Jude's Real Estate Rumblings

Mortgage Rates Flat This Week - The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.98% with an average 0.6 point for the week ending January 28, 2010, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.  Last week, it averaged 4.99%, and a year ago it averaged 5.10%.  "Mortgage rates held steady this week ahead of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) policy committee meetings," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.  "The Fed announced on January 27th that economic activity has continued to strengthen.  It also noted that with substantial resource slack continuing to restrain cost pressures and with longer-term inflation expectations stable, inflation is likely to be subdued for some time."
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20100129_rates.htm

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High-speed rail for Colo.? - Colorado has been awarded $1.4 million in stimulus money to study high-speed inter-city rail as it might relate to FasTracks, Obama administration officials announced yesterday.  The money will be used to create a “sophisticated” plan for connecting rail transit systems in Colorado.  Colorado was awarded a $1 million grant to conduct a connectivity study.  The Colorado Department of Transportation will match the grant to conduct a $2 million study that will examine how high-speed rail systems outside the Denver metro area might mesh with the Regional Transportation District’s FasTracks system.  A second grant of $400,000 was awarded to Colorado to develop a state rail plan.  CDOT will match the grant for an $800,000 study that is necessary to qualify for national designation of a high speed rail corridor.  The designation would allow for future federal funding.
http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=7128

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Houses Shrink, But Some 'Must Haves' Remain - Houses are getting smaller, according to data released last week by the National Association of Home Builders.  The association said that the average size of a new home in 2009 was 2,480 square feet, down from 2,520 square feet in 2008.  Some features are still expected in new houses, including:  1) Walk-in closets in the master bedroom; 2) Laundry rooms; 3) Insulated front doors; 4) Great rooms; and 5) Energy-efficient windows.  See the full article for more items.
http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/pages/News2010012504

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Home prices soar 14% - In Denver, the median price of a single-family home that closed in December jumped by 14.1 % from December 2008, according to data from the National Association of Realtors released today to InsideRealEstateNew.com.  The median, or middle, price of a home jumped to $224.800 last month from $197,800 in December 2008. 
http://insiderealestatenews.com/2010/01/exclusive-home-prices-soar-14/

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Denver ranked No. 3 by Case-Shiller - The Denver-area housing market ranked No. 3 of the 20 cities tracked in the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices report released today.  The Denver housing market showed a 0.5% gain in the year ending in November, bested only by Dallas and San Francisco, which showed a 1.4% and a 1.0% gain, respectively.
http://insiderealestatenews.com/2010/01/denver-ranked-no-3-by-case-shiller/

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Ten Inexpensive Ways to Wow Buyers - Now is the time for home owners contemplating a spring sale to spruce up their properties in anticipation of what Mike Larson of Weiss Research calls a potentially vibrant home-selling season.  Here are a few cheap ways to make a property more attractive to shoppers: 1) Improve first impressions.  Touch up the paint on the front door and other areas that buyers see first.  2) Clean up the landscaping.  Trim the hedges and trees and plant some annuals in the flowerbeds.  And 3) Paint the interior.  A coat of light yellow or cream with contrasting white woodwork looks fresh and clean.  See the full article for more suggestions.
http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2010012601

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Denver again led metro area in home resales in 2009, but sales declined - Denver County continued to have more sales than other metro-area counties of existing single-family homes in 2009.  The county had 7,482 closed sales of such homes last year, down from 9,399 the prior year.  The largest number of homes sold in Denver County — 2,581 — were in the $100,000-$200,000 price range, followed by 1,580 home sold in the $200,000-$300,000 “move-up” range.  “First-time homebuyer closings, via tax-credit assistance, took over the market for the majority of the year,” said Metrolist analyst Gary Bauer in his report.  “First-time homebuyer transactions are estimated to be 40-plus percent of all [home sale] closings.”  See the full article for data for all metro counties.
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/01/25/daily27.html?s=industry&i=resi_real_estate

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Big Test Ahead for Mortgage Market
The cessation of the government program to buy mortgage-backed securities, set to end in a couple of months, will show whether the White House and Federal Reserve have effectively stimulated the lending market to the point that it is now on solid footing.

If the sector slumps again, home owners could face a new period of distress.

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2010012502?OpenDocument

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4 Tips for Taking Better Real Estate Photos - Here are a few tips for shooting the best real estate photos: 1) Get the best photo you can of the exterior - it's what will persuade potential buyers to look at the rest of the photos; 2) Emphasize the home’s best points, include a photo of the area the sellers think is its most attractive feature; 3) Shoot the exterior shot a half hour before or after sunset with all the interior lights turned on; and 4) Use a tripod.
http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2010012206

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