“Sixty-four million is nothing to sneeze at,” said independent broker Gary Bauer, who released the report that also showed almost a 50 percent drop in the unsold inventory from a year earlier.

The report also showed that while sales of single-family homes priced at $1 million or more are down in April almost 30 percent from April 2011, year-to-date sales volume is higher than in 2011.

An earlier report by Kentwood Real Estate showed a similar trend, although it did not include Boulder County, but focused on the counties in the Denver area. Both reports use Metrolist data.

In April, 20 of the luxury sales were evenly divided between Boulder and Denver counties, according to Bauer. There were eight luxury home sales in Douglas County, six in Arapahoe County and two in Jefferson County. All five condo sales were in Denver.

“The luxury market is almost a mirror of the overall market,” Bauer said. “We are seeing a declining inventory for the luxury market, just like for the overall market.”

One reason that the April sales figures showed a big percentage drop, is because well-heeled buyers have been able to land excellent deals, knocking many homes out of the seven-figure category.

“Many homes that previously were listed at $1 million to $1.15 million or even $1.2 million, are now selling below $1 million,” Bauer said.

There are now only 596 single-family homes on the market, a 48.5 percent drop from the 1,157 active listings in April 2011.

One reason there is such a huge drop in unsold inventory is because owners of high-end homes are seeking options other than outright sales, Bauer said.

“Many owners who haven’t been able to get the price they want are leasing their homes for one-year or two-year options, often with the right to buy the home at the end of the lease,” Bauer said. “Each deal is a separate and unique transaction.”

Often, the listing broker is helping the owner structure the lease arrangement, he said.

In April, the average sales price of a home was $1.6 million, compared with $1.5 million a year earlier and the median sales price was $1.4 million, compared with $1.3 million in April 2011.In April 2011, 51 luxury single-family homes sold for a total dollar volume of $76.million.

In April, five condos sold for a total of $6.2 million, compared with six condos selling in April 2011 for $7.7 million.

In the first four months of the year, there have been 161 total sales for $243.1 million, compared with 156 sales for $235.9 million during the same period in 2011. There have been 148 single-family home sales so far this year for $224.4 million, compared with 143 for $218 million through April of last year. Condo sales are unchanged, with 13 sales, although the condo dollar volume this year was $18.7 million, compared with $17.9 million in the first four months of 2011.

Have a real-estate story idea or a news tip? Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com.

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Stephanie Prather

Today’s Denver-area housing market reminds 8z Real Estate broker Stephanie Prather of the 1991 to 1992 market.

Then, the market had been suffering from several years of a housing black hole. Overbuilding and a collapse in energy prices, which had been fueling the economy, crushed home values. There were so many foreclosures that HUD became Denver’s largest landlords. For many, the only light at the end of the tunnel appeared to be from a speeding train. Many believed the worst was yet to come.

Instead of a train wreck, the market quickly was back on track, with the Denver market experiencing 15 years of mostly improving home prices.

“The market has changed dramatically since December,” said Prather, a 20-year veteran of selling real estate, who specializes in the Lakewood area at 8z.

Demand increasing

“Inventory is down, buyers are out there in droves because of the low-interest rates and ever-increasing rental rates,” Prather said. “Homes are going under contract in one to three days if they are priced right for condition and location. If all is right, sellers are receiving multiple offers.”

That has led to a sense of urgency among serious buyers, she said.

“Actually, I have had a few buyers drop out of the market they became so frustrated. Buyers have to adjust to a new paradigm, when they see something they like, they have to pay full price or close to it. No more beating up sellers with low-ball offers.”

Prather said that prospective buyers need to be prepared.

“My advice is to be fully pre-approved with your lender and only look at homes of the most interest to you.” She said. “Be prepared to make an offer immediately if the home meets at least 85 percent or more of your housing needs. Buyers have to be financially ready in every way and they can win the deal.”

To illustrate the reality of today’s market, she told of a case where her buyer was in a back-up position on a purchase.

“We stayed in the game hoping the first offer would fall,” Prather said. “In the meantime, new listings were coming up on the MLS and being sent to my buyer. They called to see a new listing in the neighborhood of the back-up offer home. We saw the home within 12 hours of it going on the market; they liked it and wanted to submit an offer. I called the listing agent immediately upon exiting the home. He had received an offer that morning but the seller had not accepted it. The listing agent told me that the offer was at full price and non-contingent.”

Prather wrote a contact for $337,000, $2,000 above the asking price of $335,000. Her client also provided an extended closing, allowing the seller to find the a replacement house.

“The other agent with the offer was notified of the competing offer and for their buyer to offer their best and final,” she said. “Well, I don’t know what their best and final was, but my client won. Yeh! The buyers were thrilled.”

“My clients close”

The listing agent also was thrilled with Prather’s professionalism.

“When the listing agent received the offer he called me to thank me,” Prather recalled. “He commented to me about the years I had in the business and how it was always a pleasure to work with me. Frankly, I have heard that a lot over the years and I know it impacts deals for my clients when we are in a competitive situation. People like to work with known entities. My clients close. I take the time to set that up before we begin to shop.”

During the past two decades, Partners has sold single-family detached homes, condos and duplexes priced from $85,000 to $1.3 million.

“However, my sweet spot is the price range from $250,00 to $500,000,” she said.

This 3,253-square-foot, 4-bedroom, 3-bath home in Lakewood is on the market for $325,000

The area that she “farms” at 8z is Westgate in South Lakewood. Westgate is bordered by Hoyt Street on the west, Yale Avenue on the south, Wadsworth Boulevard on the eat and Morrison Road on the north.

Prather gets much joy out of finding the right home for a buyer.

“Over the past 20 years I have provided services for some absolutely wonderful people,” she said. “That is what I enjoy the most, helping people find that perfect home for them. This is the biggest purchase most people make in their lifetime and they put their trust in you. I accept that huge responsibility and enjoy going to the closing table seeing them smiling and happy.”

Prather grew up in Billings, Mt. She and her first husband moved to Denver in 1969. At first, she was a teacher.

While attending Eastern Montana College in Billings, “It became clear in order to have the opportunities to move forward it was going to require a move to Seattle, Minneapolis/St Paul or Denver. I was engaged in 1969 and my husband-to-be had accepted a position with the Colorado Education Association resulting in a move to Denver.”

Initially, they rented an apartment South Clarkson Street, just north of Hampen Avenue and after six months moved into a bigger apartment in the area.

“Frankly, I don’t remember ever having a conversation about buying a home during that time,” she said.

Her husband took a job with the National Education Association in Washington, D.C. While back East, she completed her education at the University of Maryland and later accepted a job in Winchester, Va., in the mid-1970s.

Left teaching for sales

Later, she returned to Denver, and she switched from teaching to sales.

“In my humble opinion, I felt that I had to better myself every year that I taught,” Prather said. “I did just that, pushed myself harder and harder to become what I would call a “master teacher.” You know one when you see one. After six years of teaching several different levels of elementary school, I realized my effort was not financially rewarded or ever going to be rewarded based upon performance. Knowing that I was extremely motivated to advance not only in position but income, I seriously looked at a selling opportunity. You get paid for your efforts in sales.”

Before getting her real estate license, she was a sales person for the Bureau of National Affairs, selling compliance information to attorneys, safety managers, accountants, environmental specialists and others.

“These professionals need daily, weekly and monthly regulatory updates to perform their daily responsibilities,” she said. Besides Colorado, her sales territory included Kansas, Utah and Arizona.

She remarried and she and her new husband, Stuart, also were buying, updating and selling homes, typically after living with them for a period.

“After 10 years with BNA, I was at a subsidiary that was about to fail,” she said. The stress of waiting for a pink slip became too much and she quit and reassess her professional career.

“Deciding what to do next seemed clear: I no longer wanted to travel, board another plane or answer to someone else.”

A lightbulb went off in her head.

“Real estate sales came to me out of the blue — Wow, this is the perfect sales job for me. It kept me in sales with no out-of-state travel and I understood homes from the bottom up after rebuilding all the homes in years prior.”

She enrolled in the accelerated real estate program at Emily Griffith, took the real estate exam and hit the streets as a Realtor.

“I joined the real estate company of the broker who has been our Realtor over the years prior. It was absolutely right from the very beginning. I closed my first sale in 30 days. The home was in south Aurora around Chambers and Iliff. I can’t remember the exact address, but I could likely drive right up to it. It was July 1992 and the sale was a HUD property. The buyer won the bid at $87,500. This home today would likely be priced in the $175,000 to $190,000 range.”

Motorcycle mama

When not selling real estate, she likes to ride on the back of her husband’s Hog.

Her husband owned a Harley in his 20s, before she was in the picture. He sold his bike as he focused on other aspects of his life.

Prather learned that her hubby wanted to buy another Harley for a couple of years, but did not know how to broach the subject.

“One morning over breakfast, 17 years ago, he says to me, “You know Stephanie, I was thinking it might be fun to own a Harley again. How would you feel about that?” Her response took 10 seconds or less.

“That sounds really awesome! I think Harley’s are sexy!”

His eyes lit up and he was the proud owner of a new Harley Sportser in less than two weeks.

“Of course the Sportster was too small for the two of us, but he wanted to break me in,” she said. “Little did he know, I was “all in.”

Her husband bought a Low Roader and now they have an Electra Glide.

“I never wanted to ride my own, have thoroughly enjoyed being the smiling passenger on the back,” she said. He then bought a Low Rider and concluded with an Electra-Glide. Of course that Electra Glide is for the maturing adult who needs a comfortable ride and has been souped-up. It is all about speed, sound and looks.”

She said her clients are “mostly shocked,” when they learn about her love for Harleys, but they quickly get on board with it.

“Younger clients think it is really awesome,” Prather said. “Most everyone thinks it is cool. I have been able to convince a few clients in my past to buy bikes and we have ridden together.”

For more information about Stephanie, please visit this link.  To learn more about Westgate, please visit this link. An Insider’s Guide is a monthly feature of  InsideRealEstate News. 8z Real Estate is a sponsor of InsideRealEstateNews.

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The latest Case-Shiller report shows the Denver area is far out-performing most markets in the country.

The Denver-area housing market posted its second consecutive year-over-year improvement in February, according to the closely watched Case-Shiller Index released today.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, showed that Denver gained 0.5 percent in the year ending in February, more than double the year-over-year gain of 0.2 percent in January.

Denver also out-performed the nation by a wide margin in February.

The overall drop for the 20 metropolitan statistical areas in the index fell by 3.5 percent, with a number of cities hitting new lows.

Denver was the fourth-best performing market in February,  only being bested by Phoenix, Detroit and Miami. Last Vegas suffered an 8.5 percent decline in February from February 2011. Only Atlanta, with a 17.3 percent drop, showed a bigger drop.

Lane Hornung, CEO, president and co-founder of 8z Real Estate and COhomefinder.com, said he thinks, if anything, Case-Shiller is under-estimating the strength of the Denver-area housing market.

Case-Shiller under-estimates Denver

” My suspicion is that home values are even stronger than this two-month-old Case-Shiller index indicates,” Hornung said. “The shift from a buyers’ market to a sellers’ market in many areas has been quite dramatic over the past few weeks.  Prices are moving up.”

Of the top four cities, Denver is the only one that had not been horribly beaten-up during the recent housing depression, noted Peter Niederman, CEO of the Kentwood Real Estate Co.

“Really, those three market areas that did better than Denver had been hit really hard,” Niederman said.  “People are are starting to see value in those market areas.”

Denver, by contrast, has been far more consistent and stable, Niederman and other said.

“I think Denver is the most consistent and stable market in across the nation,” Niederman said. “When Case-Shiller releases its March numbers, I think we will do even better. People will be pleasantly surprised by how well Denver does in March and April.”

Chris Mygatt president of Coldwell Banker Residential Colorado, shared Niederman’s perspective regarding how Denver stacks up against other major markets across the country.

“When you look at the three cities ahead of Denver – Miami, Phoenix and Detroit – arguably they were the toughest hit markets in the country. The only one missing is Las Vegas.

“But Denver was hardly hit compared to what other markets in the country experienced,” Mygatt continued. “To be No. 4 in the country speaks very highly of our local economy, our employment, our consumer confidence. And it speaks very highly of the desire of people in Colorado to own homes. That is great and very important to society. Home ownership builds strong communities, builds strong schools. Really, what the Case-Shiller report does is reaffirm what we have been saying and seeing in the market.”

Mygatt said that with a shortage of homes in the Denver area, home prices are starting to rise.

“I’m so pleased that homeowners have who have been suffering for so long are finally starting to get some relief,” Mygatt said. “But the improved market is even benefitting buyers. Buyers today have more stability and confidence in the market than they have for the past several years. Yes, it is more competitive when you are looking for a home. But if you are the only buyer out there, you are a nervous buyer. Now, people are recognizing a level of value and they are feeling better about their decision to purchases.”
Scott Webber, president and CEO of Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty, said the Case-Shiller reports “validates what is kind of a unique situation in Colorado and the Denver area. If anything, Case-Shiller may be under-estimating the strength of the recovery of the Denver market.”

Confluence of good news

Webber said several things are fueling the recovery.

“I have not heard many people talking about this, but we are dealing with three and four years of pent-up demand from buyers,” Webber said.

Also, buyers are still enjoying interest rates at or near historic-lows and fewer foreclosures than in the past.

“The market has largely been purged of real estate owned (REOs),” he said.

Another big piece of Denver’s increasingly strong market is the lack of construction of homes, he said.

“The inventory of new construction is non-existent,” Webber said. “Really, there are no new homes being added to the market. We have this flurry of activity and no new homes to sell, which is pretty unique. We only have 2.5 months of supply of unsold homes on the market and that is pretty incredible.”

Webber said the Denver-area market is “quickly moving from an extreme buyer’s market to a seller’s market. Obviously, that depends on the geography. The closer to the city the better and the farther away you are, the less that is true.”

In some area close to downtown multiple offers are becoming increasingly commonplace, he said.

“We had a pretty bizarre situation a couple of weeks ago,” he said. He said a home in Bonnie Brae was listed for about $800,000 and received several offers.

“One of the buyers who didn’t get it, offered the winning bidders $100,000 to assign the contract to them,” Webber said. “They didn’t accept it, because they really wanted that home and it is so hard to find homes in that price range in the area, they didn’t want to start the house-hunting process all over again.”

Independent Realtor Gary Bauer said the Case-Shiller report confirms that the “Denver market is a shining star. Everything looks good. Well-priced new listings are selling quickly. Increasingly, we’re getting reports of multiple offers. Prices are going up, but for the most part, not dramatically. Some people would like to see more price appreciation, but for a healthy market, you want to see a gradual increase in prices, not a huge spike.”

Housing hitting new lows in some markets

Nationally, the housing market was much more grim in February.

“While there might be pieces of good news in this report, such as some improvement in many annual rates of  return, February 2012 data confirm that, broadly speaking, home prices continued to decline in the early months of the year,” said David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. “Nine MSAs — Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Las Vegas, New York, Portland, Seattle and Tampa — and both composites hit new post-crisis lows. Atlanta continued its downward spiral, posting its lowest annual rate of decline in the 20-year history of the index at a negative 17.3 percent. The 10-City Composite declined 3.6 percent and the 20-City was down 3.5 percent compared to February 2011.

“Due to delays in reporting for Mecklenburg County, we did not publish a January index level for Charlotte, N.C., last month. With this month’s report we have enough data to publish data points for both January and February. The unfortunate news is that it confirms that Charlotte is one of the cities that is still reaching new lows.

“Phoenix and Atlanta stand out this month in terms of their contrasting relative strength and weakness in the early 2012 housing market. At one end of the spectrum, we have Atlanta posting a double-digit, and lowest on record, annual rate at -17.3 percent. Atlanta has now recorded five consecutive months of double-digit negative annual rates and seven consecutive monthly declines. On the other hand, Phoenix has posted two consecutive months of positive annual rates, with its latest being 3.3 percent, and five consecutive positive monthly returns.”

MSA	Change from January 2000	January-February (non-seasonly adjusted)	1-Year Change from February
Atlanta	-16.71%	-2.5%	-17.3%
Boston	46.23%	-1.1%	-2.4%
Charlotte	8.13%	-0.4%	-1.8%
Chicago	5.39%	-2.5%	-6.9%
Cleveland	-5.86%	-1.7%	-4.4%
Dallas	12.67%	-0.0%	-1.0%
DENVER	21.81%	-0.9%	0.5%
Detroit	-31.40%	-1.3%	1.5%
Las Vegas	-10.11%	-0.4%	-8.5%
Los Angeles	59.49%	-0.8%	-5.2%
Miami	39.49%	0.6%	0.8%
Minneapolis	10.16%	-1.0%	0.4%
New York	59.58%	-0.8%	-3.0%
Phoenix	4.12%	1.2%	3.3%
Portland	29.60%	-0.3%	-3.0%
San Diego	49.07%	0.2%	-3.9%
San Francisco	24.64%	-0.7%	-4.1%
Seattle	28.99%	-0.8%	-2.9%
Tampa	23.91%	-0.2%	-2.9%
Washington, D.C.	75.74%	-0.8%	-2.3%
Composite-10	46.90%	-0.8%	-3.6%
Composite-20	34.20%	-0.8%	-3.5%

Month	How Denver ranked out of 20 MSAs	1-Year Change
January 2010	6	2.6%
February	5	3.6%
March	7	4.1%
April	8	4.4%
May	8	3.6%
June	9	1.8%
July	11	-0.1%
August	11	-1.2%
September	9	-3.1%
October	7	-1.8%
November	6	-2.5%
December	7	-2.4%
January 2011	6	-2.3%
February	5	-2.6%
March	7	-3.8%
April	6	-4.1%
May	5	-3.3%
June	3	-2.5%
July	4	-2.1%
August	3	-1.6%
September	5	-1.5%
October	4	-0.9%
November	3	-0.2%
December	2	-0.4%
January 2012	3	0.2%
February 2012	4	0.5%

Have housing news? Story ideas? Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com.

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A similar report was released last week by the Kentwood Real Estate, which tracked sales in the five main counties in the metro area – Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson. Bauer, an independent Realtor, also included Boulder, Clear Creek, Elbert, Gilpin and Park counties in his report. Both reports were based on Metrolist data.

Bauer’s report showed that the number of homes sold in the first quarter rose by 21.2 percent to 120 from 99 during the same period last year.

March was the strongest month so far this year.

There were a total of 49 single-family, detached homes selling, compared with 30 in March 2011, a 48.4 percent jump. Closed dollar volume rose 47 percent to $74.9 million from $50.9 million. A lone condo sold for $1.31 million last month. However, that sale represented two units purchased by Bell Tower Homes LLC at 2267 Ogden St. Together, the units have 15,632 square feet of space, eight bedrooms and 12 bathrooms.

“It was better than I expected,” said Bauer, an independent Realtor, said about last month’s luxury home sales. “This is just an extension of the overall market. If we can continue this momentum, both for the overall market and the luxury market, we are going to have a great year.”

Bauer said he didn’t think that well-heeled buyers are necessarily feeling that they are getting great bargains, although there are a number of those available, especially in the highest price ranges. The most activity is in the $1.5 million range, he said.

This is one of the two luxury condos that sold last month for a total of $1.3 million.

“I wouldn’t go as far to say the luxury market is being driven by bargains,” Bauer said. “I think it is more of a case along the lines is that we have very educated buyers and very educated sellers coming together. Both sides know the market very well. Lines are not being drawn in the sand early in the game.”

He said increasingly the biggest concerns of many Realtors, for the overall and the top of the market, when buyers get financing on their purchases (buyers at the very top of the market often pay cash, and put a mortgage on their home later), is that appraisals are not keeping up with an appreciating market.

“Prices are only rising modestly now, but with the low inventory of available homes on the market, prices may very well rise more this summer,” Bauer said. “I think brokers really need to educate appraisers on why transactions can occur at the agreed upon price between the willing buyers and willing sellers.”

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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A condo in this building sold for close to the asking price of $599,000 before it was officially on the market.

Forget about March Madness. The real action last month did not take place on college basketball courts, but came from home buyers snapping up houses in the Denver area.

The number of previously owned homes placed under contract in March jumped by 49.2 percent compared with March 2011, while they rose 28.4 percent from February. Closings were up 39.3 percent from March and 8.3 percent from a year earlier, according to reports released on Thursday.  Single-family home prices rose by 5 percent from February, with an average price of $284,035 in March, were up 5 percent and 4 percent on a month-to-month and year-over-year basis, respectively.

While the inventory of unsold homes is still extremely low with only 10,325 unsold homes on the market – 47.7 percent fewer than the 17,707 in March 2011 – levels have risen by 2.4 percent from February, according to the report by independent broker Gary Bauer. The report is based on Metrolist data.

“It’s a very good market,” Bauer said. “There is pent-up demand in the market and brokers are increasingly seeing multiple offers on homes.”

By the numbers:

• Buyers placed 5,328 homes under contract in March, compared with 4,150 in February and 3,571 in March 2011.
• Year-to-date, 12,964 homes have been placed under contract, compared with 10,411 in the first quarter of last year.
• There were 3,475 home closings last month, compared with 2,495 in February and 3,209 in March 2011.
• In the first quarter, there were 8,440 closings, compared with 7,954 during the same period last year.

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Denver-area housing market is experiencing brisk sales and bidding wars.

The Denver-area housing market is in positive territory for the first time in a year and a half, according to the closely watched Case-Shiller index released today.

Although the overall Denver-area housing market was up only 0.2 percent in January from January 2011, it is an important milestone, according to local real estate experts. It also was good enough for third place of the cities tracked by the S&P/Case-Shiller Price Indices. Other than Denver, only Detroit and Phoenix were in positive territory on a year-over-year basis in January.

“This is great news,” said Lane Hornung, CEO, president and co-founder of 8z Real Estate and COhomefinder.com. (8z Real Estate is a sponsor of InsideRealEstateNews.

“Although it’s not all that surprising considering I’ve been predicting for a while now that we’d see a positive on a year-over-year basis this spring. However, it’s nice to see it officially on the books.”

Hornung noted that this is the “first positive Case Shiller reading showing year-over year appreciation in 18 months, since way back in June 2010 which marked the end of the home buyer tax credit.”

Consumers – pay attention

This is important consumer information, Hornung said.

“Perhaps the home buyers and sellers along the Front Range will finally realize that our market is performing much better than the national market,” Hornung said. “We are well into a housing recovery and many of our hyper-local neighborhood markets with very little inventory are already hot and seeing price gains.”

Chris Mygatt, president of Coldwell Banker Colorado, agreed.

“It is huge,” Mygatt said. “I think it is really an important tell-tale sign. I think it is one of many indicators right now and they are all pointing to a continued recovery and stability in the Denver housing market.”

Mygatt said the improving housing market is reverberating throughout the economy.

“It’s not just Realtors who are noticing a pick-up in sales activity,” Mygatt said. “I’m being told that there is an increase in furniture sales; I’m being told there is an increase in landscaping. It really is across the board. Although our strength is modest compared to recoveries of the past, I really do think there is a fundamental shift in consumer confidence and the local economy.”

Asked if he thinks Denver should anticipate a strong summer selling season, he hesitated in making a prediction.

“In the past, I have said the market would continue to pick up, and then something happened and the market stalled,” Mygatt said. “But this time, the recovery really does seem authentic. And recent statements by (Ben) Bernanke (the Federal Reserve chairman) to keep interest rate low to help the nation’s overall economy, is very positive. Rising rates would be a major negative for the real estate market.”

The overall year-over-year change for 19 market tracked by Case-Shiller in January, (usually there are 20, but Charlotte’s data wasn’t included) was a negative 3.8 percent. Only Detroit and Phoenix did better than Denver, with a 1.7 percent and 1.3 percent gain, respectively. Las Vegas had worst showing, falling by 9 percent on a year-over-year basis.

“Detroit and Phoenix were two of the hardest hit markets, so buyers are starting to see value in cities like those,” said Peter Niederman, CEO of Kentwood Real Estate. “When you look at the January numbers, those are based on contracts written in November and December. My prediction is that they month-over-month numbers from Case-Shiller will be really impressive when we get to see the February and march numbers. And I think on a year-over-year basis, they will be as equally as impressive.”

“Spring has sprung,” in Denver

Independent broker Gary Bauer said that the Case-Shiller report “is very positive news. For lack of a better phrase, ‘spring has sprung in the Denver market.”

He said there is a shortage of homes on the market and buyers are buying off the top.

“When new homes come on the market and if they are priced appropriately, they are selling very quickly,” Bauer said.

Justin Knoll, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, said there is finally some urgency among buyers.

“Fevered pitch”

“The market is really at a fevered pitch,” Knoll said. “I work in the central Denver market, and we are seeing a lot of multiple offers. Appraisals are still lagging a bit. Appraisals are still catching up the improving market.”

Knoll agreed with Bauer that a well-priced home in an sought-after neighborhood hits the market, it is snapped up.

“The best properties are gone within days, not even weeks,” Knoll said. “There isn’t enough supply of homes on the market. I’m urging anyone who is even thinking of selling their home to put it on the market now.”

Bill Rodriguez, a loan originator at Residential Mortgage of Colorado, said that last year, 70 percent of his business was refinances, now it is evenly split between refinances and home purchases.

“It does depend where you are,” Rodriguez said. “Highland, for example, has been extremely hot. Typically, the hot neighborhoods are the ones close to downtown Denver, with some exceptions. Stapleton is an amazing example of appreciation. I hear from my Realtor clients that they will get two or three offers every time they put a home on the market in Stapleton. It’s not so much like that in the ‘burbs, with some exceptions. Highlands Ranch, for example, is a very strong market.”

Scott Webber, owner of Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty, said the Case-Shiller report will draw attention to the strength of the Denver-area market.

“It is nice to see a high-profile, national report validate what seems to be really going on right now in the market,” Webber said. “I think it is really great exposure and will help draw even more people into the market. We are seeing pockets of activity that reflect what is almost a seller’s market? When is the last time we used “seller’s market” to describe what is going on? In general, if you look at the overall market, you still have to describe it as a buyer’s market, but certainly there are pockets, especially below $1 million, where it is really, really hot.”

That does not seem to be the trend in many other cities across the country, he said.

“I am hearing that in a lot of other markets they are starting to see increases in transactions, but they are not seeing increases in prices. In fact, in a lot of markets they are still seeing prices falling. It just shows we are lucky we are in Denver.”

Las Vegas, for example, showed a one-year decline of 9 percent in January, according to Case-Shiller. Only Atlanta showed a bigger decline, tumbling 14.8 percent.

Indeed, overall, the national  market is not nearly as healthy as in Denver.

“Despite some positive economic signs, home prices continued to drop. The 10- and 20- City Composites and eight cities – Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Las Vegas, New York, Portland, Seattle and Tampa – made new lows,” said David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. “The 10-City Composite was down 3.9 percent and the 20-City was down 3.8 percent compared to January 2011. Seven of the cities were down by 1.0 percent or more over the month. With the new lows, both composites are now 34.4 percent off their relative 2006 peaks.”

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Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com.

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Since 2008, NeighborWorks America has awarded CHFA and its partners more than $6.3 million through the NFMC program. These funds have helped over 13,000 Colorado households receive free, HUD-approved counseling from agencies located across the state. CHFA serves as the fiscal intermediary for the grant award; reimbursing the 13 sub-grantees for their work with grant proceeds as counseling sessions are completed.

“Throughout the foreclosure crisis, HUD-approved housing counseling has remained the best resource for homeowners at risk of foreclosure.” said Cris White, CHFA’s executive director and CEO. “While new foreclosure filings have declined, there still remains a significant number of Coloradans who need assistance.”

In December 2011, the Urban Institute released an evaluation of the NFMC program’s effect on loan performance through 2010 which found that counseled homeowners were at least 67 percent more likely to remain current on their mortgage nine months after receiving a loan modification, compared to homeowners who do not receive such counseling. In addition, homeowners who obtained a mortgage modification through the NFMC Program counseling saved an average of $176 per month, or more than $2,100 annually.

CHFA’s HUD-approved housing counseling sub-grantees included in the award are:

• Adams County Housing Authority
• Boulder County Housing Authority
• Brothers Redevelopment, Inc.
• City of Aurora
• Colorado Housing Assistance Corp.
• Douglas County Housing Partnership
• Grand Junction Housing Authority
• Housing Solutions for the Southwest
• NEWSED
•  NeighborWorks of Pueblo
• Northeast Denver Housing
• Southwest Improvement County
• Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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Mayor Michael Hancock

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock presented the city’s strategic plan to deliver a “world-class city where everyone matters” during the recent third annual Colorado Real Estate & Economic Summit.

Sponsored by Coldwell Banker and Coldwell Banker Previews International, the  summit on March 8 at the at the PPA Convention and Event Center near Sports Authority Field at Mile High,  included a high-profile lineup of economic and real estate experts who provided mostly bullish overviews of the housing market locally and nationally in addition to economic projections for the future.

Hancock’s  one-year strategic economic development plan, called JumpStart 2012, outlines major steps the Denver Office of Economic Development will make to grow business development, lending and investment in the community, and talent development for a world-class workforce.

Hancock  noted that the economy is improving, with Denver adding 10,000 more jobs during the past year. He also emphasized that Denver is ranked as the No.1  most desirable place to live in the nation among major metropolitan areas, and that the metro area has the second best real estate market in the country. JumpStart 2012’s three primary focuses are the creation of more jobs, educating Denver’s youth so that no children get left behind, and markedly improving all city departments and agencies.

Paul Washington, executive director of the Denver Office of Economic Development, outlined areas of potential development for the city, including 16,000 acres of property at Denver International Airport where an “Aerotropolis” centered around the airport would allow businesses to develop in close proximity to DIA and benefit from the adjacency.

Other potential developments include 24 miles of river frontage along the South Platte River. Washington also detailed the mayor’s Net-Zero Energy concept where a community consumes as much energy as it produces. The vision entails creating a mixed-use development that takes this concept to a higher level by broadening the scope to include sustainability in water, waste, and integration of natural systems into the built environment. As earlier reported by InsideRealEstateNews, the net-zero development could be built in Lowry.

Chris Mygatt, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Colorado, presented statistics on the local and national real estate market. In the fourth quarter of 2011, the total number of properties sold in the metro area was up 2.8 percent and up 13.2 percent to date in 2012. The total number of inventory homes in the area was down 22.4 percent in 2011 from the previous year, and down 41.8 percent so far in 2012. Mygatt also provided an overview of metro Denver’s strong luxury home market. Homes that sold at $500,000 or more increased by 4.4 percent in 2011 over the prior year.

Mygatt noted that Denver remains a two-tiered market. He said for luxury homes, there are three houses for each buyer, while for homes priced under about $400,000, there are three buyers for every home on the market.

Mark Samuelson, an advertising real estate columnist and blogger for the Denver Post, noted that a number of builders have seen the market brighten substantially. Not only are builders selling more homes, but they are selling higher-priced homes. A number of builders anticipated selling lower-priced homes in a number of new subdivisions, including recently weak markets such as Castle Rock and Parker, and are increasingly finding that consumers want the larger and more expensive homes.

Other keynote speakers during the sold-out summit included: Michael Dirrane, executive vice president of corporate sales for PHH Mortgage;  Bryan Pierce, director of marketing and outreach for PEMCO, Ltd.; and Mark Snead, chief economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Denver branch.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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Earlier reports by Kentwood Real Estate and independent broker Gary Bauer showed similar trends.

A total of 31 homes sold for more than $1 million last month, up from 27 transactions in February 2011.  There were four multi-million-dollar sales in February compared to five during the same period last year. Sales were down from January’s level of 41 units.

Meanwhile, the median sale price for a luxury home dipped to $1,214,284 last month, down from $1.25 million the previous month.  The figures were derived from Multiple Listing Service data of all homes sold for more than $1 million last month in the Denver Metro Area.

“The high-end market in the Denver metro area continued its gradual but steady improvement last month, along with the overall housing market,” said Chris Mygatt, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Colorado. “We have gained momentum over the past year and probably would have greater sales gains if we had the inventory to meet buyer demand.”

Mygatt said the number of homes on the market overall has fallen by nearly 42 percent from a year ago at this time. The sharp drop has left many potential buyers frustrated in their search and has resulted in multiple offers on a number of homes. “I’m hoping the message gets out to home sellers who have been sitting on the sidelines that there are buyers out there pounding the pavement for a good, fairly priced home,” he said. “If you’ve been thinking about selling your home, now’s the time to jump in.”

Some key findings from this month’s Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage luxury report:

• The most expensive sale in the Denver Metro Area last month was a seven-bedroom, 10-bath 7,035-square-foot home in Cherry Hills Village that sold for $3.4 million.
• Denver boasted the most million-dollar sales with nine, followed by Boulder and Cherry Hills Village with six.
• Homes sold in average of 213 days compared to 190 days the previous month and 184 days a year ago.
• Sellers on average received 91.3 percent of their asking price compared to 91.6 percent the previous month and 93.9 percent a year ago.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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