The Lewis-Palmer High School Booster Club is hosting a tree recycling event January 1, 2, 8, and 9 at the Santa Fe Trailhead.

The cost is $5.00 (tax deductible), and all of the proceeds go to support youth sports in the Colorado Springs area (and most importantly our own LPHS athletes and associated programs). Our very own athletes and band members will be there to help remove the tree from your vehicle and discard it. All trees will be mulched; mulch will be available to anyone who wants it for FREE!

The locations of the trailheads are:

Santa Fe Trailhead Baptist Road and Old Denver Highway

Hours of Operation: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

As expected, the housing market continues to bump along.  Are we in a double dip? Not likely, locally. The market is trying to work itself out and find its median ground.  Taking a look at the residential real estate market:  Home values are seeing some appreciation with a median increase of 4.8% over one year ago.  The Pikes Peak Regional Housing Department reports that there was increased activity in building permits this summer; a positive sign because the price per square foot on a new build is typically higher than an existing home making this a tough choice for many.  Interest rates continue to fall reaching record low numbers this last week; average thirty year is at 4.32% with 0.7 point down.  Last week, refinances accounted for 82% of all mortgage activity.  Finally, ...

The housing market locally and across the nation is taking a breather from the activity of the last eighteen months and trying to find itself.  July numbers demonstrate a decrease of 27% in year over year existing home sales activity and a 12% decline in new homes sales.  A major decline was widely expected by economic and industry analysts; free of any external influences such as federal stimulus plans, free market forces will take over.

In spite of declining activity, pricing continues to stabilize and even improve.  Delinquencies, short sales and foreclosures are becoming less of a force on the appraisal process.  Freddie Mac, one of the largest guarantors of residential loans, reports that the delinquency rate on single family homes continues to decline to 3.89%.  This is still higher than one year ago, but...

Freddie Mac's weekly survey of mortgage lenders indicates that the 30 year fixed mortgage rates remained relatively flat at 4.57% and the 15 year fixed rate mortgage rose slightly to 4.07.  Both required an average of 0.7 point down.  The 30 year rate is another historical low.  Last week the market had been down, this week the stock market is heading up over 10,000.  Revised reports indicate an increasing demand in oil for the rest of the year surely causing a rise in crude oil.  This is the exact opposite direction the numbers went a week ago.  The fits and gyrations of the economy continue.

Locally, there are bright spots.  You may have noticed a few areas around town being cared for by lawn maintenance crews.  Due to anticipated financial problems, the City of Colorado Springs had cut all median maintenance programs.  Fortunately, some money was found and some areas are being cared for again.  We are hoping that this is a trend that continues; these small expenditures have a big impact on how our great city is seen by potential employers visiting the city as well as potential home buyers to certain areas of town.  The Gazette is reporting some unscientific trends about local jobs activity indicating...

Many of the markets ended the week in a negative position and the prices of certain items also declined due to weak demand.  The stock market closed the week below 9700 following six negative days, gold and oil prices fell due to anticipated weak demand.  Economists are in agreement that growth is slowing but are not agreeing about the "double dip".  Of course, our fear through not spending and holding tightly to our money will help curtail growth.  A chicken and egg dilemma!  Of course, this is not entirely in our hands.  European debt crisis and the slowing of China's economy will have an impact upon our ability to gain loans and our weaken trade markets.  As we are weaning off the federal stimulus packages, true healing will begin even if it does mean painfully ripping off the band-aid.

Interest rates for residential mortgages fell to some of the lowest numbers seen in decades; the average rate for a 30 year fixed rate ended the week at 4.58% with an average of...

Starting with a broad look at real estate market, Freddie Mac has announced measures to provide relief to Gulf Coast homeowners impacted by the recent oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.   The concern stems from an expectation that thousands of families will be without income and potentially entering a state of delinquency on mortgages.  Given the environmental factors, a rush of foreclosed homes in a potentially undesirable area would be devastating for locals and mortgage services.  Freddie Mac has forbearance policies which allow lenders who service guaranteed loans to recommend twelve months of forbearance in qualifying circumstances such as this disaster. Given the uncertainty of the regional economy, this is welcome news for the many communities whose real estate markets have only recently stabilized from Hurricane Katrina and the recent housing collapse.

Ending the reporting week of June 24, 2010, mortgage brokers are reporting to Freddie Mac that the average rate on a fixed rate 30 year mortgage is 4.69% and a 15 year mortgage is 4.13%.  Both require roughly 0.7 of a point down to get the rate.  Rates are at record lows; so is closing activity.  These numbers typically have an inverse relationship.  When we say record lows, we aren’t kidding.  MSN reports these rates are the lowest seen in over 54 years.

Who is buying right now?  The National Association of Realtors reports that 46% of all closings in May were first time homebuyers....

We keep referring to last week’s chaotic stock market; let’s just call it a month!  The month’s activity and fears of overseas debt default are really influencing the mortgage market.  Two trends are emerging:  a decline in the average interest rate and a decline in applications for mortgages.  Conventional wisdom is that the two work opposite one another.  Mortgage rates tend to follow the Treasuries and rates continued to fall.  Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage lenders found that the weekly average rate for a thirty (30) year fixed rate mortgage dropped (again) to 4.84%. The fifteen year fixed rate showed slight decrease at 4.3%.  To obtain the rates, an average of 0.7 point down was required to get the rate.

As recently as February, everyone was expecting mortgage rates to increase to 6%.  That hasn’t happened.  As fears about European debt and a second collapse have mounted recently, investors around the world are moving cash into U.S. bonds.  The cascading result bears a decrease in mortgage rates.  This could be great for the housing market because...

This week’s chaotic stock market, including the horrid 1000 point drop and recovery, caused the Treasury yield to drop.  Because mortgage rates tend to follow the Treasuries, rates continued to fall in a 2010 trend that is beginning to feel uncomfortable.  Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage lenders found that the weekly average rate for a thirty (30) year fixed rate mortgage dropped slightly to 4.93% dropping just out of the 5% range we have had for quite some time now.   The fifteen year fixed rate showed slight decrease at 4.3%.  To obtain the rates, an average of 0.7 point down was required to get the rate.

A few months ago, the rental market was looking pretty tough in Colorado Springs.  New data just released though is showing a rebound.  Multi-family unit vacancy rates, ending first quarter 2010, dropped to 6.9% in Colorado Springs.  Areas of town especially tight are the northwest, northeast and southwest communities.  Lack of new construction, foreclosures and tight mortgage lending are forces sending renters into the arms of landlords.  As of yet, rent rates are remaining flat.

The state of Colorado Department of Local Affairs (housing division) has released its quarterly foreclosure report; in the first quarter of 2010, filings in Colorado jumped 6% over last year, same time period.  Actual foreclosures processed year over year shows an increase of 53.6%.  We really did just type 53.6%!  Late in 2008 and into early 2009, there was a moratorium on foreclosure processing as lenders were reorganized and a national hold on the process pushed actions into later quarters.  Consequently, the numbers look a little bit jumbled....

Our weekly wrap up begins with the weekly Freddie Mac survey of mortgage lenders.  The weekly average rate for a thirty (30) year fixed rate mortgage dropped slightly to 5.00% holding in the 5% range.   The fifteen year fixed rate showed slight decrease at 4.36%.  To obtain the rates, an average of 0.7 point down was required to get the rate.  The West region survey has been showing a slightly higher amount down to get the rates but is coming into line with the average.   The U.S. Average for a five/one year adjustable rate mortgages is 3.97% with 0.7 fees and a margin of 2.74.The one year ARM (treasury rate linked) is 4.07%.  Treasury bond rates and yields decreased slightly having the impact of keeping rates low.

If you are paying attention to local real estate, you may have noticed that there are several auction events underway this next month.  Participating in an auction is tricky business and typically discouraged against.  The allure of finding a bargain can be hard to resist.  If you can’t resist, check out the below tips to getting started....

Last week, Freddie Mac's survey of mortgage lenders led folks to believe that rates are inching back up.  As we know from following the weekly survey, rates have been bouncing around for quite some time averaging around 5%.  The weekly rate for a thirty (30) year fixed rate mortgage fell back to 5.07% (5.21% last week).  The fifteen year fixed  rate also dropped back down to 4.4% (4.52% last week).  The regional rates bounced around a little bit with the West being slightly below the average.  Across the country, points down averaged 0.7 to get the rate.  The trend is: no real movement since the increases are negated by the declines.  In this report, it was reported that credit standards to obtain a mortgage are not changing.  The quality of applicant's credit is mixed.

This week Forbes released its latest list of best cities for business and Colorado scored big!  Four Colorado cities were in the running including Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins.  Many of the cities on the list are located in the geographic middle of the country.  The report cited that many of the east and west coast states are mired in debt and the economies are in tough shape making for a difficult business environment. Along with being a great place for business, honorees are also cited as being great places for career since there have been and will continue to be opportunities...