The HBA of Denver released a report showing that builders in the Denver Metro area pulled 3,545 building permits last year for single-family, detached homes, 4.9 percent more than the 3,379 permits pulled in 2010. The HBA does not track sales or housing starts. Permits reflect future building activity. Nationally, the Commerce Department reported that about 302,000 new homes were sold last year, the worst year for new home sales since 1963.
"Denver is de-coupling itself from the national market and is moving to the forefront in the recovery cycle," said Jeff Whiton, President and CEO of the HBA of Metro Denver. "We are encouraged."
"Housing activity is up almost 5 percent, which is a step in the right direction," Whiton said. "The numbers are still small. We are still down 70 percent or 75 percent from 2006 and 2007," before the Denver-area and national housing collapse.
"Denver is considered one of the strongest markets in the country, as far as emerging from this down cycle," Whiton said. "Some major cities in Texas are coming back and certain parts of California. Denver is on the forefront of the recovery."
Although the permit activity doesn't correlate exactly with sales, home builders are constructing new homes to meet demand, Whiton said.
"Builders are responding to market conditions," he said. "They are doing really well against the resale market right now. There is not very much resale inventory on the market, so builders are providing the right product to meet the needs of consumers."
The report includes the counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Jefferson and all of the communities in those counties.
Denver showed the most activity, with 623 permits pulled, followed by Aurora with 501.
For more information and to read the complete article, please visit InsideRealEstateNews.com
From InsideRealEstateNews.com - Jan 25th, 2012
According to a report by the Colorado Division of Housing, public trustees in Colorado released a total of 235,749 deeds of trust during 2011, falling from 2010's total of 251,861. Typically, a release of a deed of trust occurs when a real estate loan is paid off whether through refinance, sale of property or because the owner has made the final payment on the loan. Release activity declines as refinance and home-sale activity falls.
"Real estate activity perked up a bit during the fourth quarter, which would reflect some very recent growth in employment and some mild increases in home prices." said Ryan McMaken, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Housing. "But overall, the fourth quarter's activity wasn't enough to keep 2011 from being another flat year."
Detailed within the report, the number of deeds of trust released during 2011 was the smallest annual release total reported since the state began keeping release records in 2000. Release activity peaked during 2003 when there were 733,373 releases reported in the counties surveyed. The unusually large number of loan payoffs from 2002 through 2005 reflects a period of declining mortgage rates and increasing new home construction that led to a swift rise in home purchase activity and refinancing. From 2003 to 2011, however, loan payoffs fell 67 percent.
"Ten years ago, even a small decline in the mortgage rate would have produced quite a bit of new refinance and sales activity," McMaken said. "But since 2008, tighter lending standards and a drop in the number of eligible buyers has prevented a sizable surge in new activity in spite of record-low rates."
A deed of trust is similar to a mortgage and is a lien on real property to secure payment of an indebtedness. The deed of trust contains a grant of the property to the public trustee for the benefit of the holder.
To read the full story, please visit InsideRealEstateNews.com
An article over at the denverpost.com today shines the spotlight on Pueblo and Fort Collins, two Colorado cities which suffered lighter job losses and housing markets that didn't overheat, and who are expected to be the first metro areas in Colorado to recover their jobs - according to a study released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The report highlights how uneven the recovery has been, and Colorado offers an example of the wide variation that can exist within a single state.
"The biggest single factor or hangover is the real-estate market," said Jim Diffley, chief regional economist with Douglas County-based IHS, which researched 363 metro areas for the conference. Cities that experienced bigger declines in home values are, generally speaking, recovering more slowly, he said.
Pueblo's housing market wasn't as overheated, and it suffered the smallest decline in jobs of any Colorado metro area - 3.2 percent from peak to bottom. That said, Pueblo struggles with an unemployment rate of 9.6 percent, higher than the statewide average of 8 percent.
Much of the new hiring is in manufacturing and distribution.
Please visit DenverPost.com to read the full article: Pueblo, Fort Collins lead economic comeback in Colorado
On January 12th, 2012, Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing mortgage rates easing to new all-time record lows for all products covered in the survey helping to keep homebuyer affordability high. The average for the 30-year fixed mortgage rate has been below 4.00 percent for six consecutive weeks.
Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac, had this to say:
"Mortgage rates eased slightly this week to all-time record lows following mixed indicators in the labor market. Although the economy added 1.6 million jobs in 2011, which was the most since 2006, the unemployment rate remained historically elevated. The 2009 to 2011 period had the highest three-year average unemployment rate since 1939 to 1941. Moreover, the Federal Reserve indicated in its January 11th regional economic review that most industries saw limited permanent hiring at the end of last year."
News Facts
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.89 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending January 12, 2012, down from last week when it averaged 3.91 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.71 percent.
- 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.16 percent with an average 0.8 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.23 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.08 percent.
- 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.82 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.86 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.72 percent.
- 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.76 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.80 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 3.23 percent.
The information above was provided by Freddie Mac and represents averages based on data collected by Freddie Mac and may not reflect interest rates or APR's available in all areas. Always consult with a licensed mortgage professional about the options available to you.
Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters
The Denver housing market recently got a national shout-out from housing and real estate investing expert Greg Rand on Fox Business.
Rand, a real estate investment consultant, author and radio and TV personality, pitched the attributes of Denver for much of the 4 minute and 4 second program in a way that would have made any chamber of commerce-style cheerleader proud.
While millions watch Fox Business, many may have missed the program in which Rand, owner of OwnAmeica.com lavished praise on Denver's housing market and economy, because it originally aired on the holiday weekend between Christmas and New Years. But the video is starting to make the rounds in Denver real estate circles.
