Real Estate Information

Foreclosure filings in the Denver metro area fell nearly 1.6 percent in the third quarter from the same period a year ago, according to data from RealtyTrac Inc.

The Denver-Aurora area had the 47th-highest foreclosure-filing rate among 203 large U.S. urban areas in the first quarter of the year, according to figures released late Tuesday by RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based marketer of foreclosure properties, in its “Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report.”

A total of 9,235 properties in the area were in some stage of the foreclosure process in the July-through-September period, or one per every 113 households, RealtyTrac said. That was up 5.48 percent from the previous quarter, but down nearly 1.6 percent from the third quarter of 2008.

Cities in California, Florida and Nevada accounted for the 10 highest foreclosure rates in the third quarter among metro areas with a population of 200,000 or more. But five of those Top 10 metro areas reported decreasing foreclosure activity from the third quarter of 2008, while many other metro areas with Top 50 foreclosure rates reported sharp increases in foreclosure activity.

“Rising unemployment and a new variety of mortgage resets continued to gradually shift the nation’s foreclosure epicenters in the third quarter away from the hot spots of the last two years and toward some metro areas that had avoided the brunt of the first foreclosure wave,” RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said in a statement. “While toxic subprime mortgages drove much of that first wave of foreclosures, high unemployment and exotic Alt-A Option ARMs are spreading the foreclosure flood to more metro areas in 2009.”

Among the top 50 metro foreclosure rates, the three biggest year-over-year increases were in Boise City-Nampa, Idaho, and Provo-Orem and Salt Lake City in Utah. In several states, the largest increases were posted in cities not previously a focal point for foreclosure activity.

Boulder, for example, experienced a 34 percent increase in foreclosures compared with the previous quarter, and a nearly 46 percent increase compared with the same quarter a year ago, according to RealtyTrac’s data. Boulder had 551 properties with foreclosure filings in the first quarter, or one in 224 households, and ranked 98th out of 203 cities, RealtyTrac said.

Colorado Springs ranked 56th on RealtyTrac’s list, and Fort Collins-Loveland ranked 52nd.

Greeley, at No. 33, was the highest-ranking Colorado city on the Q3 list, with 1,234 properties in foreclosure, or one for every 75 households.

Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., topped the national list with one out of every 20 properties in foreclosure, followed by Merced, Calif. (1 in 27); Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. (1 in 27); Stockton, Calif. (1 in 28); Modesto, Calif. (1 in 30); and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (1 in 30).

RealtyTrac listed 203 metro areas with populations of 200,000 or more.

RealtyTrac’s metro-areas report parallels its much publicized state-by-state foreclosure rankings. The company’s Q3 ranking for Colorado showed the state had the ninth-highest foreclosure rate in the nation.

Colorado officials for years have disputed the state’s high position on RealtyTrac’s lists, particularly after Colorado’s foreclosure rate was described as the worst in the nation for most of 2006.

State officials have argued that the way Colorado’s public trustees report foreclosure data leads private entities like RealtyTrac to overcount foreclosures here. RealtyTrac has said its methodology is fair. But RealtyTrac officials won’t reveal many details of how it counts foreclosures, saying that it’s proprietary information.

State lawmakers last session passed a bill that would standardize the way Colorado reports foreclosure numbers. The state Division of Housing now reports monthly foreclosure data for selected areas within the state, as well as statewide quarterly foreclosure data.

On Oct. 8, state officials reported a 71.9 percent surge in Colorado urban-area foreclosure filings in September — to 3,480 filings, from 2,024 in September 2008. The big increase was partly due to a change in laws that temporarily reduced new filings last year, state officials said.

The report covered the seven counties of the Denver metro area, plus El Paso, Larimer, Mesa, Pueblo and Weld counties.

RealtyTrac’s numbers may differ from the state’s in part because the state numbers reflected only September, not the entire quarter, said Ryan McMaken, a spokesman for the Colorado Division of Housing, on Tuesday.

State-reported data also distinguishes filings from completed foreclosures, while RealtyTrac counts foreclosures at all stages of the process.

(Mark Harden contributed to this story)

First-time homebuyers helped drive up existing home sales nationwide -- and especially in the western states, including Colorado -- according to the latest figures from the National Association of Realtors.

Sales of existing homes jumped 9.4 percent, to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.57 million units in September from 5.1 million units in August. Sales activity is at its highest level in more than two years, according to NAR figures.

Cheaper homes, coupled with the first-time homebuyer credit, are behind the increase, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said.

“We are hopeful the tax credit will be extended, and possibly expanded, to more buyers, at least through the middle of next year, because the rising sales momentum needs to continue for a few additional quarters until we reach a point of a self-sustaining recovery,” he said in a news release.

Still, he noted, there still needs to be a steady stream of qualified buyers to bring inventories down and create price stabilization.

Total housing inventory at the end of September fell 7.5 percent to 3.63 million existing homes available for sale. That represents a 7.8-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 9.3-month supply in August. Unsold inventory totals are 15 percent below a year ago, according to NAR.

“The current housing supply is the lowest we’ve seen in 2-1/2 years,” Yun said. “If we could continue to absorb inventory at this pace, home prices would return to normal, modest appreciation patterns next year.

In the West, including Colorado, existing-home sales jumped 13 percent to an annual level of 1.3 million in September -- 5.7 percent higher than a year ago.

The median price in the West was $219,000, 15 percent below September 2008.

Nationwide, the median existing single-family home price was $174,900 in September, 8.1 percent lower than a year ago.

Click here for the full NAR report on existing-home sales.

First-time homebuyers helped drive up existing home sales nationwide -- and especially in the western states, including Colorado -- according to the latest figures from the National Association of Realtors.

Sales of existing homes jumped 9.4 percent, to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.57 million units in September from 5.1 million units in August. Sales activity is at its highest level in more than two years, according to NAR figures.

Cheaper homes, coupled with the first-time homebuyer credit, are behind the increase, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said.

“We are hopeful the tax credit will be extended, and possibly expanded, to more buyers, at least through the middle of next year, because the rising sales momentum needs to continue for a few additional quarters until we reach a point of a self-sustaining recovery,” he said in a news release.

Still, he noted, there still needs to be a steady stream of qualified buyers to bring inventories down and create price stabilization.

Total housing inventory at the end of September fell 7.5 percent to 3.63 million existing homes available for sale. That represents a 7.8-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 9.3-month supply in August. Unsold inventory totals are 15 percent below a year ago, according to NAR.

“The current housing supply is the lowest we’ve seen in 2-1/2 years,” Yun said. “If we could continue to absorb inventory at this pace, home prices would return to normal, modest appreciation patterns next year.

In the West, including Colorado, existing-home sales jumped 13 percent to an annual level of 1.3 million in September -- 5.7 percent higher than a year ago.

The median price in the West was $219,000, 15 percent below September 2008.

Nationwide, the median existing single-family home price was $174,900 in September, 8.1 percent lower than a year ago.

Click here for the full NAR report on existing-home sales.

Metro Denver home resales were down in September from the same month of 2008 and from August of this year, but buyers continued to chip away at housing inventory, according to a Metrolist Inc. report Wednesday.

Resales are sales of homes that have been sold at least once before, and don’t include newly built homes, and are also called existing home sales.

Average sold price for all existing homes, including single-family homes and condominiums, jumped 4.88 percent to $251,112 year over year, and were basically flat from this August.

First-time buyers, attracted largely by the federal government’s $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, continued to dominate the market last month, according to Gary Bauer, Littleton-based independent residential real estate broker and Metrolist analyst. Purchasers qualify as first-time buyers, if they haven’t owned a home for the previous three years.

The tax credit expires Nov. 30, but real estate trade groups such as the National Association of Realtors and National Association of Home Builders are lobbying the U.S. Congress to extend the credit another year.

So-called “move-up” buyers — those one step up from first-time buyers — were also active last month, as sales of homes priced at $150,000 to $200,000 rose as well.

Total September home sales decreased 9.8 percent to 3,846 from the same month of 2008. Sales dipped 1.05 percent from August of this year.

September is the end of the country’s principal homebuying season, which starts in late spring and coincides with children being out of school to make moving easier. “The next months will experience seasonal downturn,” Bauer said in a statement.

To the good, unsold homes on the market for sale also dropped last month — 17.1 percent to 19,834, from 23,923 the September of last year. Inventory dropped 1.9 percent last month from 20,225 in August of this year.

Other key home-sale statistics for metro Denver last month:

• Single-family home sales alone dropped 10.84 percent to 3,001 from September 2008, and 2.12 percent from August. Average sold price increased 5.5 percent to $274,433 year over year, and was basically flat compared to the previous month.

Median sold price rose 4.09 percent to $225,000 from September 2008, and was flat compared to August. Median is the middle price between lowest and highest, and is considered a truer measure of price by some real estate experts because it’s not skewed by price extremes.

• Condo sales decreased 6.01 percent last month to 845 year over year, but were flat compared to this August. Average selling price increased 3.91 percent to $168,288 year over year, and was flat compared to August.

Median selling price went up 3.65 percent to $145,000 year over year, and was also flat compared to the previous month.

Year-to-date home sale data for September from Metrolist includes:

• Total home sales decreased 15.63 percent to 31,554 from September 2008, and average selling price was down 5.41 percent to $242,010.

• Single-family home sales dropped 15.77 percent to 24,983, with average sold price down 4.97 percent to $263,518. Median sold price decreased 2.85 percent to $218,500 year over year.

• Condo sales decreased 15.09 percent to 6,571 year over year, and average selling price was down 7.67 percent to $160,235. Median sold price dipped 2.86 percent to $136,000.

Based in Greenwood Village, Metrolist is metro Denver’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS) providing home-sale data to residential real estate brokers and agents.