The National Association of REALTORS® announced today that existing home sales in the U.S. rose nearly 8 percent in August and the national median price was up 9.5 percent from a year ago.

Distressed homes, which includes foreclosures and short sales sold at deep discounts and accounted for 22 percent of August sales nationally.

Favorable Buying Conditions 

"The housing market is steadily recovering with consistent increases in both home sales and median prices." said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.  "More buyers are taking advantage of excellent housing affordability conditions."   

Most parts of the country have a good balance of homes available, but parts of Florida and the West, including Colorado, are experiencing inventory shortages.  This has caused bidding wars in some areas.  (Read: It's a Sellers Market)

"The strengthening housing market is occurring even with difficult mortgage qualifying conditions, which is testament to the sizable stored-up housing demand that accumulated in the past five years," Yun added.  It's important in tight markets to make sure you are ready to buy and have your financing in place. (Read: How to Get a Preapproved Mortgage)

The median time for a home to be listed on the market has stayed consistent throughout the summer selling season, 69 days in July and 70 days in August.  However, 32 percent of homes sold in August were on the market for less than a month.  (What you Need to Know to Sell Your Home)

Read more at National Association of REALTORS®

Posted in Buyer Resources, Real Estate Market Conditions, Headlines

Last year homes sat on the market for an average of 98 days before they were sold.  According to the National Association of REALTORS®, that number has decreased 29.6 percent from last July to be about 6 weeks or 69 days on the market, as of July 2012.  That's good news for homeowners wishing to sell a home.

Home prices in Colorado also have appreciated 7.3 percent this year and home prices were up nationally 3.8 percent from a year ago.  This is the biggest increase in six years, since August of 2006.

"Although we expect some slowing in price gains over the balance of 2012, we are clearly seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel." said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, in a statement.

 Read more about: It's a Seller's Market

Looking to Buy a Home? The Best Colorado Cities for Families

photo credit: Dean_In_SF

Posted in Buyer Resources, Seller Resources, Real Estate Trends, Real Estate Market Conditions

After months of record low rates, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 3.55%, up from 3.49% the week before. The 15-year loans are up to 2.83 percent from 2.8% and 5-year ARM's went up slightly from 2.74% to 2.75%.

Debt relief in the Eurozone and gains in the U.S. economy helped push the rates higher.  According to experts, consumer confidence rose in July for the first time in five months.

"Comments from the President of the European Central Bank helped reverse some of the recent flight to quality that had brought bond yield and mortgage rates consistently lower. Mortgage rates are closely related to the yields on government bonds." Bankrate.com said in a release.  "When investors are nervous and piling into safe haven investments, it serves as a catalyst for lower rates. But the reverse is also true, and when any of those trades gets unwound, it pushes rates higher,"  

Read the full story at DSNews.com

Posted in Real Estate Trends, Real Estate Market Conditions

"It's Time to Buy" say all the local real estate experts.   If you've been waiting for the right opportunity, it's time to get in the game says Stacy Johnson of Money Talks News.

"I've wanted to buy my first home for a while, but when my landlord told me that my rent was going up to $900 a month, I got serious about it." writes Angela Colley on Money Talks News.  "So I researched the estimated value of the house I rent now ($160,000) on my local property appraiser website and figured out what my total monthly payment would be ($817). In other words, I could pay my mortgage, property taxes, and homeowners insurance for $83 less than what I pay in rent each month."

Okay, so you agree it's time to buy now.  How do you begin?  Colley lists the steps to take to buy your first home:

1.       Make Sure You are Ready, says Colley.  This might sound simple but it's always good to look before you leap.

• Is your job secure?
• Are you planning on staying put?
• Is there a situation in your life that makes this a good time to buy or change houses? For instance, new marriage, starting a family.

2.       Know what you can afford.  Ending up "house poor" is how this whole crisis began.,  Be realistic about what you can comfortably afford and stick with your budget.

"Your housing payment - including the mortgage, real estate taxes, and homeowners insurance - shouldn't exceed 28 percent of your monthly gross income. To determine the most you can afford each month, multiply your annual take-home pay by 0.28 and divide that number by 12." says Colley.

3.       Fix Your Credit:  Lenders have tougher requirements than ever.  Your credit score needs to be above 700 to qualify for an FHA loan and higher than that for more conventional loans.

"Order free copies of your credit reports through AnnualCreditReport.com, then check out 3 Tips to Raise Your Credit Score - Fast for ideas on boosting your score before you apply for a mortgage. You should check your credit at least 6 months - preferably a year - before home shopping so you'll have time to improve it before applying for a loan." writes Colley.

4.       Down Payment:  Most lenders require 20 percent down.  "The bigger the down payment, the better." Advises Colley, especially in today's tough competitive market.  In a recent market analysis, research shows that the best loan rates came with an average down payment of 28 percent, according to USA Today.

5.       Get Pre-Approved:  Once you have checked (and fixed) your credit score and you have the money for a down payment, apply for a mortgage.  Getting pre-approved for the mortgage before looking for a home means that you can make an offer quickly and it might mean getting accepted over other bids. 

6.       Build a Good Team, says Colley.  Find a great REALTOR® who is familiar with the areas you are interested in and find a good lender.

7.       Know your local real estate market: Make sure you and your REALTOR® are familiar with everything that is going on in your local housing market.

Read:  Tips for First Time Home Buyers

Posted in Marketing, Ownership, Real Estate Market Conditions

Ken Hutchison of Metro Brokers Tall Country Realty specializes in residential mountain homes in the foothills of Denver.

Interviewer:  Hi I am Kathy Soltero from Metro Brokers TV.  Today we have in the studio with us Ken Hutchison.  He is the broker owner of Tall Country Realty in Conifer.  Thank you so much for coming in today. 

Ken:  Thank you. 

Interviewer:  Tell me about where is Conifer? 

Ken:  Well Conifer is southwest of Denver about 25 miles from Downtown and about 25 miles from the Denver Tech Center. 

Interviewer:  So... mountain country? 

Ken:  Very much, in the foothills, about 8000 feet, with very beautiful vistas and views and everything. 

Interviewer:  All right.  How long have you been in the real estate business? 

Ken:  Well I started the business in 1971. 

Interviewer:  Wow, so you have seen a lot. 

Ken:  I have yes,

Interviewer:  Tell us about your experience, tell us a little bit about what you do and what you specialize in? 

Ken:  Well I do residential real estate and I have built houses, mainly for first time home buyers.  And I really have specialized in that because I really enjoy dealing with first time home buyers. 

Interviewer:  It's quite a different market these days isn't it? 

Ken:  Oh, yes completely different. 

Interviewer:  Tell us about some of the things that you are seeing that so different in the areas that you are working in? 

Ken:  Well, I work in the Evergreen, Conifer, Bailey, and Pine areas. You have got to cover a large area because there aren't very many people up there.  So, you deal with quite a few different aspects of real estate. 

Interviewer:  And are you doing bank owned properties as well, short sales, you are still seeing a lot of that up there in the mountain area? 

Ken:  Yes we are seeing that, that's mainly the main business that we are in right now. 

Interviewer:  Okay.  Have you seen it kind of like trickle off a little bit or? 

Ken:  Yes, we are having a shortage of homes that are on the market right now.  You don't get to pick and choose like you used to. 

Interviewer:  Right.  Tell me about mountain real estate versus the neighborhood real estate that we are used to here down in the Denver Metro area.  How is that different? 

Ken:  Well mountain real estate is different because you have wells and septics and you need somebody that understands what is a good well production?  And septics you have got to have an inspection before you can even purchase a house in Jefferson County anymore.  And then the other thing that you always got to look for in the mountains is you want a house that gets good sun and good driveways.  And those things will save you immense amount of money in utility bills. 

Interviewer:  How do you know that when you are up there and you are looking around because you are kind of surrounded by all these mountains? 

Ken:  Well you can tell... you've got to look for the sun!

Interviewer:  Yeah, and the snow, right? 

Ken:  And the snow if there is snow on the ground and you look over to the left or right and there is no snow you think well I would rather be over where the sun is.  You bet. 

Interviewer:  Exactly, all right.  Well Ken, how can people reach you? 

Ken:  You can reach me at 303-838-1661.  I am located at 2627 Conifer Road in Aspen Park. 

Interviewer:  Okay and do you have a website as well or...? 

Ken:  Yes the website is TallCountryRealty.net. 

Interviewer:  Ken thank you very much for coming in and talking with us today and telling us a little bit about your real estate. 

Ken:  Thank you. 

Interviewer:  Good luck to you. 

Ken:  You bet. 

Interviewer:  And for more real estate related videos like this one.  Be sure to tune in to metrobrokerstv.com. 

Posted in Marketing, Buyer Resources, Story Request, Real Estate Market Conditions