Townhomes Are Back!

by Paul Hunter

With the change in construction defects laws in Colorado in 2017, we are seeing condos and townhomes coming back in force! This is great news for first time homebuyers that start with an attached home before they move on to bigger, better, and more expensive things. Here are some interesting stats that show what is going on with the townhome market…

Townhome and duplex growth is up 36 PERCENT for the year
This market segment represents 26 PERCENT of the total market
This is the HIGHEST percentage the townhome and condo market has ever been
Detached single family homes represent only 70 PERCENT of the new home starts, the lowest since 2009

This info and more is found in my monthly Windermere Report Newsletter. If you would like to sign up to receive this info from me just shoot me an email. Have a great week!

About the area • Buyer Tips • Fort Collins Real Estate • Investment • Loveland Real Estate • Real Estate • Seller Tips • Wellington Real Estate • Windsor Real Estate • January 7, 2018

2018 Market Forecast

by Paul Hunter

Happy 2018, I hope the year is starting off wonderfully for you! As we start the year, you might be wondering, “what is going to happen in the Northern Colorado real estate market this year?” The good news is, we have an answer! We will be hosting our Annual Windermere Real Estate Market Forecast again this year, on January 18th at 5:30pm at the Marriott in Fort Collins. If you would like to attend, check out the website at www.WindermereForecast.com.

In the meantime, check out what the Windermere Economist, Matthew Gardner (who will be speaking at our Forecast event), has to say about the national market and economies below. I look forward to a fantastic year with you!

About the area • Buyer Tips • Fort Collins Real Estate • Investment • Loveland Real Estate • Real Estate • Seller Tips • Wellington Real Estate • Windsor Real Estate • December 18, 2017

Home Price Increases – What Will It Cost?

by Paul Hunter

Check out the picture below to see how home prices are increasing by region, this comes from www.keepingcurrentmatters.com and the direct link is HERE. Let me know what you think!

About the area • Buyer Tips • Fort Collins Real Estate • Investment • Loveland Real Estate • Real Estate • Seller Tips • Wellington Real Estate • Windsor Real Estate • December 15, 2017

Friday Fun Facts!

by Paul Hunter

Rate Recap

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.25% this week. It was their 3rd rate increase this year.

This has us thinking about mortgage rates.

Today, 30-year mortgage rates are 3.93%.

Let’s put this in context with a little history lesson. Mortgage rates were…

3.90% 6 months ago
4.13% 1 year ago
3.54% 18 months ago
3.32% 5 years ago
5.96% 10 years ago
7.15% 20 years ago

So where are rates headed? Given that the Federal Reserve is expected to raise their rate three to four more times in 2018, we expect mortgage rates to be higher one year from today.

The Mortgage Bankers Association predicts rates to be 4.8% in the 4th quarter of next year. Freddie Mac’s prediction is 4.4%. If these predictions are true, that would mean mortgage rates would be back to where there were 6 to 7 years ago.

To hear our predictions for the 2018 market, join our live Market Forecast event on January 18th at the Marriott in Fort Collins. Back by popular demand is Windermere’s Cheif Economist Matthew Gardner who will give you valuable and interesting insights into the real estate market. Reserve your spot at www.windermereforecast.com

About the area • Buyer Tips • Fort Collins Real Estate • Investment • Loveland Real Estate • Real Estate • Seller Tips • Wellington Real Estate • Windsor Real Estate • September 29, 2017

Friday Fun Facts!

by Paul Hunter

Memory Lane

Today I will take a fun trip down memory lane.

Did you know that it was the fall of 1981 (I was -2 years old!) when mortgage interest rates hit their all time peak? Yes it was this time 36 years ago when 30-year mortgage rates hit 18.39%

Yikes!

It’s important to note that in those days, not many home buyers were opting for a 30-fixed loan because rates were so high. There were a lot of people looking at adjustable rate products as a way to reduce the monthly payment.

Just for fun, let’s look at what a monthly payment would look like if those same rates from 1981 existed today.

If rates were 18.39% today, a $350,000 home with a 20% down payment would have a monthly principal and interest payment of…

$4,309! Yikes!

Thank goodness rates aren’t that high today. They are actually about 15% lower!

Today’s 30-year rate sits at 3.83% (which by the way is roughly half of the long term average).

A monthly principal and interest payment on a $350,000 home with 20% down is…

$1,309. Three thousand dollars lower than it would be using 1981 ‘s rates.

For a detailed look at what’s happening across Colorado, request my quarterly market report called “The Scoop.”

About the area • Buyer Tips • Fort Collins Real Estate • Loveland Real Estate • Real Estate • Seller Tips • September 25, 2017

Luxury Listings in Northern Colorado

by Paul Hunter

837-Glenn-Ridge-Dr-Fort-print-001-1-Exterior-Front-2700x1795-300dpi-2.jpg

Luxury Living

Here are the top 5 most expensive home sales in Northern Colorado so far this year…

$3.3 Million – a 16-acre estate near Pinewood Reservoir with 6 bedrooms, 8900 square feet, and black walnut floors
$2.2 Million- a 9300 square foot home on 5 acres in Hidden Valley estates near Loveland
$1.9 Million – a 8100 square foot home in the Harmony Club
$1.9 Million – this 29-acre property between Berthoud and Loveland includes a 6000 square foot home and a 12,000 square-foot shop building
$1.9 Million – a 9000 square foot home in SE Fort Collins which backs to open space and trails

Click HERE to see current luxury listings in Fort Collins or click HERE to see current luxury listings in Weld County. If you have any questions give me a call or shoot me an email.

About the area • Buyer Tips • Fort Collins Real Estate • Investment • Loveland Real Estate • Real Estate • Seller Tips • Wellington Real Estate • Windsor Real Estate • September 11, 2017

Northern Colorado – Big Stuff Happening!

by Paul Hunter

I get a lot of questions about what is happening in the Northern Colorado Real Estate market, and while I address the residential side of things regularly, the commercial market has been driven by our great economy and way of life in the area. Here are just a few recent sales that show the strength of real estate in our area…

A Denver based company purchased The Buttes Apartments in Loveland for $16.19 million. The property was 98.8 percent leased at the time of sale.
A company in Austin bought the State on Campus apartments on Stuart in Fort Collins for $71.08 million, it was a total of 220 units.
The owner of the Fort Collins Club purchased the old Orchards Athletic club in Loveland for $800,000, and will be renovating it over the next year to bring a high end gym to the Loveland area.
A local buyer bought the Holiday Inn Express in Greeley for $5 million, it has 64 rooms and is located on W 29th St.

With the development near Highway 34 and I25, we will see continued commercial growth in the area, so stay tuned for more updates!

About the area • Buyer Tips • Fort Collins Real Estate • Investment • Loveland Real Estate • Real Estate • Seller Tips • Wellington Real Estate • Windsor Real Estate • September 3, 2017

Home Price Appreciation – Good To Be Us!

by Paul Hunter

New Rankings

The new rankings are out from the Federal Housing Finance Authority which ranks all 50 states plus close to 300 individual metropolitan markets for home price appreciation.

We trust this source because they track actual sales of individual homes versus simply looking at average prices. Their home price index is one of the key pieces of research that we follow closely.

There are a few significant items in their latest report (which is hot off the press).

Colorado is ranked 2nd for one-year appreciation, 5th for five-year appreciation and 1st for twenty five-year appreciation. Prices across Colorado have increased 324% since the end of 1991.
Fort Collins/Loveland is ranked 10th out of all the metro areas for one-year appreciation with a 12.1% increase.
Greeley is in at 21st with 10.73% appreciation

In case you are curious, the hottest market in the country is Mount Vernon, Washington with 15.1% yearly appreciation. Atlantic City is ranked last with a 0.8% price decrease.

It’s clearly “good to be us” as we are one of the highest-performing markets over the long-haul.

Check out the FHFA recap video here:

Here is the data straight from FHFA’s report:

U.S. house prices rose 1.6 percent in the second quarter of 2017 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). House prices rose 6.6 percent from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was up 0.1 percent from May.

The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHFA has produced a video of highlights for this quarter.

Significant Findings

Home prices rose in 48 states and the District of Columbia between the second quarter of 2016 and the second quarter of 2017. The top five states in annual appreciation were: 1) Washington 12.4 percent; 2) Colorado 10.4 percent; 3) Idaho 10.3 percent; 4) Florida 9.4 percent; and 5) Utah 9.2 percent.
Among the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., annual price increases were greatest in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA (MSAD), where prices increased by 15.7 percent. Prices were weakest in New Haven-Milford, CT, where they rose by 0.1 percent.
Of the nine census divisions, the Pacific division experienced the strongest increase in the second quarter, posting a 2.6 percent quarterly increase and a 8.9 percent increase since the second quarter of last year. House price appreciation was weakest in the Middle Atlantic division, where prices rose 0.8 percent from the last quarter.

Source: FHFA

About the area • Buyer Tips • Fort Collins Real Estate • Real Estate • August 25, 2017

Friday Fun Facts – Fort Collins vs Boulder

by Paul Hunter

Fort Collins vs. Boulder

We frequently are asked from our clients “Do you think Fort Collins is the next Boulder?” Let’s look at the numbers to gain some insight.

Specifically, we will simply show you a snapshot of activity in each market so far this year.

Median Price:

Boulder = $962,250 (up 7% over last year)
Fort Collins = $379,000 (up 5 % over last year)

Number of Transactions:

Boulder = 389 (flat compared to last year)
Fort Collins = 1745 (flat compared to last year)

Current Inventory of Homes

Boulder = 210 (up 23% over last year)
Fort Collins = 993 (up 33% over last year)

The two markets are both experiencing higher prices as well as much higher inventory. Also, both markets have roughly the same amount of sales as last year.

The biggest difference, and the reason Boulder prices have gone to stratospheric levels, is the fact that Boulder’s market is severely supply constrained. They have triple the amount of open space in and around the City compared to Fort Collins which limits home building and pushes prices up towards 7-figures.

And of course, as a CSU Alumni I hope you are rooting for Colorado State next weekend!

** Keep an eye out for details on our upcoming annual event, the Windermere Tailgate Party! Hosted on Friday, October 13th, 2017, we will celebrate CSU homecoming with food trucks, face painting, music and tons of fun! **

2016 Windermere Tailgate Party

About the area • Buyer Tips • Fort Collins Real Estate • Investment • Loveland Real Estate • Real Estate • Seller Tips • Wellington Real Estate • Windsor Real Estate • August 21, 2017

Should You Use A REALTOR?

by Paul Hunter

Well of course you know my answer! 🙂 But there are more reasons than just having an advocate on your side during a transaction, and Inman News outlined a few of them. You can read the article below to see all of the reasons that you will have a better and smoother transaction with a REALTOR involved, but the big ones are presentation of your listing to the public, and the risk of the 40+ pages of paperwork that NEED to be done and managed properly during a transaction. If you have any questions about how these risks are mitigated by hiring me, give me a call or shoot me an email. Have a great day!

LINK TO INMAN ARTICLE ABOUT USING A REALTOR