Nancy Somberg; Broker/Owner Encore Properties Written August 26, 2009


What we have all been hoping for seems to be happening. The Denver housing market is coming back to life both in increased sales AND perhaps more important to the general economy; increased sales prices! This is great news for both buyers and sellers because it will bring the Denver housing market back to life. While Denver has not suffered the extremes of other markets, particularly on either coast, it has definitely been sluggish and the activity in closed and recorded sales has been down. We now have some good news which will encourage buyers jump back into the market and buy!

According to major news sources and based on Standard & Poor's:

"Home prices in the Denver area rose in June for the fourth consecutive month, and the city scored the third-lowest year-over-year price decline of the 20 cities included in Standard & Poor's closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Index."

Home prices in Denver rose 2.5 percent in June from the previous month, according to the index report, released Tuesday. That follows a 1.3 percent month-over-month rise in May, a 1.5 percent rise in April and a 0.1 percent gain in March.

Denver prices fell by 1.7 percent in February and 2.7 percent in January.

Among the 20 cities in the S&P/Case-Shiller index, Denver's month-to-month price increase in June was the seventh highest.

Cleveland had the greatest month-to-month home price rise in June, 4.2 percent, followed by San Francisco (3.8 percent), Minneapolis (3.1 percent), Washington (2.8 percent), Dallas (2.7 percent) and Boston (2.6 percent).

Two cities had month-to-month price declines: Las Vegas (down 2 percent) and Detroit (down 0.8 percent).


Nancy Somberg; Broker/Owner of Encore Properties  written July 28th, 2009

Great news on my birthday today!  Please read on.

House Bills to Extend Tax Credit

Dear Friends,

Good news today from Washington regarding three bills currently on the floor of the Congress.  Each of these bills have to do with extending, in one form or another, the $8000. tax credit incentive for home buyers, possibly through the end of 2010. One of the bills has an additional credit incentive for refunding closing costs of homeowners who refinance their current mortgagee.

As an advocate for buyers and someone who genuinely wants to see as many out there as possible get into homes of their own, This is very good news.  I was hoping that this very thing would occur.  With so many Americans still trying to get back on their feet from the challenges of the economic tsunami we have recently experienced, it only makes good sense to extend this at least for another calendar year.  You will see below that the various bills proposed vary quite a bit but the intent is clear; to extend the new and returning homebuyer tax credit beyond the current deadline of December 1, 2009.

As we have more industry updates, I will keep you posted.

Please see details below:

Published: Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Several House members have introduced bills (H.R. 2562, H.R. 2606 & H.R. 2619) reflecting their support for the homebuyer tax credit and urging that it be expanded and extended. NAR is saluting their efforts, but has not endorsed any particular approach. The bills have differing details, but, taken together, all would have beneficial effects on the housing market. NAR anticipates additional bills in the near future. Read about these bills:

H.R. 2562: Ron Kind (D-WI) and 3 bipartisan cosponsors. The bill extends the tax credit through December 1, 2010, but limits the extension to individuals who served for 3 months or more in the military during 2009. H.R. 2606: Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX). The bill expands the credit to all purchasers, not just first-time purchasers. The bill extends the credit through December 31, 2010. Her bill also eliminates the repayment feature that applies to the $7500 2008 tax credit.

H.R. 2619: Kenny Marchant (R-TX). The bill makes the credit available to all purchasers and also extends the credit through June 30, 2010. The bill also provides a temporary $3000 tax credit that has the effect of refunding the closing costs associated with refinancing a mortgage, so long as the refinanced amount was no greater than the outstanding balance on the mortgage being refinanced.

Nancy Somberg; Broker/Owner:  Encore Properties Blog

This article in the July 27^th, 2009 Denver Post is worth reading... It just reiterates what I have been teaching in my weekly "First-Time and Returning Home Buyer Workshops"

Cost to Buy VS Continue to Rent Difference is Narrowing in Cities Like Denver

For Aaron Carter, a musician struggling to fit a drum set, a piano and three guitars into his 600-square-foot apartment in Phoenix, the math on owning a home finally began to work in his favor.

Rent for the apartment he shared with his wife: $615. Mortgage payment for a home with twice the space: $760. And the interest on a mortgage is tax-deductible. So they jumped at the chance to buy some elbow room.

"We figured that everything together, getting more space, getting out of the apartment life and also just the prices right now, it just was the perfect time for us as a couple" to buy, said Carter, 20.

For Americans debating whether to buy or rent their homes, the scales are tipping toward ownership. Because of the slide in


home prices, low interest rates and tax incentives, renters are realizing they could handle a mortgage for just a little more money.

An Associated Press analysis of 45 metro areas - Denver included - found the gap between the monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home and the median rent has shrunk from $777 a month to just $221 in the past three years.

In Denver, though, the gap is more than double that at $563.

Home prices in Denver have historically been above the U.S. average, while rents have been below average, said Stacey Corso, spokeswoman for Marcus & Millichap, whose real estate investment arm conducted the study for AP.

While the analysis found the gap between what it costs to own and rent is shrinking, it's still too wide for millions who live paycheck to paycheck.

Rents in Denver have not increased as quickly as the national average in recent years, and the national rent is pushed up because of markets such as Los Angeles, New Jersey, Chicago and Washington, D.C., which take up a large portion of the total inventory.

"Rents have come down a little bit and the median home price in Denver is still higher, so there's some value to being a renter right now," said Adam Christofferson, first vice president and regional manager of Marcus & Millichap's Denver office.

Nationally, it could mean a quicker end to the housing-market doldrums, as renters buy up unsold homes languishing on the market.

In some metro areas, including Cleveland, Atlanta, Indianapolis and St. Louis, the gap was less than $100 a month. And home prices are expected to fall faster than rents this year, which means the gap should get even smaller.

In once-inflated markets like Phoenix, Las Vegas and inland swaths of California and Florida, where prices have tumbled more than 40 percent, sales are rising because first-time homebuyers are snapping up bargain-priced homes.

They are getting help from a federal tax credit that covers 10 percent of the home price or up to $8,000 for first-time buyers who earn up to $75,000 a year, or $150,000 for a couple. The credit expires at the end of November.

Cheap foreclosures in some of those markets are now drawing multiple bids. As supply and demand even out, home prices will eventually begin to rise. But for now, buyers are having little trouble finding bargains.

Denver Post staff writer Margaret Jackson contributed to this report.

Nancy Somberg; Broker/Owner of Encore Properties Real Estate Blog

Contributed July 17, 2009

Below is an article in today?s Denver Business Journal about falling interest rates:

Residential Real Estate

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Colorado mortgage rates sliding closer to 5%

Denver Business Journal



Colorado mortgage rates are dropping closer to the 5 percent level this week, according to Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

Average rates for 30-year fixed mortgages in the state reached 5.18 percent Wednesday, down from last week's average rate of 5.26 percent, Zillow said.

Rates in the state were last below 5 percent in mid-May. They peaked at about 5.7 percent in mid-June and have been dropping ever since.

Nationwide, long-term mortgage rates rose a fraction this week, but remain well below year-ago levels.

Freddie Mac's weekly rate report says 30-year fixed-rate mortgages nationwide averaged 5.2 percent this week, up from 5.14 percent last week. A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.63 percent.

"Newly released housing indicators contain positive signs that the worst may be behind us," said Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) chief economist Frank Nothaft.

Freddie Mac's regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said Wednesday that average home prices nationwide rose 0.9 percent from April to May, and are down 5.6 percent from a year ago, the smallest 12-month decline since June 2008.

New construction of single-family homes rose 14.4 percent in June. Existing home sales in June rose for the third straight month.

denvernews@bizjournals.com