November 30, 2009

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Makes Charitable Donation to Restoration Now in Fort Collins

Broker associate Steve Balmer raised $1,500 during Ride the Range event

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has made a $1,500 charitable contribution to Restoration Now in Fort Collins. Broker associate Steve Balmer raised the money as a participant in Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s recent Ride the Range fundraising event that raised a total of nearly $33,000 for various Colorado charities. Restoration Now, a ministry of Grace Church, brings hope to residents of Fort Collins through home renovation.

“I chose to support Restoration Now as a way of giving back to the community,” said Balmer. “As a Realtor, I find it imperative to lend my support, especially when it relates to improving the housing of those less fortunate. Restoration Now fills a void in our community that many agencies just can’t match. It is astonishing to see the terrible situations some of these families live in day after day, and I am proud to help and serve in this small way.”

Through its relationship with local support agencies, Restoration Now organizes work projects to help clients in need of home repairs. The non-profit organization partners with the United Way, Northern Colorado Aids Project and Volunteers
of America. Projects can be as simple as exterior painting, home winterization and providing handicap accessibility, while others have been as extensive as window replacements, roofing repairs and kitchen remodels. For more information, visit
restorationnowfc.org.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Ride the Range cycling fundraiser, held September 14-18, 2009, spanned a 300-mile course along Colorado’s Front Range. Along the way, cyclists visited 13 Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage offices from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins.

The Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage office in Fort Collins is located at 720 W. Drake, Bldg. A and can be reached by phone at 970.223.6500. Balmer can be reached directly at 970.691.3537 or via email at steve.balmer@coloradohomes.com.

About Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a leading residential real estate brokerage company in Colorado, operates 14 offices with more than 1,180 sales associates serving the communities of the Denver area. Through its internationally renowned Coldwell Banker Previews® program, the company is widely recognized for its expertise in the luxury housing market. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, online at www.ColoradoHomes.com, is part of NRT LLC, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company. NRT, a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, operates Realogy’s company-owned real estate brokerage offices. For more information, please visit www.ColoradoHomes.com or call 925.275.3085.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Free Family

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is reminding the public that the company’s free holiday photo event is being held at many of its offices along the Front Range this Saturday, December 5th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will be held at select offices on Sunday, December 6th, also from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is encouraging families and couples to take advantage of this special season’s greetings opportunity to get holiday photos taken with or without Santa Claus.

Participating offices on Saturday, December 5th include Highlands Ranch, Greenwood Village, Cherry Creek in Denver, Boulder, Lakewood, Longmont, Westminster, Colorado Springs and Loveland. Offices scheduled for holiday photos on Sunday, December 6th include Evergreen, Parker and Fort Collins. Pets will be only permitted between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Signups are appreciated but not required. For maps to each office, detailed driving directions and registration forms, please visit www.ColoradoHomes.com and click on the “Holiday Photo” button.

About Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a leading residential real estate brokerage company in Colorado, operates 14 offices with more than 1,180 sales associates serving the communities of the Denver area. Through its internationally renowned Coldwell Banker Previews® program, the company is widely recognized for its expertise in the luxury housing market. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, online at www.ColoradoHomes.com, is part of NRT LLC, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company. NRT, a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, operates Realogy’s company-owned real estate brokerage offices. For more information, please visit www.ColoradoHomes.com or call 925-275-3085

Denver-area luxury housing market

Monday, November 30, 2009, 3:15pm MST

Denver Business Journal

The Denver area’s luxury-housing market declined in number of resales and selling
price in October year over year, partly because homeowners in that price range
haven’t been able to benefit from federal homebuyer tax incentives.
Sales of existing homes in the $1 million-plus price range dropped 15 percent in
October, to 44 homes, from 52 for the same month of 2008, according to the
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage of Colorado’s Denver Metro Area Luxury
Home Report, released Monday. Coldwell Banker’s data came from metro Denver’s
Metrolist Inc. multiple listing service (MLS).

October high-end home sales were down from 46 in September of this year.
Existing home sales, or resales, are those of homes that have been sold at least once
before. Median selling price decreased 8.5 percent to $1.22 million last month from $1.33 million year over year. The October sales price was down 16.5 percent, from $1.47 million in September of this year. Median selling price is the midpoint between highest and lowest sales prices. Some real estate professionals consider median a truer measure of price than average because it’s not skewed by highest and lowest prices. Sellers of luxury homes received 88 percent of their asking price on average in October, compared to 92 percent for the same month in 2008. Home sellers got 87 percent of asking price in September of this year.
“The high-end market continues to try to find its footing, as much of the activity in
housing is still in the entry-level market,” Chris Mygatt, president of Coldwell Banker in Denver, said in a statement. “Distressed property sales and the first-time
homebuyer tax credit have kept the mix of sales at the lower price ranges in many
areas.”
Sellers and buyers of higher-priced homes haven’t benefitted from the first-time
homebuyer tax credit generally because they’re not interested in living in lowerpriced
homes, and/or couldn’t meet the income and homeownership requirements.
(Housing investors don’t qualify for the credit.)
This year’s first-time homebuyer tax credit allowed buyers who hadn’t owned a home
in the last three years to get a tax credit of as much as $8,000 for buying a home.
The tax credit, which was to have expired Monday, was recently extended, and
another homebuyer tax credit was added by the U.S. Congress.
In addition to the first-time homebuyer credit, there’s now a tax credit of as much as
$6,500 for repeat homebuyers who have owned a home for the last five years. The
credits expire April 30, 2010, and home sales must close by June 30.
Income limits for credit users range from $125,000 for individuals to $245,000 for
joint filers.
Other October data regarding sales of luxury homes:
• It took longer to sell a house in October of this year — 130 days — than it did in
October 2008, when it took 84 days.
• The priciest sale of the month was a three-bedroom, three-bath house in Boulder
that sold for $2.4 million.
• Denver had the most $1 million-plus sales with 11, followed by Boulder with eight.
Total metrowide October resales were down 7.6 percent year over year to 3,958, from
4,282 in October 2008. Sales last month were up 2.9 percent from September
resales, partly because buyers wanted to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer
tax credit before what was to have been its Nov. 30 expiration.
Compiled by Paula Moore | pmoore@bizjournals.com | Paula's blog:
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/real_deals/