If you've been waiting for the market to bottom out in Denver before buying, the time has come to invest in your new home. After a slight uptick in February, prices for condos and single family homes fell on average 1.91% from February to March. Compared with 2007, average home prices have fallen, a much needed correction in the Denver market which was still hyperinflated from double-digit growth in the 1990s. The market seems to have bottomed out and presents a grand opportunity for buyers looking to buy in Denver this spring and summer.

In March the median price of a Denver single-family home was $224,900, up from $221,486 in February, an increase of 1.54%. For condos and townhomes the median price was $132,000, down slightly from $133,750 in February. However, the number of homes sold in March is up 23.6% over February this year, and the average days on market before sale has declined by 7.1% since last year this time, indicating a more active market this year than in 2007.

A question asked by many of my buyers is "If I buy now, what about declining values? Will my home be worth less when it comes time to sell it?" The answer varies depending on how long you stay in your new home.

On average buyers stay in their homes about 5 years before selling according to independent real estate broker, Gary Bauer (Bauer issues a monthly market report used by the Denver dailies) is widely regarded in Denver real estate circles as a market expert. In a report in the Rocky Mountain News by Rob Reuteman (4/19/08), Bauer is quoted on the issue. He says, "If I bought my home a year ago for $200,000, and I had to sell for $180,000, I'd be upset. If I'm staying in the Denver market I take $180,000 and buy a house that would have cost me $200,000 a year ago. But I'd still have a little feeling that I really didn't do so well. If I were that individual five years ago, my average appreciation would be 39 percent. Would I be concerned about a 10 percent drop in price today? I don't think so. I would have bought it for $130,000 and sold it for $180,000."

The Denver Post has updated their very useful interactive map of home values across the metro area.  You'll be able to look at values by neighborhood, discover whether values are rising or declining and much more.

Interest rates are still low (conventional loans were at 6.125% for well-qualified buyers as of April 25, 2008, from our preferred lender, Rate One, The Mortgage People). Housing supply is as high as it's been in awhile at 25,516. Homes are more affordable. Denver's economy is steady and jobs are expected to increase this year. The unemployment rate in March was 4.4%, .7 percent lower than the national rate of 5.1%. 22,000 new jobs are expected in Colorado in 2008, and foreclosures are expected to drop by about 9% for the year according to Patty Silverstein, Chief Economist for the Metro Denver Development Corporation.

New home builders, faced with a sizeable inventory of unsold homes in early 2007, have pared the excess to virtually nothing. In the 4th quarter of 2007 starts of single family new homes and condos dropped to 1,611, the "lowest quarterly starts in the seven years that Metrostudy has gathered information for the metro area" according to the Rocky Mountain News ("Metro new-home sales, starts "worst in 20 years", February 7, 2008).

The Denver market is not in the same situation as many cities. We're still riding out the effects of the mortgage crisis which led to so many foreclosures, but values haven't dropped nearly as much as the rest of the country. Values dropped about 2% in 2007 and are expected to drop another 3% overall in 2008. Contrast that with Orange County, California (suburban Los Angeles) which dropped 10.2% or Boston a 13.3% drop.

Many parts of the country have suffered a double whammy with the real estate bubble bursting together with the number of foreclosures rising which put a downward push on prices. Denver's bubble burst in 2001, but values remained steady until 2007 when they began to drop. 2006 values increased an average of 2.7%, while values at the end of 2007 had dropped by 2%, a difference of 4.7%.

Denver's cost of living makes it an easy choice over higher cost areas like both coasts. According to CNNMoney.com it costs 57% less to live in Denver than in San Jose; 53% less than in San Diego; 61% less than in San Francisco; and 20% less than Seattle. If you live in the east, it will cost 51% less than in Washington, D.C.; 36% less than in Boston; 72% less than in New York; 26% less than in Philadelphia.

For buyers coming from the south and the midwest, Denver could cost more. It costs 14% more in Denver than in Atlanta; 49% more than in Houston; 41% more than in Dallas; 29% more than in Dayton, Ohio; 22% more than in Rochester, MN, and 23% more than in Boise. But living in Denver still costs 17% less than in Chicago, 16% percent less than in Portland, and a whopping 56% less than in Los Angeles..

You'll need to do your due diligence to compare cost of living between your city and Denver at websites like Best Places, Bank Rate, or Money/CNN.

Having an Exclusive Buyers Agent to find the best buys will shore up your buying ability by representing your best interests - finding the best home at the lowest possible price, and saving you time and hassles. See my client references. Phone numbers available upon request. Call Judith Clausen now at 303-587-3509 to help you find your new home in Denver.

Denver women who want to improve their home repair skills are invited to register for classes.  This is a great opportunity to learn from a master craftswoman how to do the kinds of things around the house that have mostly been left to the men.  Judy Browne is an amazing woman who had a great idea, Workshop for Women.  Judy was an AmeriCorp volunteer and learned how to build a home from the ground up working for 14 months with Habitat for Humanity.

Channel 4 Denver featured a story about Judy with a video showing how she teaches women how to do their own maintenance.  Have a look!  You can reach Judy at 303-284-6354 or you can email her to register for a class.

In spite of national real estate market “doom and gloom” reports, Denver buyers have a golden opportunity to buy at (or near) the bottom. The average price in January for single family housing across the metro area was $281,203, a drop from December’s $287,874. The median price for a single family home is down by 8.1 percent from last January to $216,950 from $236,000 and from $220,000 in December 2007.

Condos also dropped to an average price of $165,510 from $170,440 in December, a drop of 2.9%. Median price dropped a whopping 13% from $154,900 in December to $134,000. Condos are a bargain now and are taking less time to sell because of buyer demand. But buyers can still expect to pay 97% of list price for condos and 96% for single family homes.

Interest rates are low (conventional loans were at 5.625% for well-qualified buyers as of February 6, 2007, from our preferred lender, RateOne, The Mortgage People). Housing supply is as high as it’s been in awhile at 18,716. Homes are more affordable. Denver’s economy is steady and jobs are expected to increase this year. The unemployment rate in December was 4.5%, a half-percent lower than the national rate of 5%. 22,000 new jobs are expected in Colorado in 2008, and foreclosures are expected to drop by about 9% according to Patty Silverstein, Chief Economist for the Metro Denver Development Corporation.

New home builders, faced with a sizeable inventory of unsold homes in early 2007, have pared the excess to virtually nothing. In the 4th quarter of 2007 starts of single family new homes and condos dropped to 1,611, the “lowest quarterly starts in the seven years that Metrostudy has gathered information for the metro area” according to the Rocky Mountain News (Metro new-home sales, starts “worst in 20 years”, February 7, 2008).

The Denver market is not in the same situation as many cities. We're still riding out the effects of the mortgage crisis which led to so many foreclosures, but values haven't dropped nearly as much as the rest of the country. Values dropped about 2% in 2007 and are expected to drop another 3% overall in 2008. Contrast that with Orange County, California (suburban Los Angeles) which dropped 10.2% or Boston a 13.3% drop.

Many parts of the country have suffered a double whammy with the real estate bubble bursting together with the number of foreclosures rising which put a downward push on prices. Denver's bubble burst in 2001, but values remained steady until 2007 when they began to drop. 2006 values increased an average of 2.7%, while values at the end of 2007 had dropped by 2%, a difference of 4.7%.

Denver's cost of living makes it an easy choice over higher cost areas like both coasts.  According to CNNMoney.com it costs 57% less to live in Denver than in San Jose; 53% less than in San Diego; 61% less than in San Francisco; and 20% less than Seattle. If you live in the east, it will cost 51% less than in Washington, D.C.; 36% less than in Boston; 72% less than in New York; 26% less than in Philadelphia.

For buyers coming from the south and the midwest, Denver could cost more. It costs 14% more in Denver than in Atlanta; 49% more than in Houston; 41% more than in Dallas; 29% more than in Dayton, Ohio; 22% more than in Rochester, MN, and 23% more than in Boise. But living in Denver still costs 17% less than in Chicago, 16% percent less than in Portland, and a whopping 56% less than in Los Angeles..

You'll need to do your due diligence to compare cost of living between your city and Denver at websites like http://www.bestplaces.net, http://www.bankrate.com/brm/movecalc.asp, or http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html.

Having an Exclusive Buyers Agent to find the best buys will shore up your buying ability by representing your best interests - finding the best home at the lowest possible price, and saving you time and hassles. See client references at http://www.buyers-advantage.net/references.html Phone numbers available upon request. Call Judith Clausen now at 303-587-3509 to help you find your new home in Denver.

I just spent several hours trying to make sense of all the instructions on how to make an InmanWiki for myself. Whew! But it's up now. Take a look (click on the image above)! And if you have any ideas or suggestions, let me know.

If you're planning to buy a home in Denver in the next 6 months you ought to be able to buy for at least 97% off list price. If the house has just been listed it will eventually sell, but on average at a price 93% less than the original list price. It could take awhile for starry-eyed sellers to realize their home may be priced too high. On the other hand, good houses in good condition in good locations may even require an offer of asking price or more. A good Buyer's Agent can help you assess the many factors that go into arriving at a good offer price.

Median prices for detached single-family homes are up slightly from July by .98%. (Median price is a better gauge of the market's strength than average price which can be skewed by a few high priced sales.) Average days on market has increased from 90 in July to 92 in August, showing a slight seasonal shift. The highest days on market was 125 in February, the lowest was 90 in July.

Condos fared worse, dropping 3.48% in median price in August to $152,500 from $158,000 in July. The average price dropped even more by 5.26%. Days on market improved to 102 in August from 112 in July. The highest average days on market was in January with 131.

Percent of sale price to list price dropped a percent in August to 97% from 98% in July for detached single-family homes, and rose to 98% in August from 97% in July for condos. Neither shows much of a change. Overall days on market for both condos and detached single-family homes was 94 for August compared to 120 in January and 125 in February. Denver's unusually harsh winter took a toll both on how long it took to sell and prices. Original list price for both condos and single-family homes during January and February showed high hopes by sellers, but a grimmer reality. Sellers were getting on average 87% of what they were asking in February. By August that figure had improved to 93% of list price for both condos and detached single-family homes.

A high number of short sales (where lenders take less than the homeowner owes on the mortgage) and foreclosures have impacted the lower priced neighborhoods. Home prices in higher priced neighborhoods haven't been as negatively impacted. The Denver Post cites the Stapleton neighborhood, a new urban retail/residential area. Average prices in the Stapleton neighborhood are $449,000, but in the last year only 2% of sales were short sales or foreclosures. By contrast the Del Mar neighborhood in Aurora where the average price is $117,000, 71% of all sales were short sales or foreclosures. This once-attractive neighborhood now is laced with run-down homes sitting empty either with a For Sale or For Rent sign in the front yard.

What does it all mean? The Denver market isn't nearly as dismal as the headlines would have you believe. Compared to the national scene, Denver prices haven't shown as steep a drop, and in many cases home values are appreciating significantly. In neighborhoods where home prices on average are $250,000 or less, overall home prices are dropping according to a September 4, 2007, article in the Denver Post. But in higher priced neighborhoods prices are steady or rising. Some neighborhoods have shown a healthy increase over the last year. University Park, where the average price is $718,777, has shown a 23.9% increase. Hilltop, another pricey Denver neighborhood with an average price of $920,146 experienced a 24.4% increase, but homes in most Denver metro neighborhoods are flat, either dropping slightly or appreciating slightly.

A single exception is Denver's Jefferson Park neighborhood with an average price of $247,454. Jefferson Park is a mix of old and new, an old neighborhood in the process of gentrification, with new townhomes, new condos, just a few blocks from Invesco Field at Mile High (to us oldtimers, it's still Mile High Stadium), LoDo, Elitch's, the Pepsi Center, Coors Field, and other downtown attractions. River Clay has one of the more interesting projects going on in the private market in Denver. It's a green condo building with a mix of affordable housing and luxury units. One of my clients, returnng to Denver from the Pacific Northwest, bought one of the nicest units for $543,600. When these condos are resold (they're under construction now) the neighborhood's value will increase. Other projects are scheduled for this newest of downtown Denver's hottest neighborhoods.

Denver's cost of living makes it an easy choice over higher cost areas like both coasts. It costs 40 percent less to live in Denver than in San Jose; 34 per cent less than in San Diego; 43 per cent less than in San Francisco; and 14 per cent less than Seattle. If you live on the east coast, it will cost 15 per cent less than in Baltimore; 28 per cent less than in Boston; 50 per cent less than in New York; 14 percent less than in Miami

For buyers coming from the south and the midwest, Denver could cost more. It costs 2 per cent more in Denver than in Atlanta; 14 per cent more than in Houston; 7 per cent more than in Dallas; 6 per cent more than in Dayton, Ohio; and 11 per cent more than in Minneapolis. But living in Denver still costs 3 per cent less than in Detroit; 20% less than in Philadelphia; 1.5 per cent less than in Cleveland, and 1.5 per cent less than in Chicago.

You'll need to do your due diligence to compare cost of living between your city and Denver at websites like http://www.bestplaces.net, http://www.bankrate.com/brm/movecalc.asp, or http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html.

Having an Exclusive Buyers Agent to find the best buys will shore up your buying ability by representing your best interests - finding the best home at the lowest possible price, and saving you time and hassles. See client references at http://www.buyers-advantage.net/happy-clients.html. Phone numbers available upon request. Call Judith Clausen now at 303-587-3509 to help you find your new home in Denver.

An article in the Wall Street Journal points out a successful strategy for making a low offer in a stagnant market. During a hot market sellers were used to turning up their noses at lowball offers. But with the real estate slump affecting many parts of the country sellers should learn that a low offer isn't an insult. According to national real estate expert Danielle Kennedy, a low offer is "an expression of interest," and should start the ball rolling to a successful sale.

Making low offers is part of the stock in trade of Exclusive Buyer's Agents (EBAs). Not that it's a standard practice in every market. But we do want to make sure that our clients don't pay more than a property is worth. The secret is knowing market values and being able to demonstrate to a seller that the offer price is reasonable given sale prices of comparable properties in the neighborhood. EBAs have to give the seller strong justification for a low offer.

Denver's real estate market is uneven. Prices in some neighborhoods are stable, even appreciating, while in others are dropping slightly, and in still others are dropping drastically. This kind of a market suggests that buyers should be careful in who they choose to represent them. Buyer's Agents who don't work exclusively with buyers can be affected by their expertise in representing sellers, wanting to be fair to the seller, sometimes to the detriment of their buyer client. Exclusive Buyer's Agents don't have that kind of a mindset. Their mindset is on getting the best price for their buyer clients.