The Lowest Mortgage Delinquency Rate in the Nation

mortgage ratesBlack Knight Financial Services reported the mortgage delinquency rate for each state and once again Colorado has the lowest mortgage delinquency rate in the country with just 2.12% of our mortgages more than 30 days late. Why is this important? First, if peoples’ homes were truly unaffordable they would quit making their mortgage payments. Second, this tells that there are incredibly few distressed sales coming over the next 6 months. Third, with very few distressed sales, home prices will keep rising.  (author: Lonnie Glessner)

Condo construction can start again now

CondoOn Monday the Colorado Supreme Court did what our state legislators couldn’t do as the Supreme Court voted 5-2 to affirm the Colorado Court of Appeals ruling “that developers can retain a right to consent to any HOA’s proposed amendments on contracted declaration regarding arbitration for construction-defects claims,” per the Denver Business Journal.

The case involved was Vallagio at Inverness Residential Condo Association v. Metro Homes Inc in which the condo association voted to change the developers By-Laws that then allowed the condo association to sue for construction defects instead of using binding arbitration that the By-Laws from the builder required. The condo association believed that the Colorado Consumer Protection Act provided them with the right to vote to switch from binding arbitration to litigation. The Colorado Supreme Court rejected this argument.

Thus, if the builder/developer requires that construction defects claims be settled by binding arbitration in the future that is how construction defects claims will be settled.
So every smart builder/developer will write into their By-laws that binding arbitration is how construction defects claims will be settled going forward, which is GREAT NEWS! Builders now have the legal protection they need to start building condos again
Author: Lonnie Glessner

Population growth in Denver

Denver Population

Denver PopulationWith job growth comes population increase, with population increase come housing demand.  The US Census Bureau  just released population growth figures for the year that ended July 1st, 2016. For that year the City of Denver added 13,028 net new people to its population, now totaling 693,060 people. Denver ranked #13 among large cities for the number of people added.

May Market Minute

Housing Market Minute

Housing Market MinuteMay, 2017

Pending home sales were down slightly in March, a by product of continuing low inventory and high demand.
The average sales price for April single family detached homes came to $471,145 and $312,320 for Condos and Town-homes.  This is a study increase month over month since the beginning of the year.
(Data provided from REColorado for Aurora, Northglenn, Westminster, Lakewood, Thornton, Arvada, Englewood, Edgewater, Centennial, Littleton, Bloomfield, Denver, Golden, Lone Tree)
In my last issue I talked about the top 5 factors driving our hot housing market.  Two of the reasons mentioned were people moving here and job growth.  I happen to have a home for rent here in Englewood, CO and after renting this home since 2004 I have never had so many out of state applicants.  Many of them flying in for the week to buy or rent in the short week they are here.  Although not a representative sample, my everyday life seems to be evidence coinciding with the report I posted last month entitled “Is the Denver Real-estate Market in a Bubble?”.
Last but maybe least on my list is a Spring Cleaning checklist.  Items I will realistically never get to, but maybe you are more on top of spring cleaning then me!  🙂  Happy Winter (I mean Spring!)

Housing Market Minute

Housing Market Minute

Housing Market Minute – Feb. 2, 2017

 Housing Market Min

The Fed met yesterday,as expected there was no rate increase for now. The Fed has said it expects to raise rates 3 times this year.
The average sales price for January single family detached homes came to $425,054. and $284,788 for Condos and Townhomes.
( Data provided from REColorado for Aurora, Northglenn, Westminster, Lakewood, Thornton, Arvada, Englewood, Edgewater, Centennial, Littleton, Bloomfield, Denver, Golden, Lone Tree)
We will be hosting an Open House this Sunday Feb. 5 from 11:30 – 3:30
4890 S. Inca St. Englewood Colorado for more details and pictures click here.

Hottest Denver Neighborhoods in 2016 and 2017

Redfin recently ranked our country’s 50 most competitive neighborhoods to buy a home in 2016. Metro Denver had 7 of the 30 most competitive and 10 of the top 50. The most competitive neighborhoods have these characteristics-

  • Fewer median days on the market.
  • Higher average sale-to-list price ratio
  • Home price appreciation
  • Higher percentage of homes sold for all cash
  • Homes for more than their asking price

So, here is the 2016 list for metro Denver-

  • #8–Lakeside near Sloan’s Lake
  • #12-West Pleasant View in Golden
  • #13-College View in Denver
  • #14-Hoffman Town in Aurora
  • #17-Highline Villages in Aurora
  • #23-Union Square in Lakewood
  • #27-Horseshoe Park in Aurora
Here is Redfin’s 2017 list for hottest neighborhoods in Denver-
  • #9-Greenfield in SE Aurora
  • Also highly ranked were Old Town Arvada and Athmar Park in SW Denver.

HUD Lowers FHA MIP by a Quarter Point

Mortgage insurance premiums on FHA-backed loans will be lower by 25 basis points on loans endorsed starting January 27, the federal government announced today.

“After four straight years of growth and with sufficient reserves on hand to meet future claims, it’s time for FHA to pass along some modest savings to working families,” Julian Castro, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced today.

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