Market Update

We are experiencing, as you may know from the national news, forest fires throughout Colorado, with several local fires here in La Plata county. Most likely in relation to those fires, we are seeing a slow down in general market activity. However, most of Colorado and most of Colorado will survive these fires with the help of our amazing firemen and women and we are so grateful to them for their extraordinary service.

I recently did research on what the market has done statistically so far this year. At the end of the year 2011 transactions were 718. At the end of March 2012 annualized transactions were 757 which represented a 5% increase through the 1st quarter. Since then, the market has been stable, neither increasing or decreasing significantly. Yesterday the annualized transactions were at 748.

On the pricing front, statistics show that median prices are equivalent to median prices in 2005. We have continued to see a downward trend in pricing through the first half of 2012.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. You can reach me, Don Ricedorff, at The Wells Group 970-375-7014, don@frontier.net, or at my website at durangorealproperty.com.

Don Ricedorff is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Colorado, with 18+ years of experience, and he resides in Durango Colorado.He has numerous real estate designations, which have provided him with an unparalleled education to assist his clients. The designations include:

CRS, Certified Residential Specialist
CRB, Certified Residential Broker
CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member
CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert
ABR, Accredited Buyer Representation
GRI, Graduate of Realtor Institute
RSPS, Resort and Second Home Property Specialist
CIPS, Certified International Property Specialist
SRES, Senior Real Estate Specialist

He is also an active volunteer in the community and his church. His highest aspiration is spending time with his wife, Janet, and his three children Kelly, Katie, and Kyle. His other interests include playing tennis, fly fishing, hiking, boating, and water skiing.

Good News for the Housing Market

This week we'd like to share an article with you from Bloomberg Businessweek.  While the article references the National Real Estate market, it is important to remember that all markets differ.  Our market has shown increased activity levels in the last quarter, especially in the lower price ranges. 

Good News for the Housing Market

By Karen Weise on June 14, 2012

The housing market’s been giving mixed signals, flashes of hope mixed with sudden bad news. There’s no sign yet that a real recovery has taken hold, but some new data are optimistic.

Home prices and sales are on the rise. DataQuick says the average sale price for the past 30 days was $189,500, up $7,000 from a month earlier. Sales are also up 8.2 percent during this time. In Southern California, for example, DataQuick says the market is continuing its “step-by-tiny-step trek back toward normalcy.”
Shadow inventory is shrinking quickly. The so-called shadow inventory refers to distressed properties that aren’t listed for sale but probably will be—homes on which borrowers are grossly delinquent or already in foreclosure, or that banks have already repossessed. CoreLogic says in April, 1.5 million homes were in the shadows, which equates to a four-month supply, down from a six-month supply a year earlier. A smaller shadow inventory can be positive for prices because it means there are fewer distressed homes poised to come on the market.
Foreclosures are up. In the fall of 2010, the robo-signing scandal erupted over how banks were using faulty paperwork to evict borrowers. They cut back on processing foreclosures, building up a backlog of distressed properties. In March, banks agreed to a $25 billion robo-signing settlement, and new data show banks are restarting the foreclosure machinery. In May, banks filed to foreclose on 205,990 properties—a 9 percent increase during April, according to RealtyTrac. The foreclosure pickup hurts the people who are losing their homes but helps the housing market in the long run because it lets banks get through the backlog and eventually move on.
Borrowers are building more equity in their homes. Our colleagues at Bloomberg News report that homeowners have made the biggest jump in home equity in more than 60 years. Half of borrowers who are refinancing are paying down some of their debt and reducing their loans. They’re also refinancing into shorter-term loans that have higher monthly payments but let them pay down principal quicker. Overall, mortgage debt is down 7 percent since 2007—a small consolation for the decline in home values, which are down 23 percent over the same period.
Finally, if you’re looking for more data and a big-picture view, check out Harvard’s annual State of the Nation’s Housing report that’s out today. It also sees signs of recovery in the market and says unless something comes along to dent the broad economy, the housing picture should become even brighter.
Weise is a reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek.

We hope you have a great weekend.  As always, if you would like to discuss the local market trends, feel free to contact our office.

New Durango Welcome Center Opens on Main Ave.

If you are going to be in Durango check out the new Durango Welcome Center on the corner of Eighth Street and Main Avenue, in the former Durango Music space, that opened its doors on May 25, 2012. Designed to be a central, one-stop resource for tourists and locals alike, the Welcome Center is ready to give directions, offer eating and lodging recommendations and sell tickets for upcoming shows and events.  It’s a handy resource in our business of selling real estate because there are numerous questions daily from the multitude of visitors to our town who want to know about the town and its attractions as they pursue that perfect property to buy.

I thought you might also be interested this week in some findings just released by The Census Bureau on new single family residential construction built in 2011. Here is a table comparing  last year to 2006:

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. You can reach me, Don Ricedorff, at The Wells Group 970-375-7014, don@frontier.net, or at my website at durangorealproperty.com.

Don Ricedorff is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Colorado, with 18+ years of experience, and he resides in Durango Colorado.He has numerous real estate designations, which have provided him with an unparalleled education to assist his clients. The designations include:

CRS, Certified Residential Specialist
CRB, Certified Residential Broker
CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member
CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert
ABR, Accredited Buyer Representation
GRI, Graduate of Realtor Institute
RSPS, Resort and Second Home Property Specialist
CIPS, Certified International Property Specialist
SRES, Senior Real Estate Specialist

He is also an active volunteer in the community and his church. His highest aspiration is spending time with his wife, Janet, and his three children Kelly, Katie, and Kyle. His other interests include playing tennis, fly fishing, hiking, boating, and water skiing.