Everyone is doing their predictions for this year; so not to be left out, here are mine for the 2010 Denver Real Estate market.

1. There will still be high volatility.

2. Government intervention (“help”) has only brought future sales forward and will now contribute to future weakness.

3. Mortgage rates will rise to 6%

4. “Dark Inventory” will hit the market and keep prices from going up significantly.

5. Many private (small) mortgage brokers will be pushed out by increased government paperwork (bureaucracy) and large banks.

6. Unless something is done to bring jumbo loan rates closer to conventional (conforming) rates, sales of homes in the upper price points will languish.

7. We will wait for “the other shoe to drop” in the commercial markets as building owners and developers try to restructure (with limited success) their loans.

8. High unemployment will keep a lid on future demand nationwide. Denver, with its better employment situation, will be affected less by this one.

Sorry. Wish I could be more optimistic. But until the bureaucratic pinheads in Washington quit meddling and “fixing” things…..the overall housing market will not be able to pull us out of this recession.

Glad the Denver economy is improving and that we don’t have it as bad as many markets in the country.