Experts see Denver housing recovering

Share/Bookmark

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released today, which shows the Denver was No. 3 of the 20 metropolitan statistical areas, is another sign that the local housing market is improving faster than most of the nation, experts said. I initially blogged on the report earlier this morning.

“I think, certainly, that the feeling has been all across the country that the housing situation is definitely on the mend,” said Patty Silverstein, chief economist for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. and principal of Development Research Partners.

“And although it is not completely healed, as of yet, all of the data reveals what we’ve been expecting – the Denver housing market would improve and reach some sort of positive gains faster than other parts of the country,” Silverstein said.

The S&P Case-Shiller report shows that Denver housing still lost ground in July – 2.9 percent overall – but that was only bested by a 1.3 percent drop and a 1.6 percent drop in Cleveland and Dallas, respectively. And since Denver neither competes with nor is often compared to Cleveland, experts said only the Dallas ranking is pertinent to Denver.

“Again, this shows it is not over,” in Denver, Silverstein said. “But we certainly are starting to see more solid gains, especially compared to the rest of the country.”

Ron Martinez, a broker associate who specializes in homes priced less than $300,000, unlike many fellow brokers at Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty, who sell more high-end homes, said the report illustrates what he is seeing.

“I used to be a corporate recruiter, and I know everyone loves Denver,” Martinez said. “Like everyone says, I wish I had a crystal ball. But I do not think our fourth-quarter this year is going to be down as much as fourth-quarter 2008.”

He said he recently received four listings, and the most expensive home is priced at $359,000.

He said buyers are getting off the fence because of the $8,000 federal tax credit that expires at the end of November. And he says he agrees with what experts said in my blog on Sept. 18 – it is a good idea for buyers to put homes under contract as soon as possible, so they can close in time for the tax-credit deadline.

Even with the tax credit incentive, it is a tough market, he said.

“My business is flat, if not down,” Martinez said. “All deals are tough. All of them. You have to deal with so many professionals – inspectors, appraisers, underwriters. And their jobs are tougher than ever. If it used to take me 60 phone calls per deal, I now have to make double that amount. But that is good new. I deal with a lot of young couples buying their first home, and they need and want a lot of information. It is exciting for them and I really enjoy it.”

Michael Trujillo, owner of Volante Realty, said he is on pace to have his best year ever.

He estimates that 40 percent of his buyers right now are taking advantage of the $8,000 tax credit.

“I have a lot of other buyers who want to take advantage of the dip in the market and are not first-time buyers,” Trujillo said.

He said the Case-Shiller report “is probably good news. I think at this point, we’re past the bottom. My guess is that there are some things in the economy that still need to play out before we are full-steam ahead. We’ll still see some mortgage adjusting (which could add to the number of homes facing foreclosures. And I think we’re still going to see some problems with consumer credit-card debt, which is going to impact housing. “

He said he would like to see the $8,000 tax-credit extended, but thinks that Denver “does not really need it. But it is a big part in keeping the market stable. Overall,I think the Denver market has pretty much stabilized, although I don’t see any huge gains anytime soon. For a long time, what I see is very slow, steady gains.”

Metropolitan Area	June to July Change	1-Year Annual Change
Atlanta	2.3%	-11.8%
Boston	1.2%	-4.9%
Charlotte	0.6%	-9.0%
Chicago	2.7%	-14.2%
Cleveland	1.5%	-1.3%
Dallas	1.2%	-1.6%
DENVER	1.5%	-2.9%
Detroit	1.1%	-24.6%
Las Vegas	-1.1%	-31.45%
Los Angeles	1.8%	-14.9%
Miami	1.3%	-21.2%
Minneapolis	4.6%	-17.3%
New York	0.8%	-10.3%
Phoenix	1.8%	-28.5%
Portland	1.1%	-13.9%
San Diego	2.5%	-12.3%
San Francisco	3.3%	-17.9%
Seattle	-0.1%	-15.3%
Tampa	1.4%	-18.4%
Washington	1.8%	-9.8%
Composite-10	1.7%	-12.8%
Composite-20	1.6%	-13.3%