Real Estate & Relocation ^ Colorado

Google Talk

Be sure to download your version of Google Talk, the latest from my favorite search engine.  Google says Talk is free and should be!  You can call or send instant messages to your friends anytime.

Global Warming Calculator

The Environmental Protection Agency has developed a calculator to help us as individuals figure out how much we impact the environment.  First you calculate how much you carbon dioxide  you are responible for each year, then it helps you figure out how to reduce it.

Check it out here...

Why oil prices are high

Here's a car  made out of silver...

Record area home prices overstated, agents say.

Source: Rocky Mountain News by John Rebchook

The average and median prices of previously owned homes sold in the Denver area inched to record highs this month, but a number of agents increasingly believe the prices are inflated because of concessions being offered by sellers and demanded by buyers.

For example, if someone sells a house for $106,000 but gives the buyer $6,000 for the down payment, the sale in the MetroList records would be listed at the gross amount of $106,000, not the net amount of $100,000.

Among other records, the median, or middle price, of a home sold rose to $255,000 this month, eclipsing the $252,250 median price in July.

Independent broker Gary Bauer and Steve McGuire of RE/MAX Professionals, along with Coldwell Banker Colorado, released separate reports on Tuesday that track home sales. They adjust the data for the number of weeks in each month. Sales for the remaining days in August will become part of September's reports, but data will be adjusted so each month is comparable.

Although there is no way of telling how much home prices are being inflated, Bauer said the concessions must be skewing the numbers to some degree.

Buyers are extremely picky and feel no urgency to purchase a home because of the huge supply of unsold houses on the market and still relatively low mortgage rates, Bauer said.

The MetroList data are overstating the overall sale prices by about 1 percent, McGuire estimated. He said only about 10 percent to 15 percent of the homes he sells use concessions, but he said he knows that percentage is much higher for other brokers.

Frank Hernandez of Metro Brokers-Harvest Realty in Thornton said 80 percent to 85 percent of the homes he sells are with incentives. Typically, the incentives amount to 3 percent of the sales price, he said.

Many brokers, lenders and economists say that 100 percent financed deals are causing the number of foreclosures to rise.

That creates a vicious cycle in which market-rate sellers must lower the price of their homes to compete with the foreclosed homes on the market, Hernandez said.

"I think the market is getting worse," said Brian Bartlett with RE/MAX Southeast. "You've got all of this goofy financing going on."

He said he recently sold a home in Green Valley Ranch and that 40 similar homes were competing with his seller. The seller paid the down payment and closing costs, and the buyer received $300 at the closing.

The MetroList sale prices must be inflated, said Larry McGee of the Berkshire Group, but he said he has no idea by how much.

"If you pick any number, you're just shooting from the hip," he said.

Some Realtors aren't even listing the concessions with MetroList, he said, which makes it even tougher to arrive at an accurate number.

"What MetroList is best for is establishing a trend line of which way the market is heading," rather than a precise accounting of individual housing prices, McGee said. "If you're an individual seller, what do you care what the average or median price is doing marketwide? You care whether you sold your house for a profit."

Rising gasoline prices and interest rates also could hurt the housing market, said Rob Horton of Metro Brokers Absolute Realty Services. But neighborhoods close to where people work can benefit, Horton said, because more people are telling him they want shorter commutes because of rising gas prices.

Even a person at MetroList, a Realtor-owned group that releases home sales statistics on the last full week of each month, said the allegations may be worth investigating. The woman, who asked not to be identified, said Realtors are required to fill out a sales concession field when recording the sale in the MetroList computer database. But the concessions are not subtracted when calculating the overall sales price, she said.

Metro Denver job growth exceeds National Average

The economic recovery in Denver that begin in mid-2004 continues. The latest report indicate the year-to-date job growth rate is 2.1% compared to the .9% for all of 2004.  The national average is 1.7%.

Interested in reading the whole report?  Go here.

#1 ranking

Colorado tops the "leanest state" list with only 16.8% of population being considered obese.  Experts deem our fabulous weather and abundant outdoor sports responsible for attracting the type of people who enjoy exercising.

The next leanest states in order of ranking are Massachusetts, Vermonth, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico.  The pumpest state is Mississippi.

Trump this...

Denver's Union Station is scheduled for renovation with a $1 BILLION dollar price tag.  The executive oversight commitee in charge of selecting a "short list" of potential developers was surprised when the Trump group jumped into the ring.

Cingular expanding in Colorado

Cingular Wireless LLC will be increasing its presence in our state by investing over $60,000 MILLION into network improvements and adding 25 new retail locations.

Good, now maybe my cell phone will work in better in Douglas County...

Condo prices are up!

The average price of a condo sold in the metro Denver area jumped to a record high in August of $198,614 from $184,288 in July just last month.  Last year at the same time the average price was $181,225 in the metro area.

Single family home price averages were down this month from last.  August the average price for a single family home was $313,308 from $318,527 in July.  Last year in August the average price of a home in Denver was $299.131.

Inventory is down from last year by 3.4%. 

A Denver real estate company

Last year for the first time in "data recording history" the National Association of Realtors reported that the medial price for condos was above that of single family homes.  While this statistic is not currently true in the Denver metro market, it would appear that the demographics of America are changing.

We deal with people everyday who are wanting to move "downtown".  Buyers are have different values these days. They value their time and want to be in an area where there's a "life of it's own." It appears that the city and condos are offering it.

Roof top deck in Lodo, Denver Colorado