Jude's Real Estate Rumblings

Big Push on Capitol Hill for Real Estate Reforms - REALTORS® are asking Congress to strengthen the Federal Housing Administration, extend the FHA's high-cost loan limits, and get flood and disaster insurance reforms passed as part of their push on Capitol Hill this week during NAR 2010 Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.  Read this article for a look at some of REALTORS®' top legislative priorities:
http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2010051201

Xcel's Denver HQ high-rise opens - The new, $120 million 1800 Larimer office high-rise in downtown Denver officially opened on Thursday.  The 500,000-square-foot, 22-story building made of glass and steel will be the new metro-area headquarters of Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy.  Xcel plans to move 1,300 employees into the building in June.  The new office building is 80% leased.  Other companies committed to moving to 1800 Larimer include its developer, Denver-based Westfield Co. Inc. and two affiliated commercial real estate brokerage firms, the Frederick Ross Co. and Apartment Realty Advisors Inc.  Read full article:
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/05/10/daily64.html?s=industry&i=commercial_real_estate

Mortgage Rates at Lowest Level of the Year - The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.93% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 13, 2010, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.  Last week, it averaged 5.00%, and a year ago it averaged 4.81%.  "Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgage declined for the 5th straight week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.  "The National Association of Realtors® reported that median house prices are recovering in more local areas in the latest quarter.  On a year-over-year basis for the 152 areas the association reports on, 91 metropolitan areas had positive growth in the first quarter of this year."  Read full article:
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20100514_rates.htm

Denver CO home prices up for 4th straight month, Case-Shiller Index shows - For the fourth month in a row, home prices in the Denver area showed a year-over-year increase in February in the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Index, despite a month-over-month decline.  The closely-watched report from Standard & Poor’s showed metro-Denver home prices rising 3.6% between February 2009 and February 2010.  The 3.6% rise was Denver's largest year-over-year increase of the last four months.  Read full article:
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/04/26/daily21.html?s=industry&i=resi_real_estate

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Denver, CO ranks No. 3 in home appreciation - The median price of a Denver-area home rose 14.4% in March, compared with March 2009, ranking it No. 3 when compared to 20 other metropolitan statistical areas tracked by the National Association of Realtors.  The main reason that the median prices are up is because more sales are occurring at higher price points than in the spring of 2009, said Jeff Thredgold, the economist for Vectra Bank in Colorado.  Read full article:
http://insiderealestatenews.com/2010/04/exclusive-denver-ranks-no-3-in-home-appreciation/

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