Greeley, CO

The past couple of years the skies over the Greeley area have been metaphorically cloudy when it comes to the economy and home sales. But as the seasons change so does the outlook for Greeley! Greeley & Weld County is starting to see improvement!

• Forbes magazine just published it list for the Best Places for Business and Careers and the Greeley Metropolitan statistical areas is ranked #1 for the rate of personal income growth over the past five years!
  
• JBS-Swift is in the process of purchasing "several hundred" tractor/trailers and leasing a facility for its new transportation division which will be base out of Greeley. The division will create 200 new jobs and should be in operation within 3 months
  
• The Regency Hotel in downtown Greeley was purchased for $4 million in February by Penta Hospitality. The new owner plans to renovate the 148 room hotel, 26,000 SqFt conference center & 150 seat restaurant and bar
  
• Homes that are in foreclosure are not sitting on the market very long in the Greeley area. 349 banked-owned properties have been sold between September '07 through mid March - That equates to a rate of 55 sales a month with an average of 96% of the asking price. This means that the average time on the market was only 74 days
  
• A special taxing district for the 87 acres that encompasses the Greeley mall and surrounding property has been approved by the City of Greeley. GK Development, the owner of the Greeley Mall, is working on a development plan to enhance the Mall

This is all good news in light of the continual pounding of negative publicity from national news about the state of the Greeley economy and the high foreclosure rate. Little by little Greeley is moving towards a brighter future!

Longmont, Firestone on collision course, an article from The Longmont Times-Call, reports that this month, Firestone officials are scheduled to decide whether to annex land across the street from Longmont city limits. Longmont leaders will in turn ask Firestone to slow down before voting on the annexation or before adopting an updated master plan that would stretch to Longmont's borders. The land being considered for annexation is Fairview Estates, 74 acres on the northeast corner of Colo. Highway 119 and Fairview Street. Firestone planning coordinator Rebecca Toberman said Fairview owners submitted applications Feb. 13 to Firestone to annex into the town and zone the land for residential and commercial development.
http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=6964

Hope Now: We've helped 1M home owners, an article from CNNMoney.com, reports that Hope Now, the foreclosure prevention coalition put together with the Bush administration's support, claims success in helping at-risk mortgage borrowers stay in their homes. According to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the groups have reworked more than 1 million mortgage loans since July. Of those borrowers, 278,000 saw the terms of their mortgages modified, while the remainder were put on repayment plans. Paulson told National Association of Business economists on Monday that loan modifications alone increased 19% from December to January. He added that by comparison, foreclosure starts increased just 5% during the same period. "I am encouraged that the number of borrowers receiving help is rising faster than the number entering foreclosure," said Paulson.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/03/real_estate/Hope_Now_helps_million/index.htm?postversion=2008030314

Additional articles that you may find of interest:

Life on the high end behind the gates available
http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=91818

Developer moves forward in Firestone
http://www.ncbr.com/enews.asp

I-25 corridor, newspaper racks on City Council agenda
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080304/NEWS01/803040330/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02

Commissioners to revisit house-size issue
http://www.timescall.com/News_Story.asp?id=6969

Realtor tries new concept
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20080302/BUSINESS/908578944

Fixes for Larimer County Road 5 being studied
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080301/WINDSORBEACON01/803010311/-1/WINDSORBEACON

10 least stressful metros
http://www.bizjournals.com/specials/slideshow/39.html

NAHB Puts its Economic Stimulus Ideas in Front of the Senate
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/332008_Home_Tax_Credit.asp

Code designed to guarantee realistic real estate appraisals
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2008-03-03-appraisal-deal_N.htm

Housing rescue: What you need to know
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/real_estate/0802/gallery.government_funded_rescues/index.html

Fed chief says mortgage crisis set to continue
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23463527/

Construction spending plunged in January
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23447971/

How to Get More Buyers in Today's Tough Market
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20080304_getmorebuyers.htm