More encouraging news that the Denver real estate market is turning around:

33.8% Increase in January, compared with December, in houses under contract.

6% Increase in January, compared with a year earlier, in houses under contract.

Lower mortgage rates brought out metro-area homebuyers in January, raising hopes that a surge in contracts last month will reverse declining sales.

"In the third week of January, home showings went through the roof," said Gary Bauer, an independent analyst who prepares a monthly home-sales report.

Properties placed under contract rose 33.8 percent in January compared with December and were up 6 percent compared with January 2007.

Part of the surge represents buyers returning after the holidays. But a decline in 30-year mortgage rates from above 6 percent during the month to less than 5.5 percent lured buyers, Bauer said. Rates have since moved back to the 6 percent range.

The median price of a single-family home fell 1.4 percent to $216,950 in January from December, while the median condo price fell 4.3 percent to $134,000.

Bauer attributes the price decline to low-end homes capturing a larger share of sales as pricier home sales stall. The inventory of unsold homes remained flat at 24,489.

Bob Bandy

Parker Colorado Homes & Real Estate

The wealth building power of real estate investing is a time-proven fact. So, why don't more people invest in real estate, especially in a good investor market like we have in Denver now?  

Simply put: fear. Even though the market may look good for investors, taking the plunge can be nerve racking. There are also lots of myths and misunderstandings surrounding investing. In his best-selling book, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, Gary Keller talks about five "mythunderstandings" that can derail investors. These beliefs are often used as justification for failure, and many are repeated widely as cautionary tales. 

One of the myths I hear a lot is that investing is complicated. The truth is, it is only as complicated as you make it. Most of us have bought a home to live in. Buying investment property is easier. No emotion is involved. 

Almost anything taken as a whole can appear more complex than it really is. However, you don't need to know everything in order to do something. Seek the knowledge you need to get in the game. Read. Study. Ask questions. Find knowledgeable professionals with proven track records. Avoid the late night infomercial route.  

Another myth is that the best investments require knowledge most people don't have. The truth is your best investments will always be in areas you can or already do understand. Investing in something you don't understand isn't investing-it's speculation. Real estate provides investors with a tangible asset. Nobody can take your investment property from you on a whim. But stocks can plummet to zero. 

Many people believe investing is risky. The truth is that investing, by definition, is not risky. 

Investors don't ignore risk; they mitigate risk by following sound principles and models.  They buy property under terms that quickly create a profit. With plenty of inventory, lower prices, and mortgage rates near historic lows, now is a great time to buy investment properties in Colorado.  

Investing is about having sound criteria, the patience to find the right opportunity, and a willingness to take action. You can minimize risk while maximizing return. 

Others believe successful investors are able to time the market. The truth is that in successful investing, the timing finds you. Timing is one of the most misunderstood concepts in investing. Many inexperienced people think investors are poised on the sidelines waiting for opportunities.  

The truth is that timing is about being active. The best deals come from the best opportunities, and the best opportunities go fast. You must be constantly searching for opportunities that meet your criteria. When you find one, you must be prepared to act. Quickly.  

Another myth is that all the good investments are taken. The truth is that every market, in every time, has its share of good investments. Two market forces create opportunities: economic and personal. They are always present and influencing the market.  

Economic forces include job growth, interest rates, population shifts and area revitalization. The Denver real estate market has all these forces working for it right now. Personal forces include opportunities from positive circumstances, such as relocation, marriage and family growth. Others arise from negative conditions such as divorce, debt and foreclosures.  

Many high-achieving investors have faced fears or doubts about investing that ultimately proved unfounded. These common "mythunderstandings" can stand between you and true financial wealth if you let them paralyze you from taking action.

Bob Bandy

Denver Metro Homes & Real Estate

Here is a very handy interactive map showing 2007 real estate stats for the Denver metro area.  You can select different areas of town and click on specific neighborhoods to see data such as average price, average price change, average discount, homes sold, days on market, and % foreclosures/short sales.  After the initial animation runs, click Next to see the map.   (Courtesy of the Denver Post.)

www.denverpost.com/ci_6797508

Bob Bandy

Denver Colorado Homes & Real Estate

Are the Denver real estate clouds beginning to break?  We think so.  Now is a great time to buy, with interest rates still low, and prices down from a year ago, and lots of inventory to choose from.  Read on for the details:

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, was in town last month. Yun, who presented his 2008 real estate forecast to the Jefferson County Association of Realtors in Lakewood, noted afterward that "all real estate markets are local" and that the bleak national market conditions do not represent what is happening with the real estate market in the Denver area.

The only thing that is holding back the Denver area housing market is "irrational pessimism" from prospective buyers.

Yun said unemployment is lower in the Denver market than nationally, while job creation is stronger.

The Denver-area housing market also didn't experience the huge run-up in prices over the last few years that other markets did. It takes far less of the typical income in the Denver area to buy a house than in such areas as San Diego and Miami, he noted.

"And interest rates are basically near their 45-year low," Yun said. "I would say the Denver housing market is past its bottom and is now in the early stages of recovery.

"The one thing that may be holding back Denver home buyers is buyer pessimism," Yun said. "I think for your housing market it is irrational pessimism. You have very strong affordability."

He said buyers' gloomy attitude springs from all the attention on the collapse of the subprime market.

He did say, however, that the number of Denver foreclosures, which set a record in the metro area in 2007, will continue to rise this year.

But he still expects to see overall housing appreciation in the Denver area this year, while the nation as a whole will be flat.

Yun predicts that home prices in the metro area will rise another 5 percent, on average, in 2009.

Yun said that if there is a recession this year, Denver should weather it better than the country as a whole. "That would really be bad news for a city like Detroit, where they have had seven years of rising unemployment," he said.  "But Denver will be able to escape most of the job losses of a recession because of the highly educated work force and because you've already wrung out the excesses of the dot-com boom," with a huge loss of tech jobs starting in 2001, he said.

Also, a recession would mean further cuts in mortgage rates, which would make Denver housing even more attractive, he said.

 

Bob Bandy

Denver Area Schools Information