Lane Hornung

Even if you may not have as much sidewalk in Crest View in North Boulder, snow days just may make you tingle. Not only do you have to leave for work early with the snow, but also shovel your driveway, and any sidewalks.

On our site, 8z.com we recently had an article for Boulder home owners on alternative services to spare the back-breaking work of winter walkway care. Here is a list of these professional services in Boulder:

Professional Snow Removal – “Who Likes to Shovel? We do!” is their mantra. They can plow, haul, clear sidewalk and add ice melting applications. And with 24 hour service at 303-442-7747, they are readily available.

Boulder Snow Removal & Landscaping – Residential services include snow removal, ice control and sidewalk/driveway maintenance. Please call 303-635-6801 for additional information.

Boulder IceBusters - The Retired Senior Volunteer Program of Boulder County offers free shoveling services to the elderly and physically disabled persons that may need walkways cleared after a snowfall. Contact RSVP at 303-443-1933 for additional information. Boulder IceBusters is in search of community volunteers to help contribute to this necessary program. Please reach out to RSVP at the above number or visit rsvpboulder.org to offer time to an altruistic cause and assist someone in need.

For those who can manage their own snow shoveling the check out the City of Boulder has information for safety in the winte season for you and your family. For more about these companies see the full 8z real estate story

Taking a look at the Denver Metro's December 2010 statistics and comparing them, December numbers looked pretty good. Closed sales were up over November and slightly up year-over-year. There were 3,024 home closings in December 2010, a 13.4% increase from the 2,666 in November 2010 and a 2.2 percent increase from the 2,959 in December 2009.

These figures confirm what we’re seeing in the field. The market is moving counter-seasonally and growing stronger as we move into the depths of winter. That’s not the norm. Agents are busier than usual right now. That said, December under contracts were surprisingly weak.

Despite the changes in year over year closing percentages, the number of homes placed under contract fell 12.2% to 49,313 from 56,174 in 2009. In December, there were 2,692 homes placed under contract, a 13.2% drop from November and an 11.1% drop from the 3,101 homes in December 2009.

The year-over-year declines were not surprising however. We had a tax credit driven market in the first half of the year, and held on to end the year almost flat in total sales volume.

The average price of single-family homes sold rose 6.5 percent to $282,080 at the end of last year from $264,803 for all of 2009. When condos were included prices were up 6 percent to $257,000 from $242,413. And the median price of single-family homes in 2010 rose 7.3 percent to $235,000 from $219,000 in 2009. And while total homes sales didn’t top $10 billion in the Denver metro area, total sales volume was down only 2.2 percent from 2009.

I’ll call that stable even if it took tax credits, to achieve this stability. Going into 2011, the big question is: can the market remain stable (+/- 5% in year over year sales volume) without the tax credit “training wheels?” Early indications are that the market will stay upright, although a bit wobbly, without the training wheels. It may may even gather some momentum in 2011, if macro economic indicators, i.e. job growth continues to recover.

To view Denver homes for sale and sold within the past six months, visit our site COhomefinder.com.

It's widely known that real estate buyers and sellers hesitate starting a transaction during the holiday season. The new year is now past us, leaving the real estate market gearing up for spring.

Now is the time to watch listings as they are added each day on my website COhomefinder.com. There were 98 Denver homes listed today, Wednesday January 05, 2011. The statistics for these listings are as follows:

o Minimum price: $20,000

o Median price: $234,750

o Average price: $337,967

o Maximum price: $1,795,000

Some listings are being listed for the first time and others are being relisted after being off the MLS for a couple weeks or months while sellers are waiting for the market to bring more buyers. As you can see, COhomefinder also has stats for all the homes for sale in Denver:

o $220,000 median for sale price

o 3835 listings for sale

As you will notice the median price of listings for sale is lower than the newest listings.

Of course the best way to compare homes if you're buckling down for a serious spring home search is to look inside. A Denver 8z real estate broker from my team is available in the Denver neighborhood of your interest. Give us a call at 303-543-3083

Today Real Estate writer John Rebchook of Inside Real Estate News published an article about the Denver real estate market and the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

While across the board, the metrics did not show well for real estate across the country - but there was a glimmer in the Denver market not to miss.

Of the twenty cities followed by the Case-Shiller report, Denver ranked #1 of seasonally adjusted changes from September to October of 2010. The other cities overall had a one percent drop except for Washington DC which was ranked second and positive month to month sales.

While statistics can look bleak, I am confident with the market with the continued stabilization post tax credits.

Last week I got to sit down and talk with John and was mentioned in the article with my insights to the 2010 market and predictions as we move into the new year. As I explained to John:

We're seeing how the market is performing with what I call the tax-credit "training wheels" off. One by one, the tax incentives to buy a home are going to be going away, with the big one being the tax credits. It is encouraging to see the market is continuing to stabilize without the tax credits. Another way to put is that we continue to bounce along the bottom., with a 2 percent or 3 percent plus or minus change, which ultimately will smooth out over time.

Personally Denver's ranking as the #1 city on a seasonally adjusted basis in October to November is not a surprise-it re-affirms or corroborates that we have been seeing this counter-cyclical seasonal activity this winter. This market is performing at a higher level of activity this winter than is usual.

Another point I made to John is that it's tough to pinpoint why there is starting to be a resurgence in the number of people re-locating to the Denver area. However, on our site COhomefinder.com we are able to see the first indications of real estate interest in property searches as they're created. Colorado remains an attractive place to live and Colorado does not have the volatility of many other markets, so it as not as scary to jump into. Colorado's unemployment is below the national average, although we still do not have enough job growth. Yet other home buyers may be looking to close to take advantage of the low interest rates, fearing that they will rise next year.

For very local insight, down to the neighborhood, please be sure to visit 8z Real Estate market stats page which has stats for Colorado, Denver's Highlands neighborhood, and Boulder's Crest View and Martin Acres neighborhoods.

Rental home market surging The Denver-area home rental market, which fell to a 2.9 percent vacancy rate – the lowest third-quarter rate on record – could see vacancies decline more and rents increase.Experts today said that while housing rents have not kept pace with the dropping vacancy rates, they expect that will change next year. Also, they think that vacancy rate could fall even lower.

“I think vacancy rates could fall another percentage point,” said Gordon Von Stroh, a University of Denver business professor, and the author of the report for the Colorado Division of Housing. He also said that he expects to see the cost of renting a house, condo, town home or other small home to rise.

Lose a home, rent a home

Demand for rental homes continues to come from people who have lost their homes to foreclosures or in short sales, in which the lender agrees to take less for the home than the amount of the mortgage. “What we have found is that people with a family who lose their homes want to stay in a home, and will turn to a rental single-family home,” especially if that means their children can stay in the same school, he said. “I think that is a significant number of the renters, but not an overwhelming number.”

In addition, a number of renters who have out-grown their apartments – perhaps because they have had a second child – are now renting a house, instead of buying one, as they would have done four or five years ago.

“While home ownership is an ideal, some people are just not ready for it,” Von Stroh said. “A fact of life is that there is a group of people out there who realize at the present time that they should not be buying. They have gotten the wake-up call.”

Boulder rentals rock

The Boulder/Broomfield area had the lowest vacancy rate at 1.4 percent. It also showed the biggest percentage drop from a year ago, when it stood at 5.7 percent. Overall, the Boulder/Broomfield’s year-over-year percentage drop of 75 percent, was more than twice the Denver area’s drop of about 36 percent.

Lane Hornung, co-founder and president of 8z Real Estate, said part of that might because of the Boulder fires earlier this year that displaced homeowners.

“In the Broomfield area, that is less of a factor,” Hornung said. “A lot of people are relocating to the area, and they are not buying. ” He said people taking high-tech, high-paying jobs, typically are renting homes near the U.S. 36 corridor.”

He said he finds it hard to believe that overall rents are going down.

“The trend is, anecdotally, that rents are going up. And with vacancy rates these low, rents are sure to rise,” Hornung said. He said he has heard that some landlords are willing to cut deals in order to retain or land financially strong tenants. Also, he said that macro-trends support rising rates. “Some people think the homeownership rate is going to fall from about 68 percent to 63 percent, which will mean more renters. And there are some people out there who are still waiting to buy homes until they are absolutely sure the market is at the bottom – of course, when they reach it, it will be too late,” to get the combination of low home prices and near historic low financing available in today’s market.

Both he and Von Stroh said that many landlords may not realize that there is enough demand in the market to raise rates and still fill houses. “And landlords and property managers are human,” Von Stroh said, and do not want to gouge tenants at a time when the economy is still fragile. Also, there is a fear that if rents are raised too quickly, many people will choose to move in with families and friends, he said.

Still, that bodes well for buying rental properties, he said. “If you have the capital to invest, it is a good time to be a landlord,” Hornung said.

Read other comments about the Denver area rental market on InsideRealEstateNews