Boulder-Denver Economy, OUR Nation and YOUR Real Estate - Part II

Any good real estate agent or relocation professional should stay on top of their local economic news as well as the news at the national level, and at Colorado Landmark, Realtors that's just what we try to do every week.  As I said in my previous post, last week I had the privelege of attending the Rocky Mountain Relocation Council's Fall Conference held at the Arvada Center.  My previous post was about national economic news conveyed to us by an economist from Wells Fargo Bank.

The second speaker of the morning was Cheryl Meyn from Denver's The Genesis Group.  Cheryl has an extensive background in Denver area real estate and spoke to us about economy in Colorado and specifically the 7-County Denver Metro Area.  Here are a few highlights from her presentation:

• Real estate overall:  If you look at the statistics, theoretically the Denver area real estate market bottomed out last year in 2009. 
• Unemployment:  Hovering around 8%, Colorado's unemployment rate is one of the lower rates in the nation.  We are experiencing a lessening of job losses which is giving the area economy some stability, but unfortunately not much in the way of job growth yet.  We have lost a net 45,000 jobs in this recession (at one point it was as high as 52,000) and it could take 3 years to recover from that.  Our area unemployment rate is not expected to go under 7% until late 2011.
• Mortgages and foreclosures:  18-20% of Coloradans are underwater on their mortgages, compared to 25-30% nationally, however foreclosure activity for 2010 is 10% below 2009 levels.  70% of all of the area's foreclosure activity is in Adams, Arapahoe and Denver counties.
• Housing inventory:  We have 3 years inventory of properties over $1M.  Local home builders have shown incredible restraint and we have little to no new construction inventory which has helped our resale market significantly
• Home Prices:  We have actually experienced a 3.6% increase in price activity in the last year.
• Housing Demand:  Pent up demand in our area is growing as we are seeing our population and # of households grow.  From 2005-2010 it was predicted that we would see a growth in households of 75,459 but the actual figure is 80,909.  From 2010 to 2015 we will see 80,952 additional households in our area.  Owner occupancy has declined from 66.7% in 2005 to 60.9% today and we have the lowest vacancy rates since 1994. 

So, what's in Colorado's future?  Housing will stay flat in 2010 and might improve somewhat in 2011.  Resales, which were down 8% in 2010 will see a rebound in 2011.  There are signs of improvement on the foreclosure front, and in-migration continues to be strong, with people still moving to Colorado.   All you have to do is check in with the national news media once in a while to hear various Colorado communities earning accolades for one thing or another, so it's no wonder people want to relocate here!

For Boulder County, the employment numbers are quite optimistic.  The most current numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (for August 2010) put the Boulder Metropolitan area's unemployment at 6.4%.  Broomfield County recorded a 7.1% unemployment level for August 2010, so closer to the state level of 8.0% recorded for September 2010.

On the other hand, foreclosure activity is definitely catching up with our area.  According to RealtyTrac foreclosure filings in Boulder County were up in Sept 2010 with 234 filings, the highest number in 12 months.  The highest numbers were in Louisville (75) and Longmont (67).  Month-over-month price appreciation levelled out at 0.0%.  Only 29 foreclosure properties actually SOLD in Sept 2010 though.  Foreclosure activity is expected to rise, while the # of pre-foreclosure properties rose significantly last month from the single digits to over 60 properties.  The majority of the foreclosures are in the $100-300k range.  The foreclosures in our area don't necessarily translate to huge price savings for buyers -  10% in most of the county, with 20% in Longmont.

Broomfield County saw 52 new foreclosures in Sept 2010 and actiity is also expected to rise there.  Only 10 foreclosure properties actually SOLD in Sept 2010 though.  As in Boulder County, month-over-month price appreciation levelled out at 0.0%.  The majority of the foreclosures are also in the $100-300k range.

Pam Metzger
Director of Relocation, Business Development and Finance
Colorado Landmark, Realtors
www.facebook.com/COLandmark
www.twitter.com/COLandmark 
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Top Ten Sales - Boulder/Broomfield Counties - Aug 22-28, 2010

There is volatility in the real estate market right now, and an abundance of conflicting news reports and statistics that may be confusing to buyers and sellers. At Colorado Landmark, Realtors we are committed to knowing OUR local market and giving our clients and friends the most up-to-date and accurate information possible.

To that end, periodically we are highlighting the week's real estate actvity in Boulder and Broomfield Counties, to let you know what is selling, at what prices, and how long these properties are taking to sell.

For the week of August 22-28, 2010 here are the numbers:

• 81 properties sold
• Price range of properties sold during this period: $89,500 - $2,495,000
• Median price: $290,000
• Average price: $432,480
• $0-199k = 19 sold this week
• $200-299K = 21 sold
• $300-399k = 12 sold
• $40-499k = 9 sold
• $500-599k = 5 sold
• $600-699k = 5 sold
• $700-799k = 1 sold
• $800-899k = 0 sold
• $900-999k = 2 sold
• $1.0-1.9M = 4 sold
• $2.0M+ = 2 sold

Top Ten Listings Sold during this period:

Information obtained from MLS and public record.





The message this week is pretty obvious - if your home is priced over $1 million and not priced correctly for the market, it is going to take a REALLY long time to sell!  The average days on market (DOM) for homes in this category for this week is 596 days, with 565 days to offer.  That is astounding in itself, but what is even more astounding are the drastic price reductions off of original list price.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at the chart and see that the five homes with the longest DOM are the five homes with the most drastic price reductions, from 30% all the way up to 61% off original list price.  If that is not a call to action for sellers, I don't know what is!!

There is only one way to make sure that your luxury home doesn't take 600 days to sell and that is by employing what is called Price Positioning.  Take a look at other relevant active listings and price your home competitively as close to the bottom of that range as you can tolerate.  This plainly is not the time to be greedy.  Be the first home that a buyer in your home's category wants to look at.  If your price is compelling the buyer won't want to leave the house without making an offer for fear that someone else will buy it first.  Here's your takeaway for the week - Be THAT seller.

Pam Metzger
Director of Relocation and Business Development
Colorado Landmark, Realtors
303-443-3377
@pmcolorado
www.facebook.com/COLandmark

Tax Credit Home Sale AND National Open House Weekend - Boulder, Broomfield County Homes Open and On Sale!

Colorado Landmark, Realtors is leading the charge for housing recovery in our Boulder and Broomfield County communities.  The first time home buyer ($8000) and repeat home buyer ($6500) tax credits will no longer be available to buyers who are not under contract by April 30, 2010.  We have worked hard with many of our sellers to reduce asking prices on some of our best listings by 3% or more!  Check out this link to the IRS website for more information on the tax credit.

This Saturday and Sunday April 10th and 11th  is National Open House Weekend.  Colorado Landmark, Realtors will have many of our price-reduced homes open, as well as some of our brand new listings.

See the list of our Open Houses at http://www.landmarkopenhouse.com/ OR http://www.boulderopenhouse.com/.