39 YEARS IN THE BUSINESS, AND WE CAN STILL BE SURPRISED !!!
Oct. 3, 2011
HARRY’S WEEKLY UPDATE
A CURRENT LOOK AT THE COLORADO SPRINGS RESIDENTIAL real estate MARKET
PENDING HOME SALES CLIMB 7.7% ABOVE LAST YEAR
Although August 2011 national home sales dipped slightly from July, 2011, they rose 7.7% compared with sales in August, 2010.
Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist stated that “The market is underperforming, given a pent-up demand in household formation.
“The unnecessarily restrictive mortgage underwriting standards are attenuating the housing recovery and are a risk factor for the overall economy. We need to remove the road blocks to the housing recovery for people who are trying to take advantage of excellent affordability conditions”, Yun stated.
LATEST SALES AND LISTING STATISTICS
So that you might see how our local real estate market is faring, we have linked to the most recent Sales and Listing data for the Pikes Peak area, issued by the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors. At our publication time, statistics for September Sales had not yet been released, but we will include them in next week’s issue. Click here for the latest available statistics.
39 YEARS IN THE BUSINESS, AND WE CAN STILL BE SURPRISED !!!
Last week, we arranged for a 30 year, fixed-rate mortgage for an Investor-client. One of our local lenders wrote the loan at an interest rate of 4.375% for a non-owner occupied property
Our client reported that, considering the 4.375% rate and our local vacancy rate, he would show a positive income starting the first month after closing.
Last week, for an Owner-occupied home, we arranged for a 15 year, fixed-rate loan at 3% and 30 year loans were available at 3.75%.
These are the lowest rates we have ever seen.
If you’re thinking of buying, now’s the time to do it.
Call us at 598-3200, or, 800 677-MOVE (6683).
TWO MORE JOB-BUILDING PROJECTS FOR COLORADO SPRINGS ANNOUNCED
Agilent Technologies is moving forward on a $121 million, 55,000 square-foot expansion to their Garden-of-the-Gods campus. The project will include a 20,000 square-foot data center and a 35,000 square-foot technology center.
The economic impact of the Agilent expansion to Colorado Springs will match the expansion of the Wal-Mart data processing facility near Interquest parkway, which was announced in July. Wal-Mart has now finalized its purchase of the 24 acres required for the expansion, at a cost of $5.3 million for the land. Local government officials and business leaders projected that the new facility will pump about $488 million into the local economy over the first 15 years.
Both of these projects will create many new high-paying jobs in our local economy and our Mayor and City Council deserve a vote of thanks for aggressively pursuing these opportunities.
Keep up the good work !!
And, to add some icing on the cake, Tom Binnings, a senior partner in Summit Economics LLC, a Springs economic research and consulting firm, predicts that Colorado Springs job growth should resume next year as major construction projects take hold, including Fort Carson expansion, the Southern Delivery System water pipeline and several apartment complexes.
According to Binnings, some of the other positive factors that will impact Colorado Springs will be:
• Continued Population growth
• A resurgence of entrepreneurship
• Capital access
• Private sector company growth to replace expected government jobs losses
• Troops returning to and remaining at Fort Carson
• A modest resurgence of homebuilding.
And, best of all, we get to see the aspens turning for the next several weeks. …And to think, many people actually choose to live somewhere else…..on purpose. … Go figure !!
WANT TO LEARN WHERE OUR CITY WILL BE IN THE FUTURE?
REGISTER FOR THE 15TH ANNUAL SCEF
On October 14, 2011, The Southern Colorado Economic Forum will bring together local experts from the public, private, and academic sectors to report on our economy. Thought of by many as our region’s economic “State of the Union,” the Forum offers the community an annual snapshot of local economic activity and provides forecasts to help businesses plan for the upcoming year.
This valuable research about where our community has been and where we are headed is made possible through a cooperative effort between UCCS and local business sponsors. This long-standing partnership between the academic and business communities has produced timely, accurate, and objective economic data to guide local businesses for nearly a decade.
This year’s Forum will be held in the Heritage Ballroom of the Antlers Hilton.
To register for this very informative meeting, Please click here.
FACING A TRANSFER ? BE AWARE THAT relocation BENEFITS ARE CHANGING
As a result of the decline in home-values and ‘upside-down’ mortgages, many companies are no longer able to simply ‘buy-out’ the homes of their employees who are transferring out of town. Instead, they are using ‘tiered policies’ or ‘Cafeteria relocation Benefits’ to assist their transferred employees moving to new locations.
According to the recent Worldwide ERC Survey, “relocation Assistance: Transferred Employees”, 73% of organizations now report they use tiered policies, compared to 10% in 1988. These companies use three or more tiered policies to better align policy with job or salary levels, homeowner/renter status and other criteria.
Companies which use tiered policies report they must maintain some flexibility in these polices, or run the risk of alienating existing talent, but also must retain some rigidity, or exceptions become the rule and benefits can become inequitable.
Cafeteria relocation Benefits are offered by 24% of organizations (as compared with 13% in 1997). These plans offer the company a menu of several benefits, such as:
• Homefinding trips
• En route travel
• Temporary living
• Shipment of household goods, autos and pets
• Home purchase assistance
• Home purchase assistance
• Spouse career transition
• Settling-in services
• Property management
• Child/elderly care assistance
As a long-time member of Worldwide ERC, we have many years of experience working with companies and transferees to assist them with their relocation needs and we would be pleased to discuss this important topic with you.
Give us a call at 598-3200, or, 800 677-MOVE (6683).
And, please remember, I would be honored to serve as your Broker for all of your residential real estate needs. I want to help you, my reader, make the most prudent and accurate Real Estate business decision.
Also if you know of anyone who desires to buy or sell local real estate, or, who is moving in or out of the Pikes Peak region, remember that, with over 39 years of providing relocation and Real Estate services to clients throughout the country, I am uniquely qualified to assist them with the relocation process, including buying and/or selling their homes on both ends of their move. Please allow me to implement my negotiating skills on your behalf.
Just click on the icon at the top of this email to listen to my podcast for this month …
JOKE OF THE WEEK
A bird was flying south for winter, but the weather turned cold early and he was frozen solid in a storm.
He dropped down, frozen and exhausted, into a pile of manure in a cow pasture.
At first, the bird was disgusted, until he realized that the manure was thawing him out! He was so happy to be warm again that he started singing for joy.
A cat that was nearby heard the singing, walked over, saw the bird and ate it
There are three morals to this story:
1. Not everyone who covers you with manure is your enemy
2. Not everyone who gets you out of the manure is your friend
3. If you happen to find yourself in manure, keep your mouth shut
