HARRY'S BI-WEEKLY UPDATE 6.2.15
June 2, 2015
HARRY’S BI-WEEKLY UPDATE
A Current Look at the Colorado Springs Residential real estate Market
As part of my Personal Service, it is my desire to share current real estate issues that will help to make you a more successful and profitable buyer or seller.
A” SHOUT-OUT” TO STEVE BACH AND JOHN SUTHERS…
I want to take a moment to thank Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach for his leadership as the first “strong” mayor in the City’s history and to wish incoming Mayor John Suthers much success in leading his “hometown”.
Having worked with both of these men over the years, I have the utmost respect and admiration for the time and dedication they have given, and continue to give, to our City.
So…Thank You, Steve for your service…and Best Wishes, John in making the transition to Mayor of Colorado Springs, effective today.
MAY LOCAL STATISTICS CONTINUE THE POSITIVE GROWTH TREND
Statistics provided by the Pikes Peak REALTORS Service Corp, or it’s PPMLS
PPAR released May statistics late yesterday afternoon and I waited to share what I anticipated to be more good news, thus the eNewsletter coming to you a day later than usual.
Once again, I am thrilled to report that things are looking very good for the Pikes Peak Region in the Residential real estate market.
May was the tenth straight monthly increase in sales. In comparing month over month, May 2015 to April 2015, the number of sales in Single-family/Patio Homes is up 24.3%, with the Average Sales Price up 4.2% and the Median Sales Price up 3.4%. New listings were up just slightly (0.4%) over April. In the Condo/Townhomes category, everything but new listings is up from April.
Also taking into consideration the very positive year-over-year statistics shown below, you can see that these numbers reflect strong consumer confidence along with low, but slowly rising, interest rates that many buyers feel will soon go higher. “Act now” continues to be the current norm.
Listing numbers continue to drop, both locally and on the national level. With rental rates rising and first-time buyers becoming more active, we are most definitely facing a Seller’s Market. That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find the home you might be looking for, but it does mean that you might have others who want the same property.
I still find that most of my buyers are able to sell and trade up as long as they are realistic about the current market conditions and are able to make a quick decision once they find the property they want to buy.
Here are some highlights from the May 2015 PPAR report. Please click here to view the detailed 13-pages. The included charts will show you just how positive these statistics are. If you have any questions, as always, just give me a call at 598.3200.
In comparing May 2015 to May 2014 in PPAR:
Single Family/Patio Homes:
- New Listings are 1839 Down 2.5%
- Number of Sales are 1,397, Up 24.3%
- Average Sales Price is $276,946, Up 13.9%
- Median Sales Price is $243,000, Up 12.4%
- Total Active Listings are 2,889, Down 27.9%
Condo/Townhomes:
- New Listings are 218, Up 3.8%
- Number of Sales are 207 Up 43.8%
- Average Sales Price is $172,126, Down 1.2%
- Median Sales Price is $156,000, Up 4.0%
- Total Active Listings are 286, Down 32.7%
COLORADO SPRINGS AREA MONTHLY SINGLE FAMILY/PATIO HOME SALES ANALYSIS*
Median Sales Price Average Sales Price
Black Forest $435,000 $455,698
Briargate $310,000 $322,419
Central $201,500 $228,074
East $210,950 $219,858
Fountain Valley: $208,000 $207,255
Manitou Springs: $242,100 $252,025
Marksheffel: $259,450 $274,845
Northeast: $231,750 $258,919
Northgate: $387,000 $449,891
Northwest: $339,375 $368,894
Old Colorado City: $200,000 $229,287
Powers: $229,700 $238,794
Southwest: $358,000 $431,348
Tri-Lakes: $417,000 $440,483
West: $224,500 $252,084
*Statistics provided by the Pikes Peak REALTORS Services Corp,or its PPMLS.
SOUTHERN COLORADO ECONOMIC FORUM’S QUARTERLY UPDATES & ESTIMATES
College of Business and Administration, UCCS, Southern Colorado Economic Forum, May 2015
The First Quarter 2015 Update on the El Paso County Economy, including housing trends, was published last week and you can click here to read the 9-page report in full. Here are some of the highlights I thought you would find interesting:
- Single-family permit activity has trended upward over the past five years.
- The year-to-date-sales in the Pikes Peak Region are also continuing an upward trend.
- Active listings are lower than a year ago, but the average sales price of a home sold in March 2015 is 9.3% higher than March 2014. This points to stability in the local real estate market, which is favorable.
- Foreclosures were 46.6% fewer than in the same period last year.
The next several sections of the report include:
- Colorado Springs Airport Trends
- Employment Trends and Wages
- Colorado Springs Sales Taxes
- New Car Registration Trends
It is with pleasure that Salzman real estate Services is able to share these types of statistics and forecasts with you as soon as they become available, each and every quarter. We have been a supporter of the Southern Colorado Economic Forum since it was created by the UCCS College of Business in 1996.
This year the Forum is going to be held on Friday, October 23 and will be at The Broadmoor for the first time. The program will feature an exciting keynote speaker and some new features that you won’t want to miss. I’ll provide more details as they become available but you might want to mark your calendars now to save the date for this sure-to-be-sold-out event.
LOCAL COST OF LIVING AT 2-YEAR LOW, JOB MARKET BEST IN 9 YEARS
The Gazette, 5.28-29.15
The cost of living for Colorado Springs was 4.6% below the national average for the first quarter of 2015, according to a quarterly survey by the Council for Community and Economic Research. Compared with 2.6% below for all of 2014, which was an 11-year high, this is great news. Much of this is due to low gasoline and natural gas prices.
Health care and miscellaneous goods and services were also lower, while first-quarter housing costs jumped from slightly below to slightly above the national average.
“This is confirmation that Colorado Springs is a very affordable place to live, work and own and operate a business,” said Dirk Draper, CEO of the Colorado Springs Regional Business Alliance. “It also reflects a welcome slowdown in the trend of increasing costs.”
“It is a favorable reflection of our place among the other cities along the Front Range, particularly since our housing costs remain more affordable than other cities along the northern Front Range,” he added.
Not surprisingly, along with the lower cost of living comes the fastest job growth rate since 2006. The latest estimates are from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and won’t be confirmed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics until its annual review process in March 2016, buy Alexandra Hall, the department’s chief economist expects the numbers to hold up.
“Colorado Springs, particularly over the past year or so, has seen a consistently strengthening economy,” Hall said. “I don’t expect to see as much impact on the Colorado Springs economy from the slowing in the oil and gas industry that we will see in the rest of the state.”
Most of the job gains came from the health care and social assistance sector. Other big gains came from tourism, construction and professional and technical services industries.
MORTGAGE RATES NOW AT HIGHEST POINT THIS YEAR
Realtormag 5.29.15, The Wall Street Journal, 5.23-24.15
In its weekly mortgage market survey, Freddie Mac reported that fixed-rate mortgages moved to their highest point this year. While still historically low, this is a fairly good indication of even higher rates to come.
According to Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chairwoman, the central bank is on tract to raise interest rates this year but will likely do so cautiously as the job market hasn’t fully healed from the recession. She indicated last Friday that it could take as long as several years before the Fed’s benchmark short-term rate is back to what the central bank considers “normal” in the long-run.
However, the Labor Department reported signs that inflation is stabilizing, which should give the Fed more confidence when considering the rate raise.
“I think it will be appropriate at some point this year to take the initial step to raise the federal-funds rate target and begin the process of normalizing monetary policy,” Ms. Yellen said last Friday.
What does this mean to you? Well, rates ARE going up. Maybe slowly for the time being, but as soon as the Fed feels confident the economy can handle it, they will go up even more. For those waiting for lower rates, I would doubt that’s going to happen. And while the rates are still low at present, again, that’s NOT going to last forever. If you want to take advantage of what has been once-in-a-lifetime low mortgage interest rates, don’t delay. Enough said.
WHERE ARE PRICES HEADED IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS?
Keeping Current Matters, 5.26.15, pulseconomics, 5.15
Every quarter, Pulseonomics surveys a nationwide panel of more than one hundred economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists about where prices are headed over the next five years. Those are then averaged into a single number to get the results. The latest survey of Quarter 2, 2015 shows the following:
- Home values will appreciate by 4.3% in 2015
- The cumulative appreciation will be 19.4% by 2019
- That means the average annual appreciation will be 3.6% over the next 5 years
- Even the experts making up the most bearish quartile of the survey are still projecting a cumulative appreciation of 11.8% by 2019
Here are a couple of graphs illustrating the survey results:
WAITING TO BUY A HOME COULD COST TENS OF THOUSANDS
Housingwire, 5.28.15
The first Opportunity Cost Report from realtor.com was released several days ago and it indicated that with interest rates and home prices expected to climb in the next year, the financial penalties of delaying or forgoing a home purchase in today’s market have become quite steep.
Examining a wide range of factors, including the long-term impact of owning versus renting a home, the likely monetary gain renters forego in waiting to buy and the financial benefits of homeownership by market, the consensus was the time to buy is NOW.
“Current market conditions give buyers the opportunity to build substantial wealth in the long-term, compared with renters and later buyers, in advance of the projected increase in mortgage rates and continuing price appreciation,” said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for reator.com. “The problem is inventory is low, which has many would-be home buyers—especially first-timers—standing on the sidelines and missing out on potentially material financial gains.”
Nationally, the estimated wealth an average buyer would accumulate over a 30-year period based on today’s dollars totals $217,726.
Bottom Line? Once more, another good reason not to wait if you’ve been renting or considering a starter home. If you or any family members are looking to be first-time homeowners, now is the time to make the move. With new mortgage programs offering lower down payments and allowances for financial help from family members, now is an excellent time to get the process underway. Give me a call at 598-3200 or email me at Harry@HarrySalzman.com and let’s see what we can do to help make your homeownership dreams a reality.
A REMINDER ABOUT SKY SOX TICKETS
Now that the rainy weather is gone, baseball games are back in full swing. Don’t forget to get your request for tickets in early so you can attend the game of your choice. We have 4 front row seats located directly behind the Sky Sox dugout that can be yours free for the asking. They are on a first-come, first-served basis so give me a call today to reserve yours.
HARRY’S JOKE OF THE DAY
AND SOME THOUGHTS ON ATTITUDE I WANTED TO SHARE…
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” --Winston Churchill
“Ability is what you’re capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.” --Lou Holtz
“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” --Albert Einstein
