March Madness

by Heather Patel

When things get crazy on Wall Street, it’s often good for real estate.

Uncertainty in the stock market attracts investors to the stability offered by Treasury Bonds.

Higher demand for bonds means lower interest rates which is obviously good for real estate buyers.

“Turbulence in the financial markets is putting significant downward pressure on rates” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

After peaking at just over 7% at the end of October, rates have been trending down.

The current rate on a 30-year loan is 6.6%. A year ago it was 4.16%.

Buyers & Sellers • Homeownership • Investment • Mortgage • Windermere Real Estate • March 14, 2023

Equity Cushion

by Heather Patel

You may remember the term “Home ATM” from the mid 2000’s. This term stemmed from the abundance of homeowners who pulled significant amounts of equity from their homes in the form of Home Equity Loans and Lines of Credit. Home values dropping in 2008, 2009 and 2010 caused many homeowners to be ‘underwater’ meaning that, all at once, their home was worth less than they owed.

Today, there are two big differences compared to the Home ATM years.

First, homeowners today have a lot of equity and very few homeowners are underwater. Of all the properties in the U.S. with mortgages, only 2.1% have negative equity. At the end of 2009, 24% of properties were underwater.

Second, homeowners are not pulling cash out of their homes like they were in the mid 2000’s. Net Equity Extraction is only 1.6% of disposable income compared to 8% during the housing bubble years.

Buyers & Sellers • Colorado Housing • Market Trends • March 9, 2023

A Little Perspective…

by Heather Patel

Those of us in the real estate industry agree that the years 2020 to 2022 were anomalies. During that time there were unique factors which drove abnormally high real estate activity. The number of transactions that occurred in those three years were at levels never seen before.It has become customary to compare the market in 2023 to the years 2016 to 2019 when looking at the number of closed transactions.Here’s what is interesting, while the number of closings so far this year is much less than last year, it is very close to what we saw in the more normal market of 2016 to 2019.In January, 295 properties closed in Larimer County and 296 closed in Weld.The average January during 2016 to 2019 was 334 in Larimer and 303 in Weld.So, this year is only 12% lower than the average in Larimer County and 2% lower in Weld.

Home Pricing • Sellers • Windermere Real Estate • March 7, 2023

Best Ways to Determine Home Value

by Heather Patel

Of all the questions that arise during the selling process, “What’s my home worth?” is the first for most sellers. By using home valuation tools and understanding local market conditions, sellers can educate themselves on how much their home could potentially fetch on the market, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Best Ways to Determine Home Value

Windermere’s home value estimator is a great starting point for sellers. Free to use, it will provide you with an instant home value and an expected price range, a heat map of buyer interest near you, and recent home sales in your area. Click the link below to get started.

What Is My Home Worth?

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)

Though tools like home value estimators provide some data on what sellers can expect when pricing their home, nothing compares to the expertise a professional real estate agent offers. Various factors influence home prices including seasonality, market conditions, and location, and agents have the means to account for these factors to accurately price your home by conducting a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA).

A CMA compares your home to others in your area that have either recently sold, are currently on the market, or had previously listed but have since expired. Depending on the conditions of the market, an agent will gather data for the past three to six months. When conducting a CMA, they’ll take into account recent market trends, competing properties, your home’s amenities, and its overall marketability. The analysis also considers aspects of the home such as lot size, condition, age, square footage, bedrooms and bathrooms, and the terms of financing. A thorough CMA will provide information on what homes in your area are selling for, how long they were on the market, and the difference between their listed and sold price.

So why is a CMA important? A CMA helps price the home more accurately, keeping the property competitive in the current market. For example, in a seller’s market where demand is driving up home values, an agent will work with their seller to account for the elevated prices before listing their home. Doing so allows you to avoid overpricing which usually results in a longer sale period. CMAs can also help buyers negotiate their asking price by having a data-backed analysis of the home’s value based on current market trends.

The key to a successful sale begins with pricing your home correctly, and having your agent conduct a Comparative Market Analysis is critical to this process. Let’s Connect!

Colorado Housing • Economics 101 • Market News • Windermere Real Estate • February 25, 2023

Jobs Bounce

by Heather Patel

As the job market goes, so goes the housing market. This is a fact about any primary housing market.

If employment is growing, the housing market will keep growing.

One of the many positive indicators of the healthy Northern Colorado economy is the fact that the jobs lost during the pandemic have bounced back.

Not only has employment recovered, it now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

Northern Colorado unemployment is now down to 4.1%.

These facts were reported by our Chief Economist Matthew Gardner during our annual Market Forecast event.

If you would like to see any of the slides from the presentation, please let us know.

Buyers & Sellers • Market News • Mortgage • February 22, 2023

Rate Prediction

by Heather Patel

Our Chief Economist, Matthew Gardner predicts that interest rates will hit 5.4% by the end of 2023.

His prediction is aligned with most expert real estate economists.

While rates will continue to bounce up and down as the year goes on, the general trend will be lower rates.

This prediction is mainly based on the Fed tempering their increases as inflation starts to ease in the second half of the year.

Because of this prediction, we see housing demand increasing as rates decrease throughout the year.

Colorado Housing • Homeownership • Mortgage • Windermere Real Estate • February 9, 2023

Equity Rich

by Heather Patel

Homeowners in Northern Colorado have a bunch of equity in their homes.This fact was reported by our Chief Economist Matthew Gardner at our annual Real Estate Market Forecast event.The term ‘equity rich’ is defined as someone who has at least 50% equity in their home.For example, if someone owns a home worth $500,000 and their mortgage balance is less than $250,000, they are ‘equity rich.’A whopping 57% of Larimer County homeowners and 46% of Weld County homeowners are equity rich.To put that in perspective, in 2015 there were roughly 20% of Northern Colorado homeowners who had this much equity in their homes.This level of equity is one of many reasons Northern Colorado is protected from any sort of severe market downturn resulting from an excessive amount of distressed properties hitting the market.

Greeley Real Estate • February 6, 2023

Move-In Ready Greeley Abode

by Heather Patel

Welcome to stress-free, move-in ready living! Seller has owned 3143 20th Avenue Court less than a year and had NEW Plantation Shutters and Ceiling Fans installed planning to make this their family home for years to come. A work transfer put that dream to sleep and now you can benefit from all this home has to offer! Featuring 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms and 2 separate living spaces this home’s interior touches include beautiful quartz countertops in the kitchen, plantation shutters throughout the home, ceiling fans in every bedroom and living space, Nest Thermostat, Nest Google Doorbell, plus a microwave and dishwasher that were installed in 2021. Head outdoors to the large deck and patio area to enjoy your fully fenced, sizable yard with easy access to the two-car garage. Breathe easy knowing the roof was replaced in 2022, gutters in 2021 and the cul-de-sac offers much less traffic in front of your new home. Conveniently located close to shopping and restaurants. Call (970) 214-9479 to schedule a private tour or click here for more information.

Housing Trends • Market News • Market Trends • February 3, 2023

No Bear

by Heather Patel

Altos Research is one of the most trusted sources of real estate market information in the United States. Each week they track every single home for sale across the Country. They analyze the pricing, supply, demand, and status changes for all listings. This amount of data allows them to expertly predict changes in the market.

Their founder, Mike Simonsen, recently said this about the current state of the real estate market:

“The most important thing to take away is that the most bearish scenarios for home prices this year are not taking place. If a buyer is sitting on the sidelines waiting for a home price crash, in general across the country that’s not happening.

“We can measure demand and the direction of future sales prices by looking at the percent of homes on the market with price reductions. This number, frankly, is lower than I would have expected given how few buyers were out in the fall. This a sign that sellers are not panicking and that smart, properly priced listings are getting their offers.”

Housing Trends • Living • Market News • January 31, 2023

Luxury Stats

by Heather Patel

The numbers are in. 2022 was another strong year for luxury sales of properties over $1,000,000.

Along the whole Front Range in 2022, the number of luxury properties that sold was up 6.28% over 2021.

The sold price per square foot was up 5.98% compared last year.

Most interestingly, the number of luxury properties that closed this past year compared to 2019 was up by a whopping 133%.

Sales of luxury properties is usually a good indicator of the overall health of the market.

The annual Market Forecast featuring Chief Economist Matthew Gardner is February 1st at 5:30pm. To see the details and to RSVP, visit www.ColoradoForecast.com