Louisville, Colorado Named CNNMoney.com’s Best Places to Live

And Superior wasn’t too far behind…

Well not to brag, but we all know Colorado is an amazing place to live. Our sports. Our activities. Our beautiful scenery. Our thriving economy. Tourism. It’s rare that you find such a remarkable combination but once again, Colorado is making its place on the national map.

Earlier this week, CNNMoney.com released its top 100 list of best places to live and topping the list in the number one position was Louisville, Colorado. Check out this link: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/snapshots/PL0846355.html. The article reported, “It's also weathering the economic downturn well. Robust industries in the area, such as high tech, energy, and health care, make county unemployment among the lowest in the state.”

Superior, Colorado wasn’t too far behind in the number 13 position. Check out this link: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/snapshots/PL0875640.html.

Also interesting to note this week if a Realty Times article which provided some insight into a rebounding market. Here are the highlights:

• Pending home sales rose sharply, by nearly 7 percent, in the last month measured by the National Association of Realtors.
• Pending sales were up in all four major regions of the country—and that caught the attention of some key industry economists.
• Orawin Velz, economic forecaster for the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in a commentary that "the steady improvements in pending home sales are encouraging," and confirm the view that existing home sales hit their cyclical bottom in January and are likely to continue to rise in the coming months.
• Since the January low point, she noted, the Realtors' pending sale index is up by 13 percent.
• Mortgage rates continue to be favorable, an average of 5.3 percent last week for 30 year fixed rate loans, 4. 8 percent for 15 year fixed, and those rates are pulling in growing numbers of home purchase loan applications.
• According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey, new applications to buy houses increased by nearly 7 percent in the week ending July 3rd.

Now let’s take a look at this week in real estate:

• Boulder/Longmont—Our Boulder office reports new listings took a jump of over 20% in the Boulder county market last week. Sales have been very steady for several weeks, seldom varying by more than 2% for the entire Boulder market. Agents continue to report that the ongoing problem of late and inaccurate appraisals continues to cause headaches. Showing activity on our office listings picked up by more than 10% last week. Longmont reports Colorado looks beautiful and green right now. Some neighborhoods are experiencing a seller’s market. Appraisers are having a hard time keeping up with the prices that are offered. Bidding situations are happening. The loan process is not for the faint of heart. Underwriters are asking for lots of supporting documentation and they are asking for it more than once. Patience is being tested at every turn. The benefit is that most buyers are getting some wonderful homes at great prices. Agents are working harder than ever for their buyers and sellers. Good Agents are keeping the deals together with some very trying times for all parties. We are still seeing homes under $250,000 move quickly.
• Evergreen/Conifer—No information reported.
• Denver Central—No information reported.
• Devonshire— As we move into the heat of the summer, we also see the real estate market heating up and moving. There is still lots of activity in the price point below $400,000 with multiple offers more common than ever. While open houses seemed a little slow last weekend, buyer activity is still good. With July family vacations and people out of town, the open house slowdown was predictable. Finally, we are seeing the upper end market moving. Sellers are getting their homes on the market & we are seeing offers coming in on those houses. Price is crucial, as well as staging, in order to get top dollar in this market.
• Douglas County—Our Southwest Metro office reported showings were up but not as good as the weekend before the 4th. We are seeing more listings and many more buyer contracts. Open houses were good this past week. We had several Agents who had picked up potential listings and buyers from their open houses. We had great floor last week. We are seeing activity in the homes priced below $300,000. We had over five listings that went under contract within 2-3 days.
• El Paso County—No information reported.
• Larimer County—Our Fort Collins/Loveland office reports showings and under contracts are strong. Well priced inventory is moving very quickly and even the condo market is picking up steadily. We are still seeing issues with appraisals and underwriting is taking a significant amount of time to review buyer's credit history and clear loan conditions. The Northern Colorado real estate market is relatively strong in comparison to much of the state. Larimer County in particular is fairing better than surrounding counties. It is still a great time to buy & I really don't think we will be in the doom and gloom for much longer. We're already seeing signs of life in the Northern Colorado market and it is only a matter of time until those buyers sitting on the fence will be kicking themselves for not making a move in what was a declining market.
• North Metro—No information reported.
• Parker—We have seen a positive trend this week as our listings continue to increase. Our showings and sales were down this week due in part to the beautiful weather we have been enjoying. We are increasing our market share & our agents are picking up many new buyers. With the interest rates low and inventory increasing, we expect to see our sales increase throughout the remainder of July.
• Southeast Metro—No information reported.
• West Lakewood—Short sales are becoming more streamlined and we continue to have multiple offer situations on bank owned properties. We are hearing back from banks more expeditiously. It seems that sellers are listening to their Agents. They are becoming more realistic and are often adjusting their listing price.

Regardless of the market or the reason behind the recent upswing, things are starting to pick up throughout Colorado. It seems buyers are finally starting to get the message that we may have hit bottom and, as buyers take action, we’re slowly but surely working our way into a transitioning market.

It’s been a challenging ride but what we have to look forward to is exciting. Prepare. The coming months and into 2010 are going to be an exciting ride.

Make it a great week,

Chris Mygatt
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Colorado