Even Boulder Finds It Isn't Easy Going Green

BOULDER, Colo.—This spring, city contractors will fan out across this well-to-do college town to unscrew light bulbs in thousands of homes and replace them with more energy-efficient models, at taxpayer expense.

City officials never dreamed they'd have to play nanny when they set out in 2006 to make Boulder a role model in the fight against global warming. The cause seemed like a natural fit in a place where residents tend to be politically liberal and passionate about the great outdoors.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704320104575015920992845334.html?KEYWORDS=Even+Boulder+Find+It

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Washington Report - Housing lobbyists began rolling out their heavy artillery on Capitol Hill last week, determined to blast the Obama administration's plan to cut home mortgage interest and property tax deductions for high-income individuals and couples.  The National Association of Realtors sent blunt letters to the chairmen of the House and Senate tax-writing committees calling on them to derail the Obama proposal at their earliest opportunity.  In nearly-identical letters to House Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel and Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, the association's president, Vicki Cox Golder, warned that reducing tax system support for housing - even at the upper margins - would be bad for the entire real estate market.
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20100216_washingtonreport.htm

Close to Home: Aurora, Colo., boasts some sales bargains - This USATODAY.com article examines a major benefit of living in Aurora: home prices.  In the city's core neighborhoods, modest homes built in the 1940s and 1950s abound.  Aurora's median sales price in December jumped 10.6% from December a year ago.  Home foreclosures have slowed, which pushed prices up, as did a reduction in home inventory because of brisk fall sales.  The Anschutz expansion is revitalizing nearby neighborhoods because of the many doctors, nurses and support personnel working there.  "There was a lot of foreclosure in those areas, and now because of the impact of the medical center, we are finding people coming in and buying those houses," said David Barber, president of the Aurora Association of Realtors.  "They are rehabbing them and turning them into very nice homes."  A few years ago, home prices there ranged from $60,000 to $80,000, but now reach $120,000.  And values likely will continue rising, Barber says.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/closetohome/2010-02-16-closetohome16_ST_N.htm

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The owners of The Ritz-Carlton hotel in downtown Denver and a lender owed $20 million by the ownership group are in a pitched legal battle over the hotel’s sale.

Transwestern Mezzanine Realty Partners III LLC of Chicago is trying to recoup $9 million plus interest and expenses — part of the $20 million loan that’s in default — by selling loan collateral that indirectly includes the hotel itself, according to lawsuit filings.

Read more:http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/02/08/story4.html?b=1265605200^2839481&s=industry&i=commercial_real_estate

Federal loan opens development door at Union Station - The $304 million federal loan to fund the redevelopment of Denver's Union Station clears a major obstacle blocking new construction in the surrounding area, private developers said.  But the loan, announced Friday, won't set off a land rush in what remains a difficult market for commercial-real-estate projects.  The final confirmation of the loan was a pre-condition of IMA Financial Group locating its new headquarters, a $32 million, five-story building, just north of the station at 18th and Wynkoop streets.
http://www.denverpost.com/businessheadlines/ci_14345339

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Pinnacle tops $100 million in sales - Last year, the Pinnacle at City Park South bucked the trend of super-slow condo sales in the Denver area.  In 2009, buyers paid more than $33 million for units in the Pinnacle, arguably making it the best-selling condo project in the Denver area last year.  Since 2007, when sales started at the only high-rise condo project along City Park, buyers have paid about $101 million for 174 units for the two-building community in east Denver.  While overall condo sales in the Denver area fell by 9% in 2009 from 2008, the Pinnacle’s sales activity was even more remarkable given its price points.
http://insiderealestatenews.com/2010/02/pinnacle-tops-100-million-in-sales/

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4 Reasons to Sell Now
Selling a property in this tough market can seem like a challenge. Here are four factors that actually make this a good time to post a For-Sale sign.


1. Sell low and buy low. Because all property values are down, the loss on the property a home owner sells is really only a paper loss because the next property he buys also will be a bargain. If he buys smartly, when prices come back up in a few years, he’ll be in better shape.

Read more: http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/pages/News2010020801

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Are Interest Rates About to Rise? - The central bank is planning to scale back its purchases of mortgage-backed securities late next month, according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley.  Interest rates will likely climb when the program ceases.  However, the Fed is expected to act if rates spike too much.
http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/pages/News2010020804

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Denver lands close to 30% of $1 million-plus home sales - In 2009, almost 24% of homes sold and closed in the metro area took place in Denver.  And almost 30% of the homes sold above $1 million were in Denver.  “Denver accounts for 22.2% of the metro area’s population,” said Mayor John Hickenlooper.  “So we are doing a bit above that for home sales, but not much more.  Denver is right about where it should be.”  Corey Wadley, a broker and co-owner of Nostalgic Homes in West Highland in northwest Denver, said that a lot of buyers are drawn to certain Denver neighborhoods because they think homes will retain their values more than suburban counterparts.  This article provides a chart that breaks down home sales by county and price bracket. 
http://insiderealestatenews.com/2010/02/24-of-homes-closed-last-year-were-in-denver/

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