you can submit a question in advance when you register.

Whatever happens next, the overheated housing market isn’t going away anytime soon.

The demand to live in Colorado appears unstoppable, panelist Usaj told Huspeni. “It’s going to be a very busy summer.”