Feb 2010 Absorption Rates: How long will a property expect to sit on the market?

Loan Modification Program. 1-888-995-HOPE

Request a Home Affordable Modification. Click HERE.

Need urgent help? Contact the Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline: (888) 995-HOPE

As a buyer, you must be under contract by April 30.........

The expanded tax credit for U.S. homebuyers, which extends the $8,000 First-Time Homebuyer Credit and creates a new $6,500 credit for most repeat buyers, expires on July 1, 2010. As a buyer, you must be under contract by April 30 to make the deadline. This doesn't leave much time to start the buying process.  Call me today to find out how to get started! 
Shannon Koch (970) 433-3831
Shannon@gjproperties.com

Thank you RE/MAX 4000 for the Rookie of the Year award!

It's going to be a great year.

Ride The Rockies to start in Grand Junction, CO

COURTESY OF THE DENVER POSTThe Denver Post Ride The Rockies is to begin June 13 in Grand Junction with a 46-mile loop that includes a trip up to the Colorado National Monument.
For more information visit www.ridetherockies.com

Homebuyer Tax Credit Info:

$6500 Homebuyer tax credit for existing homeowners....

For any home purchase where a sales contract is signed by April 30th, 2010 and closes by June 30th, 2010.

Learn More:

http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/

How to use your Cell Phone as an emergency tool

http://www.ehow.com/how_2319595_use-cell-phone-as-emergency.html

Grand Valley Fog

Independence Monument in the Colorado National Monument stands out from the fog-filled Grand Valley this morning.

Don't be embarrassed to ask for help!

There are downsides to walking away from your home!!! Your credit, your neighborhood values, your responsibility to the bank.... Don't be embarrassed to ask for help! There are so many programs available to help right now. Tell your family and friends ~ I will even sit next to them while they make the call to the bank. It's time to stay in our homes, not lose them!

http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/

Shannon Koch RE/MAX 4000

In hard-hit markets, some see signs of bottom

Home sales activity improves in Western cities, with big government boost
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35129970/ns/business-real_estate/

Land prices are low, labor costs are low, it's a great time to build, buy, or bring a business here!

I just attended a great meeting with speakers from Western Colorado Building Association and also the Grand Junction Economic Partnership.

The bottom line is....Land/lot prices are low, labor costs are low, it's a great time to build, buy, or bring a business here!  Business employees are available at a resaonable rate as well. 

Colorado is projected to see it's 65+ population grow by 100% by 2020!  To prepare and sustain our communities we need to think about liveable/walkable developments, smaller and more energy efficient homes, sensible transportation, and universal design. 

Obama announces initiatives for middle class

White House Politics

Rates are still incredible right now.

15-Year Fixed @ 4.375%
30-Year Fixed @ 5.125%
source:  Wellsfargo.com

Mesa County Absorption Rates - Price War and Beauty Contest

 Right now, to sell your house you have to know 2 simple things:
1.  It's a Price War
2.  It's a Beauty Contest

Here are the latest Mesa County Absorption Rates:
The first set is for the last year, the second set is for the last six months.
What does this tell you?  Theoretically, it tells you how long your house will sit on the market in a certain price range (months of inventors), unless you win the Price War and Beauty Contest!!! 
Sincerely,
Shannon

RE/MAX 4000

November home sales jump in Grand Junction market

A federal tax credit for first-time buyers likely played a key role in boosting single-family home sales for November in the Grand Junction market.

The Colorado Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that home sales climbed about 20 percent to 155 in November from 129 in November 2008.

“Some of that can be attributed to the tax credit,” said Erika Doyle of Doyle & Associates and chairwoman of the Grand Junction Area Realtor Association.

The tax break, which was to sunset in November, offers qualified first-time homebuyers a maximum credit of $8,000 on their housing purchase.

The credit was extended by President Barack Obama as part of an economic stimulus bill he signed in November. The credit is available through June, as long as a first-time buyer signs a binding sales contract by April 30.

Qualified existing homebuyers can receive a credit of $6,500.

The Grand Junction housing market is on track to record its strongest fourth-quarter sales period since 2007 when a total of 746 units were sold in the period. A total of 285 single-family homes were sold in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to data compiled by the Colorado Association Realtors.

The first two months of the fourth quarter of 2009 produced 341 single-family home sales, with 186 occurring in October.

Statewide, a total of 13,837 single-family home sales were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008. The state housing market appears poised to surpass that number in 2009, given that home sales through the first two months of the quarter were about 9 percent higher than the same period of 2008.

On the downside, the median price of a home in the Grand Junction market dropped to $200,658 in November from $223,571 in November 2008.

As deep as the price decline was in the period it was still higher than the median price recorded in October, which was $196,129.

Doyle said home prices have come down but that was to be expected given the state of the economy.

“We are certainly not bulletproof,” she said.

Statewide, the decrease in the median price of a single-family home was steeper, as it tumbled to $188,372 in November from $220,119 in November 2008.

One of the largest price depreciation was the 38.5 percent decline in Delta County to $102,500 in November from $166,667 in November 2008.

Reach Wyatt Haupt Jr. at whaupt@gjfreepress.com.