Denver Real Estate Blog

From the Denver Business Journal this week:

Home prices in the Denver metro area declined 4.3 percent in November from the same month a year ago, a much slower rate of decline than the average in other U.S. cities, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index reported Tuesday.

Nationally, the average decline for the 20 cities measured in the report was 18.2 percent between November 2007 and November 2008, a record decline since the “Home Price Indices” survey was launched in 2007. All 20 cities in the survey reported year-to-year declines.

Only Dallas had a smaller year-to-year decline in prices of the 20 cities — 3.3 percent.

In the Denver area, home prices have declined every month since July, the report said. Prices were slightly lower in the area early this year, it said.

Prices in Denver and across the nation have not been consistently as low as they are now since early 2004.

Home prices in Denver peaked in August 2006 and have declined 9 percent since then, S&P/Case-Shiller said.

Denver and Dallas “fared the best in November, in terms of relative year-over-year returns,” the survey says. “While in negative territory, their declines remained in low single digits.”

The survey also said Denver recorded the smallest month-to-month price decline of any city in the study, down 1.1 percent between October and November 2008.

As for the year-to-year decline, Phoenix stopped the 20 cities with a 32.9 percent drop, followed closely by Las Vegas (31.6 percent) and San Francisco (30.8 percent), Miami (28.7 percent) and Los Angeles (26.9 percent).

The survey tracks changes in the value of the residential real estate market by comparing sale prices of specific sample homes in a city at two different times. Calculations are by Fiserv, Inc. using methodology developed by Karl Case and Robert Shiller.

The survey assigns an index number to each city and does not report actual home prices.

Real Estate in Denver is definitely heading in the right direction - and it seems like we are at this interesting point where prices are still low, you can still find a decent foreclosure or short sale, and now that rates are low and FHA guidelines are loosening up, it’s the perfect storm for buyers.

Flipped properties are moving super fast when priced right - especially in hot neighborhoods like Highlands, Sunnyside, and Berkeley. 

There’s a great article on CNN.com today from This Old House.  Here are the highlights:

-In January 2009, new FHA loan ceiling in top markets will be $625,500
-Industry: FHA-backed loans are the last best deal for many buyers
-Down payment minimal — 3.5 percent and credit can be less than stellar
-Program to allow buyers to borrow extra money to make repairs