Real estate listings in Boulder ....

When Boulder-area residents make costly improvements to their homes, it's often with the expectation that the real estate value will reflect the updates.
Up until now, however, solar panels, energy-efficient windows and other "green" changes were overlooked on the forms that brokers use to indicate characteristics of properties for sale.
Information and Real Estate Services LLC -- a multiple listing service system that serves northern Colorado -- is the first of 18 systems in the state to officially include an addendum to its data input sheet with searchable environmental fields. Four other systems are also making the change.
"There's a gut feeling that a home with tremendous energy features is worth more than one without those features," said Mike Moger, a broker with Wright Kingdom and past president of the Boulder Area Realtor Association. "But we have to prove that to appraisers; if (we don't), those features have no value whatsoever."
The new form includes Home Energy Rating Systems, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certifications and solar thermal energy technology.
Boulder's green building professionals have been pushing for such changes.
"This really is a huge step in the right direction for the green building industry," said Julie Herman, executive director for the Boulder Green Building Guild. "There's been a really big gap in our industry for those green builders who have been trying to promote the idea that energy efficiency ... will pay back for homeowners."
Herman said that previously, builders could only suggest the green changes would pay back in operating costs, and the investment was never translated into potential resale value for the homeowner or financing options for the home buyer.
"Empowering home buyers with access to sustainability information about the home they are considering for purchase will help transform how Coloradans shop for homes," said Thad Kurowski, residential program manager for the Governor's Energy Office. "The ultimate aim of this effort is to demonstrate that green features are valuable, which will in turn drive demand for homes that are built and remodeled with sustainability in mind."
The addendum is designed to provide consistent data to buyers, brokers and sellers looking for green features.
"We have to be talking the same language," said Lauren Emery, head of Information and Real Estate Services. "The appraiser who looks at the house that has lots of energy efficiency (can compare it to one) that hasn't had the same kind of energy efficiency introduced. Now we're translating the values of those fields to the value of the property."
Herman said the hope is that, over time, appraisers will see how the energy-efficient homes sell, in turn helping buyers get better bank loans for them.
Multiple listing services in Seattle and Portland have included green fields. David Scott, of Colorado Landmark Realtors, noted a study showing that homes listed with green features in those areas sold for 5 percent more than homes without them.
Underwriters use data provided by a home's appraisal to determine if they agree with the final estimated value. With the addition of green fields, the data sheet tells a more complete story.
"This information will assist us as we go forward, hopefully, with additional lending products," said Elizabeth Million, home loan manager for Bank of America.
National legislation may soon follow suit. Federal loan agencies would be required by the Sensible Accounting to Value Energy Act, if it's passed, to assess the expected energy costs for mortgage loan applicants.

Real estate sales rise in 49 states in Q4..

Sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums in the fourth quarter of 2010 rose from the third quarter in all but one state, though only one state saw an annual rise compared to fourth-quarter 2009, according to a National Association of Realtors report released today.
Existing-home sales in the U.S. rose 15.4 percent in the fourth quarter from the third quarter, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.8 million. That's a 19.5 percent drop from fourth-quarter 2009, when the rate was 5.97 million -- a homebuyer tax credit-fueled rate NAR called "unsustainable." In 2010 overall, sales fell 4.8 percent, to an estimated 4.91 million, from 5.16 million in 2009.
The national median existing single-family home price in the fourth quarter of 2010 was essentially flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2009: $170,600.
Median prices in the fourth quarter of 2010 rose in 78 of 152 metropolitan areas across the country compared to the fourth quarter of 2009.

House sales hit low as prices sag.....

The Real Estate Institute recorded only 458 sales across Canterbury Westland last month and 3252 nationally, less than a third of sales at the height of the property boom and the lowest since electronic records were first kept in 1992.
Prices have sunk back to 2007 levels and are now 5 per cent below their peak.
Lincoln University property professor Sandy Bond said she had been house hunting herself and found it frustrating.
"There is pent-up demand but there's very little available. People just aren't prepared to put their property on the market because they know they won't get what they want for it.
"Prices are stable or dropping, and they don't want to go into a market like that."
Bond said the earthquake had further dampened Canterbury sales, with many people putting off decisions.
The head of the Real Estate Institute, Helen O'Sullivan, said that while January was always a quiet month for sales, last month saw the "lowest ever level" of both listings and sales.
With relatively low interest rates and good rental demand in the cities, neither homeowners nor investors were under pressure to sell, O'Sullivan said.
The institute's figures showed median prices were down from December in Canterbury-Westland and Christchurch to $300,000 and $330,000 respectively.
Christchurch house-hunters John and Lesley Cowie have been looking unsuccessfully for a first home for eight months.
With two asthmatic children in a damp rental property, they are eager to buy and are approved for a mortgage, but frustrated at the lack of choice.
"There's a real lack of decent houses in our price range," Lesley Cowie said. "It's hard to get something warm and dry that doesn't need a lot of work. Some of them have earthquake damage and haven't even been inspected. There are owners that have paid a lot for them, so they don't want to lower their price, and I can understand that."
Most weekends there were only about two open homes to view, and they were struggling to maintain enthusiasm for the hunt, Cowie said.
Within Christchurch, the dearest median prices last month were in the Redcliffs-Sumner area, and on the Port Hills.
The cheapest districts were Aranui-Bexley-Bromley and Sydenham-Waltham, where the median prices are under $250,000.
In the town of Kaiapoi, where earthquake damage was extensive, prices have slumped on the back of low sales, while Rangiora prices rose against the trend.

Homes across the region are taking an average of seven weeks
to sell.

Busy market in million-dollar homes..

In 2010, bargain hunters in California picked up 21 percent more houses priced at more than $1 million than they had in 2009, real estate analyst MDA DataQuick said Friday.
The jump in sales contrasts with a 9 percent decline in overall home sales, the company said.
High-end home owners in the past year started slashing their prices, according to some real estate agents. In North San Diego County, 201 houses sold in 2010 for more than $2 million, 19.6 percent more than in 2009, according to data from a real estate listings database provided by real estate agent Gregory A. Moser. That's still far fewer than in the boom, which peaked in the high end in 2002 at 2,192 houses sold in that price range.

The 2011 Dolphin model built by Jacobsen Homes is now being offered by LeeCorp Homes Inc. at its model center. The 24-by-41-foot double-wide manufactured home has 959 square feet, two bedrooms and two baths. The Dolphin model features a factory-built porch with rails and 6-foot sliding glass doors that lead from the living and dining rooms to the porch. Kitchen features include stainless-steel Whirlpool appliances, cherry wood cabinetry, deepstar Formica counter tops with ceramic tile lips, full tile counter-to-cabinet backsplash, and built-in cherry wood hutch in the dining room. Other features include 5-inch cove molding in the living room, dining room and hall, ceramic tile floors in the kitchen, baths and entry; ceramic tile shower in master bath, solar tube in hall bath; built-in cabinetry in the master bedroom, plus three-window bay windows in both bedrooms. The Dolphin is priced in the low $100,000s. This price does not include sales tax and county impact fees, but does include delivery, installation, central air conditioning/heat, and skirting and steps of home on customer’s lot. LeeCorp Homes model center is located at 20251 U.S. 41 S. in Estero.

These models have been built by Divco Construction, Lundstrom Development, Cordoba Development and Stock Construction. Shown is the Madrid model by Divco Construction. Lely Resort’s sales center is at 8020 Grand Lely Drive, with entrances on U.S. 41 East and Collier Boulevard. From Interstate 75, take Exit 101 (Collier Boulevard) south five miles to Grand Lely Drive. Visit Lely on the Web at www.lely-resort.com.

many first-time buyers..

In many housing markets, buyers can afford to be picky. In fact, many first-time buyers looking for affordable properties aren’t searching for starter homes that need some fixing up, but move-in ready places they barely have to touch. So say the results of a recent Coldwell Banker Real Estate survey. Eighty-seven percent of people who purchased their first home over the past year said finding a move-in ready place was important to them, according to the study. Many were pleased with how far they were able to stretch their dollars, according to the survey of 300 first-time buyers. Sixty-seven percent said market conditions allowed them to buy a home sooner than expected, half of them said they found a home in a more desirable neighborhood than they expected, and 61% said they were able to get the home at a better price than expected. Forty percent said the amount of space they were able to get exceeded their expectations and 43% said they were able to lock in a lower mortgage interest rate than they thought they would. Read more Real Estate news in this week’s pages, including why more people are renting, a Realty Q&A about buying a home with a reverse mortgage and the latest on reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As the ranks of renters rise, those who have the means and the desire to buy a home today can have their pick — and they might find they’re able to get a lot more for their money than they thought.