REALTOR RUMINATIONS

Not to appear to be an alarmist, which I am not; here is a spot check on the housing market just published today.  Standard and Poors housing index, which has been reported since 1987 fell 4.5% in the latest quarter as compared to the same quarter a year ago.  The fall, when compared with the previous quarter’s figures is 1.7%.

 Here are some figures for various cities around the country:

Cities Where Home Prices Rose Over Last Year

Seattle 5.7%

Charlotte 5.6%

Portland 2.8%

Atlanta 0.8%

Dallas 0.5%

Cities Where Home Prices Fell Over Last Year

Tampa - 10.1%

Detroit - 9.3%

San Diego -8.3%

Phoenix - 8.0%

Miami -7.8%

Las Vegas -7.6%

Washington D.C -7.2%

Los Angeles -5.7%

San Francisco -5.2%

Cleveland -4.1%

Minneapolis -4.0%

New York -3.8%

Boston -3.6%

Chicago -1.3%

Denver -0.4%

What does this mean?  It means a harder sell for people who must sell their homes due to relocation or for that ARM getting ready to increase.  For the increasing ARM category if lending institutions will not or cannot (due to poor credit scores) renegotiate the loan it could mean significantly increased monthly payments or possible foreclosure.

Not a real rosy view just before Christmas but facts are facts and must be reported.

Here are the statistics for the month ending October 31, 2007.  You will notice more homes under contract than in September, but not as many as in September a year ago.  There are still a lot of people who qualify for mortgages and who are looking for homes in the Denver Market.  In addition notice the reduced number of homes on the market.  This is partly a seasonal trend and partly because some sellers have withdrawn their homes from the market due to the onset of the winter months.  Foreclosures still tend to inflate the number of homes for sale and unrealistic expectations by the banks as to price are keeping those homes on the market for too long.  Prices are down for both Single Family Homes and Condos reflecting the still large supply of homes on the market.

Homes Under Contract

                               All Homes        Single Family      Condos

This Month           4645                          3667                  968

Last Month           4329                          3453                  876

Oct 2006                4715                          3746                  969

Total Homes Currently Listed

This Month        28,928                      21,947                6981

Last Month        30,335                      23,027                7308

Oct 2006             29,722                      21,948                7774

                                                  Average Sold Price

                              Single Family                      Condos

This Month          $289,754                           $176,222

Last Month          $305,459                           $181,458

Oct 2006               $306,307                           $189,202

Year to Date        $313,079                           $181,724

Year to Date 06  $317,332                           $188,771

For those of you who are currently living in Douglas county or may be planning a move here in the near future here are some interesting statistics.

The Denver Business Journal Reports reports that Douglas County is one of the fastest growing suburban areas in the nation with the fourth lowest poverty rate (1.5%) and the fifth largest proportion of big homes (28.8 percent with nine or more rooms).

Specific statistics of interest:

• County population 263,621
• Wealth Index 14.97 points
• Per capita income $39,917 (national average $25,267)
• Households with $200,000+ income 9.6% (national 3.4%)
• Homes with $500,000+ values 18.6% (national 13.7%)
• Households with 4+ vehicles 7.7% (national 5.9%)
• Adults with bachelors degrees 52.8% (national 27%)