Denver tops the list. It had 25% of its property sales occur within approximately 25% of the city's ZIP codes. This means sales in various parts of the city were fairly evenly distributed, showing proportionate activity. The further a city deviates from the 25% mark, the less evenly distributed the market is in that city, and thus the lower that city ranks.
" Denver scores very well in terms of being able to bring people into a stable housing market," says Christopher Cornell, an economist at Economy.com says. "It has better growth potential than most cities today."
Cornell attributes Denver's stability to its main industries--energy and technology--that he says aren't likely to decline simultaneously. He also says its housing market didn't grow as much as in other parts of the country over the last five years. "Little boom, little bust," he says.

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Are housing markets finally turning around? Existing-home sales increased 5.1 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million units. The rise seems sharp but comes off exceptionally soft activity in January, so we’re far from declaring victory. Yet several developments give us reason to hope for a sustainable upturn.

First, the housing stimulus package passed by the federal government earlier this year is working its way through the system. Among other things, it provides a first-time home buyer tax credit of up to $8,000. (For more on the tax credit, read "Getting the Word Out," page 10.) From this incentive we estimate an additional 300,000 sales this year, plus additional sales as trade-up and trade-down buyers jump into the market. The package also restores high-cost conforming loan limits to $729,750, giving more people access to low mortgage rates.

When you combine these stimulus efforts with recent action by the Federal Reserve to increase its use of economic recovery funds to buy mortgage-backed securities, mortgage rates could stay at historically favorable levels for some time.

Affordability also is working for us. Housing affordability levels are at their most favorable mark since the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® first started tracking the data in 1971.

Still, the pace of new-home sales in the West in February still trailed any month of 2008.

February 2009 new-home sales in western states declined 54.2 percent from the same month of 2008, a steeper drop than the national decline of 41.1 percent, said the Census Bureau, a division of the U.S. Labor Department.

An estimated 65,000 new homes were sold in the West in February, up from an adjusted 61,000 in January. In February 2008, 142,000 new homes were sold. Denver Business Journal

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$8000 Tax Credit;  January 1^st, 2009 – December 1, 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 expands the first-time homebuyer credit to include purchases made before Dec. 1, 2009.

The IRS announced Feb. 25 that for first-time homebuyers who purchase in 2009, the maximum credit is $8,000 and can be claimed on a buyer's 2008 federal tax return.

The credit is claimed using Form 5405.     

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that taxpayers who qualify for the first-time homebuyer credit and purchase a home this year before Dec. 1 have a special option available for claiming the tax credit either on their 2008 tax returns due April 15 or on their 2009 tax returns next year.

Qualifying taxpayers who buy a home this year before Dec. 1 can get up to $8,000, or $4,000 for married filing separately.

“For first-time homebuyers this year, this special feature can put money in their pockets right now rather than waiting another year to claim the tax credit," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “This important change gives qualifying homebuyers cash they do not have to pay back.”

The IRS has posted a revised version of Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit, on IRS.gov. The revised form incorporates provisions from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The instructions to the revised Form 5405 provide additional information on who can and cannot claim the credit, income limitations and repayment of the credit.

This year, qualifying taxpayers who buy a home before Dec. 1, 2009, can claim the credit on either their 2008 or 2009 tax returns. They do not have to repay the credit, provided the home remains their main home for 36 months after the purchase date. They can claim 10 percent of the purchase price up to $8,000, or $4,000 for married individuals filing separately.

The amount of the credit begins to phase out for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is more than $75,000, or $150,000 for joint filers.

For purposes of the credit, you are considered to be a first-time homebuyer if you, and your spouse if you are married, did not own any other main home during the three-year period ending on the date of purchase.

The IRS also alerted taxpayers that the new law does not affect people who purchased a home after April 8, 2008, and on or before Dec. 31, 2008. For these taxpayers who are claiming the credit on their 2008 tax returns, the maximum credit remains 10 percent of the purchase price, up to $7,500, or $3,750 for married individuals filing separately. In addition, the credit for these 2008 purchases must be repaid in 15 equal installments over 15 years, beginning with the 2010 tax year.

Information provided to you from the Internal Revenue Service Website, WWW.IRS.GOV, as of 3/3/2009.  Intelligent Investments, Inc. is not an tax accounting firm.  Please consult your tax accountant for further information.

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Hope on foreclosure front in Colorado

This is an article that ran in the Denver Post Today...

http://www.denverpost.com/economy/ci_11770186

Just got back from a meeting about the Economic Forecast for Metro Denver. A few notes I gathered while I was there:

Colorado is expected to have a shallower and shorter recession period based on the fact that we entered it later compared to the rest of the nation.

Douglas County is still the fastest growing in Colorado.

Inflation in 08' was 3.8% the forecast for 09' is 2%.

They are forecasting and increase in Home Sales of 09'.

Foreclosure rates in Colorado fell from 07'-08 and are expected to continue to decline in 09'

Median home prices are expected to increase from $219,300 to $221.500. The National forecast is expected to stay the same as last year at $197,000.

09' will see a rise in Unemployment Rates up from 7.7%

Overall what I'm getting is that 09' should provide us a little bit of a turn around and further stabilization. We'll see less foreclosures and short sales as the stimulus package provides mortgage alternatives. Less foreclosures and short sales means stabilization and increase in prices.

Stay Positive!!!

6 Creative Ways to Afford a Home

1. Investigate local, state, and national down payment assistance programs. These programs give qualified applicants loans or grants to cover all or part of your required down payment. National programs include the Nehemiah program, www.getdownpayment.com, and the American Dream Down Payment Fund from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, www.hud.gov.

2. Explore seller financing. In some cases, sellers may be willing to finance all or part of the purchase price of the home and let you repay them gradually, just as you would do with a mortgage.

3. Consider a shared-appreciation or shared-equity arrangement. Under this arrangement, your family, friends, or even a third-party may buy a portion of the home and share in any appreciation when the home is sold. The owner/occupant usually pays the mortgage, property taxes, and maintenance costs, but all the investors' names are usually on the mortgage. Companies are available that can help you find such an investor, if your family can’t participate.

4. Ask your family for help. Perhaps a family member will loan you money for the down payment or act as a co-signer for the mortgage. Lenders often like to have a co-signer if you have little credit history.

5. Lease with the option to buy. Renting the home for a year or more will give you the chance to save more toward your down payment. And in many cases, owners will apply some of the rental amount toward the purchase price. You usually have to pay a small, nonrefundable option fee to the owner.

6. Consider a short-term second mortgage. If you can qualify for a short-term second mortgage, this would give you money to make a larger down payment. This may be possible if you’re in good financial standing, with a strong income and little other debt.

Denver is on the list....Check it out

From Hanley Wood

With most economists and builders expecting a national market decline this year, this may not seem like the best time to be selecting the "healthiest" markets in the country. Virtually every market was down last year. But a close look at the numbers reveals that some markets have way outperformed others during the last four years and are likely to continue to do so this year.

See the whole article here  http://www.builderonline.com/local-markets/the-healthiest-housing-markets-for-2009.aspx?cid=BLDR090217002

Well it looks like President Obama will be signing the Stimulus Package here in Colorado today. It includes an $8000 Tax Credit for Buyers when the purchase a home prior to December 1, 2009. It also "betters foreclosure mitigation and lowers interest rates for Homeowners and Buyers" What does that mean for you? Well if your a in the Market to sell your home Buyers have a nice incentive to buy it. If your looking to purchase that $8000 tax credit will come in handy next year at tax time. The goal is for this incentive to stabilize prices and remove some of the inventory we're currently holding.

Read more about it at http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/02/realtors_advocate_quick_stimulus_implementation

Top 10 States For Foreclosures in January 2009

State           Total   Change 12/08    1 1/every x HH  Nevada          14,444          -3.96%          137 California      76,761          -0.14%          173 Arizona         76,761          -8.07%          182 Florida         40,770          -19.76%         214 Oregon           4,511          218.80%         357 Illinois        14,447          85.05%          363 Michigan        11,418          6.25%           397 Georgia          9,907          -1.24%          400 Idaho            1,512          105.71%         417 Ohio            11,199          -12.41%         452 

Stats from RealtyTrac.