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Denver real estate, Real Estate, Uncategorized

June 30, 2010

Denver home values rise 6th consecutive month

Denver-area home prices rose an average of 4.4 percent in April from April 2009, marking the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year gains, shows the closely watched S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released this week.

The 4.4 percent gain was the largest since the trend began in November 2009, when prices were up 0.5% from November 2008. Each month, the percentage gain has grown.

The Denver market, as the nation as a whole, was helped in April as buyers and brokers scrambled to put homes under contract by April 30 to quality for a federal tax credit worth as much as $8,000.

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues as we yank the government support props from underneath the housing market.

The May figures could be disappointing.

Metropolitan Area

Change from

January 2000

Change from

March to April

1-Year Change

Minneapolis

18.89%

1.8%

9.5%

Los Angeles

71.78%

0.7%

7.8%

Washington, D.C.

79.49%

2.4%

7.3%

Cleveland

4.77%

1.4%

6.8%

Phoenix

10.05%

0.5%

5.4%

Boston

53.56%

1.4%

4.9%

Composite-10

57.37%

0.7%

4.6%

DENVER

27.5%

1.7%

4.0%

Composite-20

44.56%

0.8%

3.8%

Dallas

18.14%

2.0%

3.3%

San Francisco

38.77%

2.2%

18.0%

San Diego

61.39%

0.7%

11.7%

Atlanta

5.64%

1.8%

0.2%

Las Vegas

2.82%

0.2%

-8.5%

Detroit

-32.19%

0.2%

-3.0%

Seattle

44.15%

1.0%

-2.8%

Tampa

37.09%

-0.5%

-2.4%

Charlotte

16.05%

1.1%

-2.2%

Chicago

20.43%

0.6%

-1.6%

New York

68.95%

-0.3%

-1.0%

Miami

45.04%

-0.8%

-0.5%

Portland

46.25%

1.8%

-0.4%

Denver real estate, Real Estate, Uncategorized

December 1, 2009

25% of Homeowners are Underwater

One in Four Homeowners are Underwater.


Research firm First American CoreLogic released a report last week that stated more than 23 % of people with mortgages owe more on their properties than they are worth.

Also, 2.3 million homeowners are within 5 percent of being underwater.


5.3 million U.S. households have mortgages that are at least 20 percent higher than their home’s value.


The majority of underwater mortgages are in the following states:

  1. Nevada: 65 percent of home owners are underwater
  2. Arizona: 48 percent
  3. Florida: 45 percent
  4. Michigan: 37 percent
  5. California: 35 percent


It may be tough for the economic recovery to take hold with this kind of stress just under the surface.

Denver real estate, Real Estate, Second Homes in Colorado, Uncategorized

October 16, 2009

Sub 5% Interest Rates

The Associated Press reported last Thursday that according to Freddie Mac, average rates for 30-year home loans stayed below 5 percent for the second-straight week.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.87 percent, down from 4.94 percent last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.94 percent.

Low rates make home buying or refinancing more attractive for consumers and refi applications climbed 18 percent from last week.

By refinancing at current rates, borrowers could trim nearly $268 off their monthly mortgage payments on a $400,000, 30-year fixed-rate loan.

Still, borrowers may want to consider the Federal Reserve’s recent announcement that it is slowing down a program intended to lower mortgage rates and boost the housing market. Analysts say mortgage rates should remain low for now but could eventually move higher, and homeowners who want to refinance mortgages shouldn’t drag their feet.

Uncategorized

September 11, 2009

They Better Leave this Sacred Cow Alone.

The Congressional Budget Office has prepared a report that suggests ways for Congress to raise revenues. One key suggestion is that Congress cut deductions for home owner mortgage interest from the present $1.1 million cap to $500,000, phasing in the reduction by $100,000 annually starting in 2013.

Over a 10-year period, the change would increase revenue by an estimated $41 billion.

The CBO also proposed replacing mortgage interest deductions with a flat tax credit that is 15 percent of mortgage interest paid. This would potentially increase revenue by nearly $390 billion from 2013 to 2019.

It also proposed eliminating deductions for all state and local taxes, including property taxes, which would cost taxpayers $862 billion by 2019.

Source: Washington Post Writers Group, Kenneth R. Harney (08/30/2009)

Uncategorized

July 31, 2009

New Home Sales Rise

July 28, 2009


Sales of newly built single-family homes rose 11 percent in June to an annualized rate of 384,000, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Analysts called the report a good sign.

“That is really good news,” said Peter Morici, an economics professor at the University of Maryland. “With all the foreclosure activity sending down home prices, for new homes to jump like that is a good indicator that the economy is bottoming out.” Hope you’re right Peter.

Denver actually had a number of areas that reported value increases on the year to date stats. But most neighborhoods were pretty flat to slightly negative. I’m wondering how much the tax credit is driving this and what the effect will be when it goes away in December.

Excess inventory still exists in some key markets:

  • California
  • Florida
  • Las Vegas
  • Arizona

Source: CNNMoney.com

Uncategorized

April 21, 2009

Second Home Sales Fall 30% in 2008

Tags:

This really didn’t come as a shock to any of us, but the National Association of Realtors has just reported the number of people buying vacation homes fell 30 percent last year.

“We expected vacation-home sales to fall given the impact of a declining economy on discretionary purchases,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, in a news release.

12% of the homes bought in 2007 were second homes compared to 9% in 2008. 30% of those homes were bought with cash.

Nationwide, second-home prices were also down significantly. Here in Colorado, prices were not down as much but inventory is up and volume of sales is down about 40% to 60% depending on the town.

Among other findings:

• The typical vacation-home buyer in 2008 was 46 years old, had a median household income of $97,200, and purchased a property that was a median of 316 miles from their primary residence.

• Twenty-six percent of vacation homes were purchased in small towns, 23 percent in a rural area, 23 percent in resorts, 20 percent in a suburb and 8 percent in an urban area or central city.

• 70% of vacation homes purchased in 2008 were detached single-family homes, 18 percent condos, 5 percent townhouses or row houses and 7 percent other.

The survey, conducted in March, includes answers from 1,924 usable responses.

Uncategorized

March 4, 2009

Eliminating Mortgage Interest Deductions?

co-girl-mountainbikingHidden in the Obama administration’s federal budget outline is a provision to limit the mortgage interest deduction (MID) for many people and have a profound negative impact on the housing market.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is opposed to this proposal and the NAR’s President, Charles McMillan has sent a letter to President Obama saying that “there is never a good time to propose something that undermines the basic foundation of home ownership.”

The plan, which came out Thursday Feb 26, 2009 at 11:30 am, reduces the mortgage interest deduction on families earning over $250,000.

The overall effect of this would:

1. Put increased downward pressure on home prices and values, and

2. Cause more distress to bank balance sheets by causing the value of mortgage backed securities to decline.

Closer to home, this could significantly reduce demand for second homes in Colorado, which could:

1. Disrupt property values and tax bases in mountain towns,

2. Have a negative impact on travel and tourism in the state,

3. Reduce the number of jobs in mountain communities for construction, architecture, real estate, and many other ancillary services.

What in the world is the Obama administration thinking? How is creating less demand for housing, depressing home values, lowering taxable bases and eliminating jobs in many industries going to stimulate the economy?

And, if this passes, what would prevent them from just tacking on a future amendment to lower the earning level to, say, $100,000?