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"EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT!" |
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October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 |
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| October 2009 | |
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Northern Colorado real estate by the numbers
Source: Brokers Metrics, “Months Supply of Inventory (MSI) 9/1/2007-9/30/2009” for Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.
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Volunteer Spirit is strong in northern Colorado
Source: http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/rankings/Mid-Size-Cities/Volunteer-Rates/2008. |
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BusinessWeek: Fort Collins #19 strongest housing market in nation
Source: Source: BusinessWeek, “The Strongest U.S. Housing Markets” by Prashant Gopal, 8/11/2009 |
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Forbes: Colorado #4 “Best State for Business”
Source: Forbes.com, "The Best States For Business" by Kurt Badenhausen,9/23/09
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| September 2009 | |
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Forbes taps Greeley and Fort Collins for inexpensive living
Source: Forbes.com, “Where to Live Cheaply” by Zack O'Malley Greenberg, 7/14/09.
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Northern Colorado harnesses wind energy
Source: Coloradoan, “Wind farms gaining speed in Northern Colorado” by Bobby Magill, 9/14/09.
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Fort Collins named ‘Best place to start a family’ by Adventure magazine
Source: Denver Channel News, “Adventure Mag. Gives Ft. Collins Honor As 'Best Place To Start A Family” by Deb Stanley, 9/16/09. |
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| August 2009 | |
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Where to Retire Magazine Ranks Greeley #1
Source: Greeley Tribune, “Greeley ranked as 1 of top 8 places for retirees” by Nate A. Miller, 8/5/09.
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More good news for downtown Loveland
Source: Coloradoan, “Downtown Loveland showing signs of recovery” by Douglas Crowl, 8/25/09
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Fort Collins #3 on “Smarter City” list
Source: Coloradoan, “Fort Collins ranks third on nationwide Smarter Cities list” by Bobby Macgill, 7/19/09 |
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U.S. National Home Price Index Rises
Source: MSNBC.com, “Home prices post first quarterly rise in 3 years” by Associated Press, 8/25/09.
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Specializing in RESIDENTIAL ACREAGE Properties, Horse Facilities,and FARM AND RANCH properties in Northern Colorado areas
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Two critical measures of a real estate
market are the Month’s Supply of
Inventory (MSI) and Days On Market
(DOM). The MSI is an estimate
of how long it will take for all the
homes in a market area to be sold, or
absorbed, based on the number of
homes currently on the market and
the rate that homes have sold in the past. The lower the better for sellers. DOM is the
average number of days it has taken homes to sell in a market. Again, the lower the
better for sellers. While DOM has not dropped for all three cities, the MSI has lowered
across the board and points to a more balanced market.
It is no secret that a city with a strong spirit of volunteerism is a city that thrives.
Northern Colorado is an example of just that. The Corporation for National & Community
Services tracks volunteer activity across the United States. After compiling
their 2008 data, the Fort Collins-Loveland area ranked #7 in overall volunteer rate for
mid-sized cities, while Greeley came in at #25. Based on an average using 2005 and
2008 data, the Fort Collins-Loveland area had 86,900 volunteers, 38.3% of residents
volunteer, and $200.7 million of service was contributed. For the same time-span,
Greeley had 67,700 volunteers, 32.8% of residents volunteer, and $192.9 million of
service was contributed.
BusinessWeek recently examined small metro areas
where the housing market didn’t bubble, hasn’t burst and
is showing strong signs. Using data from Zillow.com, the
magazine ranked metro areas based on the share of singlefamily
homes in which values rose in the second quarter
compared with the second quarter of 2008. Once the data was compiled, Fort Collins
took the #19 spot on the magazine’s study of the nation’s strongest housing markets.
The share of homes with increasing value came in at 28.82% and median home value
at $232,500. The annual change in value of homes was -0.32%, however, the quarterly
change was 1.71%. Colorado was well represented on the list, as Boulder took
the #1 spot as the strongest housing market.
Forbes.com recently released their “Best States for Business” rankings and Colorado came out strong at
#4. States were ranked in six categories: business costs, labor, regulatory environment, economic climate,
growth prospects and quality of life. Of the 50 states, Colorado ranked #1 for labor and number #2 for
growth prospects. These key categories are important to businesses as they seek locations
with a growing, educated workforce. Colorado also came in at #5 for economic climate.
In a July article, Forbes magazine let readers know "Where to Live Cheaply.” Northern Colorado had two cities make the list with Fort Collins taking the #9 spot and Greeley #13. Forbes identified the 100 cheapest locations by studying 380 metropolitan statistical areas and metropolitan divisions. Cost of living data from Moody’s Economy.com and home affordability figures from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo was used in the study. In addition, Forbes rated cities against each of the following four quality-of-life measures: violent crime rate, unemployment rate, average salary for college graduates, and cultural opportunity.
In late August, the federal government announced half a billion dollars in grants to help develop wind-energy projects. This is good news for northern Colorado ranch and farm owners that have land ripe for wind farm development. Some wind farms, such as the Cedar Creek Wind Farm located east of Grover, have already taken shape. The Cedar Creek farm has 274 turbines making it one of the largest wind-powered facilities in the country. Colorado State University is working on their own project just north of Fort Collins on I-25, which has the potential to produce four gigawatts of wind energy. So, if you are in the market for land, be sure to check the next property appraisal for a new line item: “Annual turbine lease revenues on top of crop revenue yield per acre.” 
If you are an adventurer looking for a place to start a family, then according to National Geographic Adventure magazine, Fort Collins is the place to be. In their annual review of the hottest cities to live and play in, the magazine identified Fort Collins as one of three best places for an adventurer to start a family. The magazine pointed to Old Town’s “gingerbread” Victorian houses, city parks, mountains and the Poudre River as just a few of reasons to call Fort Collins home. Published by the National Geographic Society, Adventure magazine is for active, imaginative people who like to try new outdoor pursuits and travel to wild corners of the planet.
Where to Retire magazine ranked Greeley number one on their recently released “eight terrific home buys with great lifestyles” list. The magazine, published six times a year, seeks to identify the best retirement regions, towns and master-planned communities. The selection was based on Greeley’s affordable cost of living combined with residents easy access to Rocky Mountain National Park, city parks and recreation, quality health care and a thriving Senior Center. In addition, the area is enriched by higher education as it is home to the University of Northern Colorado and Aims Community College. For more information about the great things going on in Greeley, you can visit the official city website at 
Local residents should keep an eye out for new “Open for Business” signs in downtown Loveland. According to a recent article in the Coloradoan, three vacant retail spaces along Loveland’s Fourth Street are nearing lease deals and a sale closing. The coffee shop Mandolin Café and Show of Hands arts and crafts gallery account for two of the new businesses. They are expecting to open their doors this fall. In addition to this activity, the Lux building at 129 E Fourth St is under contract and set to close in August. If you haven’t had a chance to lately, be sure to check out the downtown Loveland website at 
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) ranked Fort Collins third for mid-sized cities on its “Smarter Cities” sustainability list. Cities were evaluated based on their effort to use sustainable and alternative energy, use of green space and for encouragement of energy efficient transportation. Fort Collins was compared against other cities with a population of 100,000 to 250,000. The NRDC highlighted the collaboration between Colorado State University and the City of Fort Collins, known as UniverCity Connections. This partnership has lead to projects like FortZED, a planned zero-energy district in Old Town.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller’s U.S. National Home Price Index released in August rose nearly 3% from the first quarter. This constitutes the first quarterly rise in three years. The Case-Shiller index is a composite of home price indexes for the nine U.S. census divisions. The 20-city index measures home price increases and decreases relative to prices in January 2000. All but two cities saw home prices rise, and Dallas and Denver clocked their fourth-straight monthly increase.