A Daily Shot of News

Despite the economic troubles the entire nation is currently facing, Colorado Springs has recently show much optimism in relation to the city’s real estate market. Over the past months the city has endured a slow real estate market, but many believe that the market has finally hit bottom and is ready to rebound better than ever. It seems that the Colorado Springs real estate is starting to improve, with an increase in construction permits increasing and an increase in the number of Colorado Springs area homes for sale.

According to the Colorado Springs Business Journal, there has definitely been an increase in the Colorado Springs area real estate activity. With about 48 new homes starting construction in May of 2009, which was still less than that of the previous year during the same time, it is still an increase from the previous month. The journal also reported that consumer views of the condition of the Colorado Springs area real estate have been positive, with the number of people claiming that conditions are “bad” decreased from 51% to 45.7% in April. Consumers rating the business real estate in the Colorado Springs area to be “good” increased from 6.9% to 7.6%. Consumers also felt that the unemployment outlook was considerably less pessimistic.

Colorado Springs’s newspaper, The Gazette, also reports on the commercial real estate in Colorado Springs area. The city recently suffered a tough loss with the closure of the Intel Corp. Computer chip manufacturing plant, but talks seem to show that a deal is near for the purchase of the building by IRG LLC, which is a Los Angeles based company that specializes in redeveloping corporate real estate. The Markets at Mesa Ridge shopping center are also opening opportunity for more commercial real estate development with the expansion of the current shopping complex. The Gazette also reports that although commercial vacancies continue to slowly creep up, the average rents of office space have also increased, primarily due to the leasing of office space developments that carry higher rents.

Like many major cities in Colorado such as Denver, Boulder has also suffered from a real estate slump due to the current economic recession.  Many of these cities claim that the unfortunate struggles their economies have experienced have come as a result of high unemployment rates and the stalled debt market.  Some smaller cities in Colorado have been more fortunate, with some reporting an increase in home sales and a much more successful real estate market, due to lower unemployment rates in those cities.

Although a national report recently stated that the number of homes foreclosed on in Boulder County had declined for the first quarter of this year, the Boulder County Public Trustee’s Offices claims that that is untrue.  The Boulder County Public Trustee’s Office reports that in the first five months of 2009, the county had recorded 291 homes foreclosed on, a 5% increase compared to that of last year during the same period.  In contrast, RealtyTrac Inc. reported a slight decline in foreclosure rates.  The county says that the discrepancy may be as a result of different calculations and a seven to ten delay in the collection of information.  Nevertheless, Boulder real estate has still suffered from a high rate of foreclosures.

The Colorado Daily reports that Boulder home sales have also suffered greatly, with rates declining for the seventh month in a row as of February 2009.  Compared to the same time during the previous year, Boulder area home sales have declined 60%. The newspaper has also reported that the median home price for a single-family home has been recorded at $551, 375.  More recently, there have been reports of home sales starting to rise due to lower interest rates and effects from the federal stimulus package increasing activity and home-buyer confidence.  Many feel that the coming months will show a more positive outlook on real estate in Boulder and give hope that the economy in the area is rebounding.