Our Bloggers
Denver & Suburbs
Larry Hotz - Selling nearly 1000 homes since 1978, Former Managing Broker and Faculty Member, Colorado Association of Realtors. Follow Larry on Twitter
Littleton & SW
Dennis Martin - Another Dad/Daughter Real Estate Team sells homes throughout Denver's Southwest Suburbs. Dennis also managed a real estate company and sold homes for over 30 years.
Erie, Niwot, Northwest
Paula King
- a Certified Residential Specialist helping folks in Denver's north suburbs.
Downtown Denver
John Ludwig - Lo-Do, Business District, City Park, John lives in and knows the city.
West Denver
Melody Rivera
- and Rivera Team sell homes in Highlands, Lakewood, Westminister. She is also President of The Denver Board of Realtors.
Longmont & North
John Callis -
Broker since 1982 in Denver's northern suburbs. Lives in Boulder.
First Time Homes
Elizabeth Hotz
- Purdue grad and broker since 2005, Liz has lived in both the City and Suburbs. She know the best places for first-time buyers.
Aurora Co Suburbs
Maureen Moore
- Lives here and loves South Aurora, Maureen has been a Realtor here for 22 years.
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Riverfront Prices
By John Ludwig, Downtown Denver Specialist
In an exclusive presentation for Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty Brokers on October 3rd, East West Partners’ own Chris Frampton spoke with sincere realism about the market forces at work. “Prices have been reduced,” he touted.
Since their initial projects back in the late 90s, I have not seen East West go public with price reductions even once. They have a reputation for creating and selling some of the most expensive real estate in Denver, but even the luxury markets don’t seem to be immune to the overall market forces at work. Read more
Boulder Teahouse
by Paula King, Boulder Real Estate Specialist
Boulder has a lifestyle of its own. There are some very wonderful things to see and do on lazy Saturday or just about any time.
One of my absolutely favorite ideas for the perfect weekend outing in Boulder is hitting the Saturday Farmer’s Market. Fresh and organic produce and items grown by small farmers in and around Boulder are displayed in a very fun and appealing way. It’s healthy and the people alone are worth the watching.
Then, we like to follow that up by sitting on the patio of the picturesque Dushanbe Teahouse. Read more
Greenwood Village Fitness
By Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate
Greenwood Village, Colorado hosted the annual Fitness Festival last weekend. At 7:30 in the morning on Saturday, runners, joggers, walkers, fitness experts and just plain Village residents gathered at Belleview and Yosemite. The Fitness Festival was beginning. Read more
Why Denver?
by Kristine Holvick, The Rivera Team
OK. Every Realtor touts Denver as the best city. So, who am I to be more believable?
Well, I grew up in Denver; moved away from Denver; came back home to Denver. What I know about our beautiful city is that it offers something for everyone. It certainly drew me back. It turns out that old saying is true: "The grass really isn’t greener on the other side of the hill". But, in this case the our grass is even better than it was when I left.
We who embrace great food, perfect climate, endless trails, popular shopping venues, exciting nightlife, history, and culture
National Western
by Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate
January in Denver means our coldest weather and "The Stock Show" is in town. It’s a time to remember our western, ranching heritage and hopefully enjoy the first Professional Rodeo of the New Year.
Over 15,000 animals are somehow housed at the huge Coliseum Complex just 3 miles from the heart of downtown Denver. Of course, there are stock shows, live animal auctions and over 300 vendors peddling their wares to cowboys, gentlemen ranchers, locals and tourists alike. There are groomed horses prancing in smaller rings, live stock on display and even a children’s "petting zoo". Your child might want a ride on a pony or even a camel.
If you haven’t seen it, it is a sight to behold.
Greenwood Village Moves Closer to Denver
It is hard to imagine that a city can actually move. Well, it can. At least the perception of its residents. And, Greenwood Village real estate is now percieved as being closer to downtown Denver.
Why? Commuting downtown is now much easier than it was even last November. Driving downtown then during rush hour took anywhere from 35-60 minutes depending on traffic, weather and accidents. Since the new lanes on I-25 opened in mid-November last year, traffic has at least 2 additonal lanes in each direction all the way downtown. That has lowered the commute in rush hour to 20-25 minutes.
Adding to change in commutes is the new DTD light rail service along I-25. It also opened in November, 2006. Now, Greenwood Village residents have a choice of two stops at Belleview and Orchard stations. Commute time on the train is less than 25 minutes.
Lone Tree Elementary School
Some of the finest homes in Douglas County are located in the close-in suburb of Lone tree. Heritage Hills, Heritage Estates, The Fairways and Carriage Club offer luxury homes at more affordable prices.
However, the one impediment to selling a home here has always been what has been perceived as the mediocre elementary school test results at Acres Green which serves the area. All that is changing now that Lone Tree Elementary School Opens for the 2007-2008 school year.
Kentwood Company Sold
Can history repeat itself? My firm, The Kentwood Company, is in processing of transitioning to new ownership. It was acquired by Bill Moore, former Partner in the firm and former President of The National Association of Realtors, and his son-in-
law, Peter Niederman.
Fact is that Mr. Moore was a 50% partner in the elite firm in 1988 until 1998. Mr. Niederman was Chief Operating Officer of Moore and Company for many years before it was sold to NRT. It is now known as Coldwell Banker in the Denver area.
"We will not touch
Denver Market Statistics
Denver Real Estate Market Improves Slightly
The Denver real estate market continues to "level-off" according to statistics just released by Metrolist, the local reporting multi-list reporting agency.
Under contract sales increased for single-family homes increased by about 5% from the previous month. However, sales were still down 1.66% from the year ago period. That suggests that the market has consolidated much of previous losses.
One important statistic to consider is not reported. It is absorption. Absorption is the number of months it would take at current sales levels to sell all the homes currently on the market. Professional sellers such as relocation companies and lenders rely on absorption to determine the true condition of the real estate market.
Interestingly, absorption has continued to improve all this year in Denver’s market. Just single-family homes had 4.2 months of inventory (available homes vs those "under contract" for sale) in May. January absorption was over 5 months of inventory.
Condominiums always have less absorption in this market because it takes longer to sell condos than single-family homes here. The absorption rate for condos was 5.8 months in May. Absorption rate began this year at 7 months of inventory. So, condo sellers are finding slightly better sales conditions too.
An ideal, "healthy" market would have 3 months of inventory.
|
Change vs |
|||
|
May 07 |
Prior Month |
Year Ago |
|
|
Single Family (Res + Cond) |
|||
|
Active |
29,110 |
4.49 |
-4.42 |
|
Under Contract |
6,353 |
2.92 |
-1.64 |
|
Sold |
5,081 |
15.50 |
1.42 |
|
Avg DOM |
102 |
-6.01 |
6.07 |
|
Avg Sold Price |
$288,905 |
-1.40 |
0.55 |
|
Residential |
|||
|
Active |
21,505 |
5.02 |
-2.56 |
|
Under Contract |
5,045 |
3.00 |
-1.66 |
|
Sold |
3,952 |
13.82 |
1.52 |
|
Avg DOM |
98 |
-9.26 |
10.11 |
|
Avg Sold Price |
$318,904 |
-1.12 |
1.16 |
|
Condominium |
|||
|
Active |
7,605 |
3.03 |
-9.33 |
|
Under Contract |
1,308 |
2.59 |
-1.58 |
|
Sold |
1,129 |
21.79 |
1.07 |
|
Avg DOM |
118 |
0.85 |
-4.07 |
|
Avg Sold Price |
$183,896 |
0.74 |
-3.21 |
Foreclosures
“Denver leads the nation in foreclosures”. That’s what several newspaper headlines said recently.
“Luxury home sales above $1 million have suffered less in the last year. Those sales are still relatively constant with the prior year.” That’s what I said in a recent editorial.
Why are both statements absolutely true? Remember what is important in real estate? It’s an old adage but it has never been 
truer. The three most important things in real estate are “location, location and location”.
Most Denver area foreclosures are occurring in Adams and Weld counties. Those are suburbs on Denver’s north side. Also, foreclosures in Denver proper have mostly been limited to the north and west sides of town. Also, the northern section of Aurora has had more foreclosures.
So, does that mean all the better neighborhoods are on the east and south sides of town. Not exactly. But, that is a fair generalization with many notable exceptions. Broomfield, Arvada, Lakewood, Highlands and other areas have been less affected by foreclosures. But, it is fair to say that the south side of town both in the city and suburbs has low foreclosure rates. Coincidentally or not, those are the more expensive section of the city.
I mostly practice south of I-70. My colleagues on my team work north of there. I rarely see foreclosures south of I-70 and when I do they hardly ever are great bargains especially given their generally rough condition. Luxury homes above $500,000 are generally in better areas that have held value during this downturn.
Still, bargains can be had. This is generally a “Buyers’ Market” but exceptions do exist. Don’t try to buy a new home in Cherry Hills and pay less than $3 million. It just won’t happen. But, there are builders and motivated sellers all over town making deals. The trick is to determine motivation and capitalize on it.
Even though the average selling price in better neighborhoods is still 97% of asking price, many homes will sell at substantial discounts. I have been helping my clients get the best deals for 28 years. It’s just a matter of knowing the various markets around town and how to play them. I know that can be done because I do it all the time!