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From the Denver Business Journal:

Housing starts up 8.9% in West, 2.8% nationwide; new permits also jump

Housing construction starts in the Western states, including Colorado, rose 8.9 percent in January from the previous month but fell 11.6 percent from January 2009, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Wednesday.

Excluding apartments and condos, the 13 Western states saw a sharp 21.7 percent year-over-year rise in January 2010 in the start of construction for single-family homes as well as a 5.2 percent rise from December 2009.

Housing construction permits also jumped in the Western states in January, both from the previous month and the prior year.

Read it all

BODY { FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE:12pt } P { FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE:12pt } DIV { FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE:12pt } TD { FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE:12pt } This is Big News!

STEP 1:
Attend a FREE First-Time Home Buyer Class*
Must attend a CHFA approved class in person.

STEP 2:
Complete a loan application with one of our Approved Lenders
Lender must submit Shadow Package to DCHP.

STEP 3:
Meet with DCHP to determine eligibility
Checklist – guidelines/qualifications

STEP 4:
Choose a Real Estate Agent and select your home in Douglas County

STEP 5:
Close the home purchase transaction and
MOVE IN!

The downpayment assistance is in the form of a second mortgage.  Payments begin immediately and the funds may only be used for downpayment, no closing cost assistance.  Borrowers have a choice of either (a) a 15 year loan term which will carry an interest rate of three percent below the 10-year Treasury Index (but no lower than a 1% interest rate), or (b) a 30 year loan term which will carry an interest rate of one percent below the 10-year Treasury Index (but no lower than a 3% interest rate).

Hi All-

I wanted to let you all in on the details of a scam that has been going on with Craigslist. It has been happening for about a year, but has really stepped up lately.

Here's what happens:

1. The Scammer finds a good property listing for sale on the MLS
2. They list the home as a rental on Craigslist using the Agent's name but with a different email address
3. They list the monthly rental amount at about half of what the normal rent would be in the property's area  
4. This low rent catches the attention of potential renters and in an attempt to beat out other renters at this great deal, many people rush to send these "Landlords" their security deposit and first month's rent as fast as possible
   
5. These "Landlords" only accept the payment by Western Union and commonly use the cover story of being missionaries overseas

Here's how to protect yourself:

1. If a deal sounds too good to be true - it is. (We had a $240,000 home that was advertised by these Scammers for $900/month in rent) 
2. When you see a listing, first Search the web for the property address. If it is listed for sale on another website, call the agent at a phone number listed somewhere besides Craigslist (the agent's website for example) to verify the property is truly for rent.
3. Unless you meet the owner or landlord personally at the home, be very cautious.

 

From The Denver Business Journal:

Colorado foreclosure sales down 4% in 2009

There were 20,437 home foreclosures completed in Colorado in 2009, down 4.1 percent from 2008's total and down 18.4 percent from the peak year of 2007, the state's Division of Housing reported Thursday.

Also:

The percentage of new filings leading to a conclusion short of a foreclosure sale -- including a refinance, loan modification or short sale -- was 37 percent in 2007, but by 2009 it had risen to 56 percent, the report said.

Read it all here

From The Denver Business Journal:

HUD grants $29M to Denver in stimulus foreclosure help

 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $29.3 million in stimulus dollars to the Denver area to help with home foreclosure recovery, HUD said Thursday.

Most of the funds — $18.99 million — will go to the City and County of Denver’s Office of Economic Development, and the remaining $10.26 million will be used by Chicanos Por La Causa Inc.

“The city’s foreclosure recovery efforts will see a significant boost thanks to this increase in funding,” Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said in a statement.

Read it all Here

 
Metro Area Condo Searches:
Aurora Condos and Townhomes, Arvada Condos and Townhomes, Castle Rock Condos and Townhomes, Centennial Condos and Townhomes, Denver Condos and Townhomes, Englewood Condos and Townhomes, Golden Condos and Townhomes, Highlands Ranch Condos and Townhomes, Lakewood Condos and Townhomes, Parker Condos and Townhomes, Thornton Condos and Townhomes, Westminster Condos and Townhomes,

 

December Market Statistics: Denver and Dallas lead the nation again in home prices

Click Here for The Latest Housing Market Stats and Data

 

 

From The Denver Post:

Denver homebuilders seeing signs of a turnaround

 Builders in the Denver market were selling on average one home per community per month during the third quarter, said Jay Peterson, regional manager for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. That's up from 0.7 homes a month during the same period last year.

Peterson also noted that cancellations are down 40 percent year-over-year.

"It shows more of a serious and intent buyer," he said.

Richmond American Homes reported 197 orders for new homes in Colorado in the third quarter, compared with 105 during the same time last year, said Zane DeHerrera, spokesman for MDC Holdings-Richmond American Homes.

"Back in the third quarter of '08, the capital markets froze," DeHerrera said. "That really impacted consumer confidence and slowed down lending tremendously."

Factors contributing to the increased activity include the first-time-homebuyer tax credit — which was recently expanded to include buyers who have owned their homes for at least five years — low interest rates and fewer existing homes on the market.

"We're definitely in the first stages of a real-estate recovery as it relates to residential," said Pat Hamill, president of Oakwood Homes. "We're starting to see values stabilize, inventories drop and people starting to feel good that this is the right time to buy because pricing has dropped significantly."

 

From the Denver Business Journal:

Denver among top U.S. cities for 2009 home-value gain

 Metro Denver had the third-largest gain in home values among cities nationwide in 2009 through November, with a $10.7 billion increase, according to Zillow Real Estate Market Reports.

Only Boston ($23.3 billion) and Providence, R.I. ($12.4 billion) had greater gains in home value.

U.S. home values as a whole dropped $489 billion in this year’s first 11 months, which was significantly less than the $3.6 trillion drop in home value sustained in 2008, the Zillow report said.

Forty-eight of the 154 markets Zillow tracks showed gains in home values through last month.

We keep seeing more and more good news being reported. It seems the media is final catching on to what we've been seeing in the market for the last few months.

I'll post the Denver numbers when they come out, but we've been beating the national numbers by about 1% for the last year or so.

 From MSNBC.com / AP :

New homes sales rise to highest level in a year

WASHINGTON - Sales of new homes posted an increase in October, reinforcing data this week that showed the real estate market is regaining its footing after a dramatic collapse.

The Commerce Department said sales rose 6.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000 from an upwardly revised 405,000 in September. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a pace of 410,000.

The median sales price of $212,200 was off 0.5 percent from $213,200 a year earlier, but up 0.7 percent from September's level of $210,700.

Read it all.

From MSNBC.com:

Existing-home Sales Rise To 6.10 Million, Up 10.1%

 WASHINGTON - Home sales far exceeded expectations last month, surging to the highest level in two and a half years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of an expiring tax credit.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that home resales rose 10.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million in October, from a downwardly revised pace of 5.54 million in September.

Read it all. Very good news.

Latest Market Stats and Info on the new Homebuyer Tax Credits:

Click Here.

From WSJ.com:

Buying a Home in Time to Get Credit

 House hunting usually slows down this time of year, as people put their searches on hold during the holidays.

This winter could be different, however, thanks to the extension -- and expansion -- of the first-time home-buyer tax credit.

"We're going to see far more interest in the fourth quarter than we generally do because of the tax credit," says Heather Fernandez, vice president of Trulia.com, a real-estate search engine. Traffic surged on the site on Nov. 5, the day Congress approved the credit extension, she says.

The new law extends the tax credit for first-time home buyers and opens it up to some existing homeowners as well: The credit is now up to $8,000 for first-time buyers and up to $6,500 for repeat buyers.

 Read it all.

 

From the Denver Business Journal:

RealtyTrac: Sharp foreclosure decline in Colorado

Colorado saw a sharp decline in home foreclosures in October, both from the previous month and from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac Inc.'s latest monthly "U.S. Foreclosure Market Report."

A total of 5,047 Colorado properties were in some stage of the foreclosure process in October, down 18.75 percent from September and down 6.08 percent from October 2008, according to data released late Wednesday MST by RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based marketer of foreclosed properties.

 And this. Be Glad you don't live here:

RealtyTrac said four states accounted for 52 percent of the nation’s total housing foreclosure activity in October: California, Florida, Illinois and Michigan.

 Read it all

 

From Yahoo!:

10 Cities Experiencing Home Price Rebounds

...

9. Denver, CO.
Denver home prices rose 1% over the month. Prices there fell only about 2% since last year and have avoided the real estate bubble that hit east and west coast states.

...

 

From the Denver Business Journal:

Denver home resales rebound in October

Metro Denver home resales increased in October from September, but were down from October of last year, according to a Metrolist Inc. housing report released Friday.

Home sales, particularly those of lower-priced homes that are proving attractive to first-time homebuyers, have been boosted in recent months by buyers wanting to take advantage of the federal government’s $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit before it expired. The credit was set to expire Nov. 30, but Congress on Thursday extended the credit to 2010. As expected by real estate industry professionals, the credit was expanded to include some existing homeowners looking for new homes as well as first-time buyers.

Read the whole thing 

 

From the Denver Business Journal:

Home sales jump in West

A key measure of U.S. home sales rose for the eighth consecutive month in September, the longest streak since 2001, with growth strongest in the West, a region including Colorado.

The National Association of Realtors' index of pending sales of existing homes rose 6.1 percent in September. Pending sales are up 21.2 percent from a year ago, the largest annual increase on record, the NAR says.

In the western states, including Colorado, pending sales in September were up 10.2 percent over August and up 23.7 percent over September 2008.

 

 

From FOXBusiness:

Pending Home Sales Rise 6.1% in September

The number of contracts signed for home purchases jumped for the eighth consecutive month in September, the National Association of Realtors said Monday, as home buyers moved quickly to take advantage of the first-time home buyer’s tax credit.

According to NAR, the industry group’s pending home sales index rose 6.1% in September, compared with the 0.1% fall in the index that economists were expecting.

Pending home sale activity is now 21.2% higher than it was a year ago, NAR said, making it the largest annual increase in pending home sales on record. The index is also at its highest level since December 2006.

Read the whole thing.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Home Resales Jumped in September

Demand for previously owned homes surged in September as buyers grabbed lower prices and a tax credit about to vanish.

Home resales increased by 9.4% to a 5.57 million annual rate from 5.09 million in August, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

August sales fell 2.9%; the NAR originally reported August sales fell 2.7%, to 5.10 million.

Read it all...

 

From The Denver Business Journal:

RealtyTrac: Colorado foreclosures down in September from previous month

Colorado had the ninth-highest foreclosure rate in the nation in September, down from eighth in August, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

A total of 6,212 Colorado properties were in foreclosure in September, according to data released by RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based marketer of foreclosed properties. That was down 4 percent from August but up 42 percent from September 2008.

Colorado also ranked ninth in the nation for the third quarter as a whole, with one in every 131 households in some stage of the foreclosure process, RealtyTrac said.

Nevada, which has topped the list for nearly three years, once again had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate in September and in the third quarter, with one in every 23 households in foreclosure, nearly six times the national average.

California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Illinois and Michigan accounted for 62 percent of the nation’s total foreclosure activity in the third quarter, RealtyTrac said.

Nationwide, one in every 136 households was in foreclosure in the third quarter, up 5.4 percent from the second quarter and up 22.5 percent from the third quarter of 2008.