Real Estate Information

Hello Out there.

Been to long since I have updated this blog. Well I am back with a vengeance. Look for a final 2009 in review and Jan 2010 numbers to be posted over the next couple of weeks. It will be five to ten days before Jan numbers are posted.

One thing I can tell you. This looks to be our transition year. Inventories 250K and below are very low. Overall we finished the year under 4000 resale listings for the County. Lowest number in years. Probably 50% of the current listings are distressed properties. Many would be quality listings are folks sitting on the sidelines at this point waiting for the economy and housing market to recover.

If you are thinking of selling get on the market ASAP before the late spring rush. New late spring listing always outnumber the buyers comming into the market. With the state of the current compatition if you have location, price, and condition you will thump the market.

Seller or buyer give me a call. Lets sit down and work out a strategy for success in this years market.

Till next time,

MIke

Hello and welcome to another market update. The July numbers are in and we are still marching forward on the road to recovery for our local market.

New listings remain at around 1500 per month. This is a plateau we have been at most of this year. This has gone a long way in the face of increased sales with keeping our overall inventory levels down from last year.

Sales are up another 9.5% from last month and up 12% from this time last year. The increase in sales has helped to stabilize home prices which have increased about 3.5% from last month but are still down 6-8% from last year.

We still have 4662 active listings in the resale market so there is plenty of competition out there. For my seller that have heard me say “we are in a price war combined with a beauty contest” that still hold true.

I started warning my buyers in late spring that the market was changing and most of the screaming deals are in fact off the table, but it will still take us a couple more years to bring the market back. By back I mean to a healthy market not the rapid equity we saw a few years ago. There are still going to be to many foreclosures and short sales over the next 2-3 years that will make this market recovery a long steady climb.

Good news for sellers: prices have stabilized at 300K and below and inventories have dropped at 200K and below.

Good news for buyers: due to inventory levels at 300K and above, anyone wanting to move up to a larger home, nicer area, ect will be in great shape to do so over the next 6 months at least. As employment numbers change for the better the move up buyers 300-500K will again take over the market and this opportunity will go away.

Thanks for stopping by. I welcome your input and/or questions. Till next time take care.

Hello and welcome back or just hello if this is your first read on one of my blog posts. We are seeing some stability in our local "springs" market. Some of that depends on your area and price range.

If you click Has the market stabilized in My area? You will be transported to the Market snapshot report request. This is a very comprehensive on-line report emailed to you that will show you everything about the area around your home. here's the cool part. You will get to see what your neighbors really sold for! The report updates on a regular basis and is live MLS data from the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors. This is the same information I use as a Realtor to counsel my seller and buyers.

Speaking of buyers, you can use this same report to target homes in areas you are thinking of buying in to see what is going on with sales and price trends.

This is a FREE report. You can use it for as long as you like. Take it out for a spin and let me know what you think. I would love to here comments and feedback.

Till next time-take care.

Hello out there and welcome to another monthly recap. We are going to look at the June 09 Colorado Springs real estate market. So here goes.

New listings: 1530. Up 2.9% from May but down 5.6% from May 08. This is great. Less new listings = less inventory we have to sell of at some point.

Total Active Listings: 4661. Up 2.3% from last month but again down 20.6% from same time last year. Same as above, the faster the inventory declines the faster we get to a balanced market.

Sales: 829. Up 6% from last month and the same % as June 08. So with sales at the same % as last year and inventory down we are making headway on standing inventory.

So where are sales taking place right now. Most of the activity is below 300K and much of the credit for that goes to the first time buyer tax credit. Another area of activity is the expansion of FT. Carson and the soldiers coming in this year.

One of the biggest niches not being capitalized on is the move up buyer. If you own a home at 200K or below and have outgrown it or are just ready for something different now is the time. Scary in this economy but if you have the income and job stability you can sell at 200K or below and purchase at 300K or above and get a great deal. If this is you call me for details 719-233-6453.

As always I welcome your input or questions.

Till next time,

Mike Erhardt

First time home buyers, Tax credit and FHA

Here is some great news for first time home buyers using a FHA loan to make their purchase. FHA will now allow the borrower to use the tax credit to establish a temporary bridge loan prior to closing. In doing so, the borrower can then use the tax credit at closing to A. make a larger down payment, B. Buy down their interest rate, C. Pay for closing costs. This is a new change and should help folks with the buying process. Just a reminder, the tax credit ends November 30^th. The typical purchase time frame is 15-30 days find a lender, find the right house and another 20-45 days to execute the contract. So if you are still sitting on the fence jump off and give me a call. Don’t let this great opportunity pass you by.

Take care,

Mike

Market Update May 2009

Welcome back to another update. We continue to see steady progress with the worst of the market behind us. Here is a breakdown of the numbers for last month.

New Listings: 1487 new resale listings hit the market last month. This is a 7.5% increase from April but a (12.9%) decrease from May, 2008. This is great news. With less sellers coming into the market the inventory numbers have continued to drop this year. This will help to stabilize the market as we go forward.

Sales: 782 sales were reported for the month. This is a 22% increase from April. We also beat out May 2008 but only by 1.7%. Still, this is a good sign as we see growing sales and lowering inventory levels.

Total Actives: As of end of May we had 4558 resale homes in the market. This is up 0.7% from April but down (22%) from this time last year. Once again this shows the overall decrease in inventory that will help turn this market.

I saw a large uptick in Military buyers this past 2 months with the 250K and below Powers and Fountain areas seeing the most activity. We are seeing more news at the national level indicating the worst of this downturn is probably behind us. I would encourage anyone thinking of buying a home to pull the trigger in 2009 before this market heads the other way.

Call me.

April Market Numbers are in!

New listings last month came in at 1383. This is a 7.6% drop from March 09 and a 19.6% drop from April 08. This is great!!! The last thing we needed was the usual spring rush to market of new listings. Now lets look at last months sales.

Total sales for April (resale) came in at 641. A 22% increase from March 09. Combine the first two numbers and we have a decrease in inventory at the same time as an increase in sales. Good stuff!

Total actives for the month come in at 4528. A .07$ decrease from last month but a 17% decrease from same time last year.

We did give back some ground on price after two straight months of moderate increase. The average price fell 3.4% to $199,268 and the median price fell 3.9% to $172,000

Overall we continue the trend of smaller inventories and increased sales for a third straight month. Prices will reverse only after sales take inventories down below a six month supply of homes at the 300K and below level. We are there now for homes 200K and below. Also, as more positive media attention gets focused on both housing and the economy and consumer confidence is restored we will continue to leave the bottom of this market behind. I welcome your questions and comments. Have a great month

Hello there and welcome to another market update from your truly. I am going to go out on a limb and make a prediction. Are you ready (a hush falls over the crowd) If the current trends stay true I believe we hit the bottom of our local housing market in January 09. Lets break down the numbers and see if this makes sense.

New listings: 1496.

This number is a 22.3% increase from Feb 09 but still down 5.7% from the 1586 we added to the market this time last year. Less is good as we still have plenty of inventory to get through this year.

Sales: 523.

This is a 12.3% increase from Feb 09 but still down 18.7% from this time last year. Winners, homes under 200,000. Losers, everything else.

Total Active: 5108.

A modest increase of 3.2% from last month(this is a good thing) and down 10.7% from last year. A very good thing.

So all the numbers reflect some catching up to do with last years numbers, but for two months running we have moved up from Jan to Feb-Feb to March. Some of the factors-the tax credit-low rates-influx of troops to Carson. We still need job numbers to change and overall consumer confidence to come back before we start seeing movement in the upper price ranges. That of course translates into great deals for the buyers brave enough to tackle the upper price ranges.

As always I welcome you questions and comments. In addition, let me know if I can be of service. Here is the market graph for the year to date-take care.

This info is from Hutch Hutchinson, president of Adams Bank as shared with me via Kelly King, one of my fav lenders with Adams. There has been a lot of incorrect info out there as far as troop numbers and the whole move with 4th ID. Probably the biggest mistake I see is confusing 2009 numbers with the overall projected numbers 3-5 years from now when the move is complete .

So without further delay here is Hutche's feedback from last month.

I attended the Mortgage Lenders luncheon last month here in Colorado Springs and a Lt. Colonel Bolton shared with us what we have coming at us this year for growth down at Fort Carson.

2008 finished the year with 18,100 Military personnel based at Fort Carson with 27,500 family members for a combined total of 45,600 people.

2009 their will be 6,500 soldiers added to Fort Carson.  And there will be an additional 9,900 family members.  They are required to meet the objective of 70% completed by June 16th 2009.  This will be a grand total of 62,000 people here due to our military base.

It is the 4th Infantry Division coming up from Fort Hood Texas.  And we are also getting an Attack Aviation Reconnaissance Battalion as well.

We hopefully will feel an immediate impact to purchase business as the housing that they have been building on the base does not come close to handling this volume.  I don’t remember the specific percentage, but it was not impactful.

So there you have it. In addition I have a volunteer realtor shift comming up at the FT. Carson housing office in a couple of weeks and I will be checking in with those folks as always during my 1/2 day shift.

As always I welcome your questions and comments. take care.

MIke

Hello and thanks for stopping by my blog.

Time to take a look back at the market stats for the month of February. 

New listings: 1223 resale homes came on the market last month. This is a 2% increase from Jan 09, but a 19.6% drop from Feb 2008. This is a significant drop from this time last year. If rates stay low and buyers continue to be active we will see the kind of decreases in inventory needed to get back to a balanced market!

Total active resale listings: We closed out Feb at 4418 listing. This is a 2.1% increase over Jan but an 8.8% decrease from Feb of 08. Once again this reflects a decrease in overall inventory levels needed to get back to balanced.

Sales: We sold 465 homes in the resale market for the month. This is an increase of 22.4% over a very lackluster sales number for Jan. It does represent a decrease of  6.6% for the same sales number for Feb 08.

So what does all this mean. Sales are at a slower pace from this time last year, however inventory is dropping at a faster rate. This is due to the huge drop in new listings coming into the market. Low interest rates, new soldiers coming to FT. Carson and the first time buyer credit should all help our market this year. How much is the million dollar question.

As always I welcome your questions and comments.

Till next time.