Positive Perspective on Denver Housing Market – December 2009

Colorado Mortgage Rates Sink to 4.54%: Colorado home mortgage rates continue to sink this week, reaching 4.54 percent on a 30-year fixed loan Wednesday, according to Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. read more here

Kiewit Named Contractor for Denver Zoo’s $50M Asian Tropics Exhibit: The Denver Zoo said Monday it has selected Kiewit Building Group from among five bidders as general contractor for the zoo’s 10-acre Asian Tropics exhibit, the largest exhibit in its 113-year history. read more here

Colorado Unemployment at 6.9% in October, 3rd Straight Decline: Colorado’s unemployment rate fell slightly to 6.9 percent in October, the third consecutive monthly decline in joblessness and the lowest rate since January, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said November 20^th. read more here

Realtors: Existing-Home Sales Rise in West, but Less than National Rate: Home resales in Colorado and other western states rose 1.6 percent in October from the previous month and are up 12 percent from a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors reported November 23^rd. read more here

Region’s Cities Among Nation’s Best Performing: Northern Colorado ranked high in the nation and at the top for Colorado in the 2009 Best-Performing Cities index. read more here

Company Announcements Help Establish Base for Job Growth in Metro Denver: In Metro Denver, numerous company announcements over the past several months reflect the region’s strong business climate – even during recession – and will help establish a base for job growth as conditions improve, according to data compiled by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (Metro Denver EDC) in its Monthly Economic Summary for November 2009. read more here

New Home Sales Rise in October: New home sales rose 6.2 percent in October compared to September, according to a report released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This increase was 5.1 percent above the October 2008 level. read more here

Positive Perspective on Denver Housing Market – November 2009

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extended, Expanded: The House of Representatives passed legislation November 5^th that would extend and expand the tax credit for first-time home buyers. read more here

Denver Home Resales Rebound in October: Metro Denver home resales increased in October from September, but were down from October of last year, according to a Metrolist Inc. housing report released Friday. read more here

Existing-Home Sales Jump 13% in West, 9.4% Nationwide: First-time homebuyers helped drive up existing home sales nationwide — and especially in the western states, including Colorado — according to the latest figures from the National Association of Realtors. In the West, including Colorado, existing-home sales jumped 13 percent to an annual level of 1.3 million in September — 5.7 percent higher than a year ago. read more here

Colorado Springs Makes Business Weeks ’40 Strongest’ List: Once again, Colorado Springs is in the spotlight for being a great place to live–but this time it’s not for the mountains, the view or the many places to hike, mountain bike or road bike. The Springs is on BusinessWeek’s 40 Strongest U.S. Metro Economies list. The Pikes Peak region ranked 24^th on the list, which was compiled using data and analysis from  Brookings Institution’s new MetroMonitor study. read more here

SMA Solar Plant to Bring Hundreds of Jobs to Denver: SMA Solar Technology AG, the world’s largest manufacturer of a critical component in solar power generation, said Monday it will invest about $20 million in its first North American manufacturing plant — in Denver — expected to open in the first half of 2010. read more here

Cabela’s Plans Grand Junction Store: Cabela’s Inc. announced today that it will build a 75,000-square-foot store in Grand Junction, the Nebraska-based outfitter’s first retail outlet in Colorado. Work on the store, which will anchor the south end of Mesa Mall at U.S. highways 6 and 50, is expected to begin in early November with the opening in early summer 2010. read more here

Vail Resorts’ Sales of Season Passes Increase 13 Percent: Vail Resorts Inc.’s season-pass sales rose 13 percent in September as skiers eager for powder prepared to make tracks a year after the financial crisis. read more here

Positive Perspective on Denver Housing Market – October 2009

Forbes Ranked Colorado Fourth Best State for Business: Forbes.com’s latest ranking of the best states for business ranks Colorado at No. 4, up from No. 6 last year. The ranking measures six categories for businesses: costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. Colorado finished in the top 15 in four of the six main categories, including quality of its workforce (1st), prospects for growth (2nd), and economic climate. read more here

Denver Home Prices Rise Again, Getting Closer to 2008 Levels: Home prices in the Denver area rose in July for the fifth straight month, and prices are creeping closer to where they were a year ago, according to Standard & Poor’s closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Index. read more here

Vestas Hiring Workers for Brighton Plant, Plans Job Fair: Vestas Nacelles America Inc. is recruiting workers for its planned Brighton wind-power factory and will hold a career fair Thursday. Vestas announced last year it will build a $290 million plant in Brighton for assembling wind-turbine nacelles and making blades. The facility is expected to be in operation by next year. The blade factory will employ about 650 people and the nacelle plant will have about 700 employees, Vestas has said. read more here

Record Streak Continues for Pending Home Sales: Pending home sales have increased for seven straight months, the longest in the series of the index which began in 2001, according to the National Association of Realtors®.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the housing market momentum has clearly turned for the better. “The recovery is broad-based across many parts of the country. Housing affordability has been at record highs this year with the added stimulus of a first-time buyer tax credit,” he said. read more here

Colorado Mortgage Rates Hit 4.9%, Lowest in Months: Mortgage rates in Colorado dipped to 4.9 percent Tuesday September 29^th, their lowest level in several months, and were headed lower Wednesday, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace reported. Local rates for 30-year-fixed mortgages topped 5.3 percent in early August and have been heading more or less downward ever since, according to Zillow data. read more here

Is the Vail Valley Economy Starting to Rebound? The Vail Valley’s giddy boom days of 2007 are long past, but there may be some signs the local economy is starting to show some signs of life. read more here

Denver No. 7 as Youth Magnet: The Wall Street Journal enlisted the help of six experts to determine the 10 most attractive cities that for attracting young professionals, and profiled the top 5. Denver ranked No. 7. read more here

Are You Giving your Clients a Real Estate Experience?

That was the main question posed by Terry Watson at a recent 3 hr seminar sponsored by Wells Fargo at Denver’s Pepsi Center. With the changing economic and real estate market, he urged realtors to get out of their comfort zone and be creative in the way they did their business. Citing marketing examples such as the Peabody Hotel and their daily Duck Walk, the Doubletree Hotel’s Cookies, Benihanna Restaurants, Southwest Airlines, Whole Foods and Build a Bear for their marketing of “IT” rather than the business itself…all of these businesses create an experience for the customer.

Did you know that Realtor.org has several reports available for free to its members? Check out the 2009 NAR Member Reports, Selling Green Articles, FHA Loan & Foreclosure info and free E Books by well known authors. If you have any questions, Watson advised realtors to contact Judy Perez 1 800 874-6500. There is even a Masters Series of videos to watch and learn from the best realtors in the US.

Terry Watson is a bundle of energy and great fun to watch during his presentations but he always leaves me with solid information  I can put to use immediately pertaining to my website, listing presentation or buyer handbook. I leave feeling it was time well spent on behalf of my clients and hopefully making me a better, more informed Realtor.

Celebrating Denver’s #1 Real Estate Agents!

Congratulations to Patsy Brown and Dan Eitemiller for being the #1 Sales Team at the Kentwood Cherry Creek office for the month of August!!

And… drum roll please…. Gretchen Faber, the Managing Broker at Kentwood Cherry Creek, was just named Realtor of the Year by the Denver Board Realtors (DBR)!

Being named #1 in Real Estate isn’t just about numbers, dollars, or volume. Yes, those may be the measurable factors that get you there but there’s so much more behind it.  In Real Estate, it’s the Agent’s tireless efforts and devotion to serving the needs of their buyers and sellers, representing their properties with integrity, knowledge of their industry, knowledge of the community, and relationships with buyers, sellers, and all the players involved behind-the-scenes.

Patsy, Dan, and Gretchen… Congratulations to you all… you are Denver’s Gold Medal Agents in my book.

Positive Perspective for Denver’s Housing Market – September 2009

Patsy's Positive Perspective Sept 2009

Staying up-to-date and keeping a Positive Perspective on the Denver Housing Market, Patsy Brown shares the positive side of vital news highlights on topics covering Denver Real Estate, Colorado Real Estate, Local Job Market and Economy with this monthly newsletter.

Visit our media center for previous months and see her other articles and informative videos.

CNBC Rates Colorado #3 in America’s Top States for Doing Business: read more here

ABC News Rates Boulder as a Top 10 Place to Sell a Home in the Nation:  Median Home Value: $ 318,900, up 2 percent from a year ago.  Property values are up 2 percent compared with five years ago.  61 percent of homes are increasing in value  85 percent of homes were sold for a gain.  read more here

America’s Strongest Housing Markets – Boulder #1: Working with data from Zillow.com, BusinessWeek came up with the strongest housing markets by ranking metro areas based on the share of single-family homes for which values rose in the second quarter, compared with the second quarter of 2008. In the top-ranked metro, Boulder, an affluent Denver city that is home to the University of Colorado at Boulder, 59.39% of homes appreciated during the past year, and the median home value rose 2.12% on a year-over-year basis. read more here

Denver makes list of ‘10 Best Places to Grow Up: Good news if you’re looking to raise a family in Denver. The Mile High City is number 6 on the list of “America’s 10 Best Places to Grow Up.” read more here

Study: Colorado 11th in State ‘Economic Performance’: Colorado ranks 11th best among the states in an evaluation of economic performance by the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank. The report, issued August 18th, rates the states using a variety of yardsticks, including gross domestic product, disposable income, private-sector job growth, the poverty and unemployment rates, and in- or out-migration. read more here

Vestas Backs its $1 Billion Worth of Wind Projects in Colorado: When Vestas Wind Systems A/S — the world’s largest maker of wind turbines — decided to build a factory in Colorado, one of the first things it did was send some local hires to Europe. read more here

Consumer Sentiment Improves More than Expected in August: Consumer sentiment rose more than expected in August and expectations hit the highest level since the recession began, indications that Americans’ pessimism about the economy may be lifting. read more here

As an expert in the Denver Real Estate Market, Patsy Brown not only stays informed on the latest Denver Real Estate news as well as local and national Real Estate laws and regulations, she is a sought-after knowledgeable resource for her Buyer’s, Seller’s and fellow Realtors®. Let knowledge be among your deciding factors when choosing an agent to represent you.

The Real Estate Juggle… What happens when someone drops the ball

As a Real Estate Agent, staying on top of every minute detail of a transaction as well as staying on top of our ever-changing Real Estate laws is critical. It’s a juggling act at times. There are so many other people (agencies) involved: the Buyer, the Buyer’s Agent, the Seller, the Seller’s Agent, the Appraiser, the Lender, the Mortgage company …. all juggling on their own yet, in a group effort, working together to close the transaction. Our common goal is a smooth closing,… a huge crescendo, the grand finale when all the jugglers come together for the final act. But occasionally you find that someone dropped the ball and that can have a disastrous affect on the final performance….

The managing broker for our Kentwood Cherry Creek Branch, Gretchen Faber, wrote an excellent blog on what happened when the ball was dropped and how it was handled.

The juggling act in Real Estate is as much an individual effort as it is a team effort.  While we can’t control the actions of the team members, the Real Estate agent acting on your behalf is overseeing the entire performance of the transaction…if those balls get dropped the agent’s on top of it. When it comes to the huge crescendo, that grand finale… everyone involved can know they’ve worked hard as a team to make the juggling act look easy!

Positive Perspective on Denver’s Housing Market

Patsy's Positive Perspective

Staying up-to-date and keeping a Positive Perspective on the Denver Housing Market, Patsy Brown shares the positive side of vital news highlights on topics covering Denver Real Estate, Colorado Real Estate, Local Job Market and Economy with this monthly newsletter.

Visit our media center for previous months and see her other articles and informative videos. You can download a printable copy of the August edition as shown on the left (link opens up a Word Document).

Denver Scores Best Month of 2009 for Home Resales: July home resales in metro Denver were the best of any month yet in 2009, but still down from the same month of 2008, according to Metrolist Inc. data released Friday by member brokers. read more here

Pending Home Sales Up for 5th Straight Month: WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Pending sales of previously owned homes rose at a faster-than-expected pace in June, a real estate trade group said August 4, more evidence the housing market was starting to claw out of a three-year slump. The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in June, rose 3.6% to 94.6. It was the fifth straight month of advance and the first such streak in six years, the industry group said. read more here

Fed’s Beige Book: Region’s Economy Shows “further signs of stabilization”: The economy in Colorado and six neighboring states “showed further signs of stabilization in June,” the U.S. Federal Reserve reported Wednesday in its latest “Beige Book” survey of the region’s business executives. read more here

Louisville, Colorado Named “Best Place to Live”: LOUISVILLE, Colo. – A big honor for one of metro Denver’s smaller suburbs. CNNMoney.com has named Louisville the #1 “Best Place to Live” in America. Just a few miles east of the Rockies, CNNMoney says Louisville has the perfect location, charm and energy, and is “weathering the economic downturn well.” It cited the city’s high-tech, energy and health care industries which make Boulder County’s unemployment rate among the lowest in the state. read more here  

Grand Junction Home Prices, Sales on the Rise: The real estate roller coaster is beginning to chug uphill again after months of free falling. The median price of Grand Junction-area single-family homes that sold in the second quarter this year increased to $212,019 from $206,667 in the first quarter. The number of homes sold also increased from one quarter to the other, going from 306 to 504. read more here

ServiceMagic.com Plans to Hire up to 200: Online contractor listing service ServiceMagic.com said Monday it expects to hire up to 200 new employees at its Golden headquarters by year’s end. read more here

Greeley Recommended for Retirement Move: HOUSTON – Greeley is among eight affordable cities for relocating retirees profiled in the September/October 2009 issue of Where to Retire magazine. read more here

Westminster Seeks Development Proposals for Mall Area: The city of Westminster on Monday started seeking proposals from developers on creating a new, urban-type development on 108 acres anchored by Westminster Mall, one of metro Denver’s largest shopping centers. read more here

As an expert in the Denver Real Estate Market, Patsy Brown not only stays informed on the latest Denver Real Estate news as well as local and national Real Estate laws and regulations, she is a sought-after knowledgeable resource for her Buyer’s, Seller’s and fellow Realtors®. Let knowledge be among your deciding factors when choosing an agent to represent you.

Denver is Ranked #1 for Real Estate and Economic Recovery!

Denver is America’s best city to buy a home, according to Forbes magazine new ranking of U.S. metro areas.

“While the majority of the nation’s housing markets are still working toward a bottom, some cities are boasting fundamentals that make them good places to buy a home now,” Forbes reported this week.

“Denver tops the list,” Forbes said. “It had 25 percent of its property sales occur within approximately 25 percent of the city’s ZIP codes. This means sales in various parts of the city were fairly evenly distributed, showing proportionate activity. The further a city deviates from the 25 percent mark, the less evenly distributed the market is in that city, and thus the lower that city ranks.”

Denver was recently named the No. 1 Real Estate market in the Nation’s economic recovery. The other cities ranking in the top 5 are: #2 Raleigh, N.C.; # 3. Austin, Texas; # 4. Seattle; and # 5. San Francisco

The eight characteristics for Cities on the rebound are:

* Job growth
* Growing population
* Location with Good weather
* Lots of first-time buyers
* No overbuilding of condos or office spaces
* A vital downtown where people can live without a car
* A well educated population
* Large number of foreclosures earlier than other cities

View this segment on the NBC “Today” show with Real Estate expert Barbara Corcoran.

Patsy Brown,CNE Certified Negotiation Expert

Congratulations to Denver Real Estate Agent Patsy Brown for her new designation as a Certified Negotiation Expert, CNE!

One of the things I love about working for Patsy is her enthusiasm and positive energy. Today is an especially fun day when I came in this morning and heard all about the two-day certification seminar she attended! The excitement is running high to deliver and incorporate the new skills she learned.

As a former educator herself, Patsy knows the importance of continuing education. She is continually taking classes, attending workshops and  seminars to stay educated and up-to-date on the latest in Real Estate and technology.  Of all the classes she’s taken, she said this was the Best she has ever attended!  That’s a huge testimonial to the Certified Negotiation Expert (CNE) Designation Course for Real Estate Professionals curriculum and the certified instructor, Oliver Frascona.

Patsy is already a very savvy negotiator (and her natural marketing skills are amazing). This new designation heightens her existing skills and gives her new techniques to bring to the table on behalf of her buyers and sellers!

So, whether you’re choosing a Denver Real Estate Agent to represent the home you are selling, or a buyer on the market to find the perfect house for you to call “Home”, Patsy Brown is an Expert in Negotiation. Choose Patsy Brown as your Denver Real Estate Agent.

Congratulations Patsy!