CharlieTheBroker.com

POSTED: 05/24/2011 12:24:43 PM MDT
UPDATED: 05/24/2011 12:52:51 PM MDT

DENVER—The Colorado Division of Housing says a survey of rental properties in the Denver metro area shows vacancies for the first three months of the year fell to 1.4 percent.
That’s down from 3.1 percent in the same period a year ago for Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties, and housing division spokesman Ryan McMaken says it’s the lowest level recorded since 2001.

The division said Tuesday that average rents have been largely flat though, at $1,039 for the first quarter.

Nationally, 33.6 percent of households are renters, up from 31.6 percent when the housing bubble burst four years ago. Some residents have found it’s cheaper to rent than to buy a home.

Read more: Denver-area rental vacancies dip to 1.4 percent – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_18128995#ixzz1NKLYA2gk
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By Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post

Denver home prices are back to 2000 levels, and one-third of the homes sold for a loss in March, according to Zillow’s first quarter Real Estate News Report.

The report said that negative equity is also at an all-time high in the metro area.

According to the report, Denver metro home values fell 9.6 percent year-over-year and fell 2.7 percent quarter-over-quarter to a Zillow Home Value Index of $192,300.

Nationally, home values fell 8.2 percent year-over-year and fell 3 percent to a Zillow Home Value Index of $169,600.

Home values in the Denver metro area have fallen 17.2 percent since their peak in June 2006 and are now back to the level they were in December 2000.

Nationally, home values have fallen 29.5 percent since their peak in June 2006.

Forty-one percent of all single-family homes with mortgages were underwater in the first quarter in the metro area, compared to 40.7 percent in the fourth-quarter of 2010 and 31.5 percent one year ago, according to the report.

Nationally, the negative equity rate is 28.4 percent.

In the Denver metro area, 34.3 percent of all home sold in March were sold for a loss compared to 30.4 percent on quarter ago and 29 percent in March 2010. Nationally, 37.7 percent of all homes sold for a loss — a new record.

Zillow, a real estate information company, said that given the latest data, it appears that the housing market nationwide will not bottom out before 2012. It said the first quarter home values nationwide match the worst of the housing recession.

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By BOB and DONNA McWILLIAMS, For The Capital

Ask just about any real estate agent, and they’ll tell you that a common trait among today’s buyers is indecision. Granted, buying a house isn’t exactly like picking up a pack of chewing gum, but many home buyers have turned house hunting into some sort of multiyear project. It’s not as though the human condition has suddenly changed, making people incapable of coming off the fence. But rather, a set of market conditions were in place that encouraged waiting. It was a rational, and at times, rewarding option. Mortgage interest rates seemed destined to remain comfortably low, home prices were falling and there were plenty of houses to choose from. Given that situation, why rush? But, a lot of those market dynamics are changing, and the waiting game is starting to become risky business.

Read the whole article.

It is cheaper to buy a home than to rent one in 39 of the nation’s 50 largest cities, according to a quarterly report released today by real estate search and marketing site Trulia.

Trulia’s rent vs. buy index compared the median list price with the median rent on two-bedroom apartments, condominiums and townhomes listed on Trulia.com as of April 1, 2011, in the 50 most populous cities in the U.S. While 72 percent of the cities favored buying in the previous quarter’s report, 78 percent favored buying in this latest report.

“With home prices nearing a double dip and more foreclosures expected to flood the housing market over the next two years, the decision between renting and buying a home across most of the country has clearly moved in favor of buying,” said Ken Shuman, Trulia’s spokesperson, in a statement.

“As we head into the summer buying season, those looking to buy a home should be encouraged by improvements in the market and feel optimistic about their chances of finding an affordable home — much more so than in previous years.”

Migration to Colorado slowed dramatically or even reversed as jobs dried up in past downturns — helping the economy restore balance.

Not this time.

Colorado employers shed 130,000 jobs from 2008 to 2010, but the state added 145,000 new residents. This year, economists expect Colorado to gain 10,000 to 20,000 jobs, as the population grows by perhaps 85,000, including births. More than 30,000 of that growth could be transplants from other states.

“We’re stumped. It’s a question we’ve been struggling with,” said Colorado State University regional economist Martin Shields. “Why are people still moving here?”

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