An (encouraging) update on Colorado real estate

Money Magazine has once again named Louisville, CO the number place to live in the country out of all communities with 50,000 or fewer residents. That's based on recreation, affordability, lifestyle, and job opportunities.

Superior, CO came in a respectable #13.

Also interesting to note this week is a Realty Times article which provided some insight into our rebounding market. Here are the highlights:

First, the national trend. Pending home sales rose sharply, by nearly 7 percent, in the last month measured by the National Association of Realtors.

Pending sales were up in all four major regions of the country—and that caught the attention of some key industry economists.

Orawin Velz, economic forecaster for the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in a commentary that "the steady improvements in pending home sales are encouraging," and confirm the view that existing home sales hit their cyclical bottom in January and are likely to continue to rise in the coming months.

Since the January low point, she noted, the Realtors' pending sale index is up by 13 percent.
Mortgage rates continue to be favorable, an average of 5.3 percent last week for 30 year fixed rate loans, 4. 8 percent for 15 year fixed, and those rates are pulling in growing numbers of home purchase loan applications.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey, new applications to buy houses increased by nearly 7 percent in the week ending July 3rd.


Now let’s take a look at this week in real estate:

Boulder/Longmont—New listings took a jump of over 20% in the Boulder county market last week. Yes, I know - the number of houses on the market has been historically low this past year. That's one of the factors that allowed Boulder housing prices to increase in an otherwise pathetic economy. But consider that sales have been very steady for several weeks, seldom varying by more than 2% for the entire Boulder market.

That doesn't put us out of the rough. Agents continue to report that the ongoing problem of late and inaccurate appraisals continues to cause headaches. That's mostly because Boulder doesn't look like other markets. Appraisers are having a hard time keeping up with the prices that are offered. Bidding situations are happening. The loan process is not for the faint of heart. Underwriters are asking for lots of supporting documentation and they are asking for it more than once. Patience is being tested at every turn. The benefit is that most buyers are getting some wonderful homes at great prices.

We are still seeing homes under $250,000 move quickly.

Central Denver — There is still lots of activity in the price point below $400,000 with multiple offers more common than ever. We are seeing the upper end market moving. Sellers are getting their homes on the market & we are seeing offers coming in on those houses. Price is crucial, as well as staging, in order to get top dollar in this market.

Larimer County—Well priced inventory is moving very quickly and even the condo market is picking up steadily. We are still seeing issues with appraisals and underwriting is taking a significant amount of time to review buyer's credit history and clear loan conditions. The Northern Colorado real estate market is relatively strong in comparison to much of the state. Larimer County in particular is fairing better than surrounding counties. It is still a great time to buy & I really don't think we will be in the doom and gloom for much longer. We're already seeing signs of life in the Northern Colorado market and it is only a matter of time until those buyers sitting on the fence will be kicking themselves for not making a move in what was a declining market.

West Lakewood—Short sales are becoming more streamlined and we continue to have multiple offer situations on bank owned properties. We are hearing back from banks more expeditiously. It seems that sellers are listening to their Agents. They are becoming more realistic and are often adjusting their listing price.

Regardless of the market or the reason behind the recent upswing, things are starting to pick up throughout Colorado. It seems buyers are finally starting to get the message that we may have hit bottom and, as buyers take action, we’re slowly but surely working our way into a transitioning market. It’s been a challenging ride but what we have to look forward to is exciting. Prepare. The coming months and into 2010 are going to be an exciting ride.