Nothing Like a Surprise Gift for the Holidays!

·         Mortgage Rates¹ – We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and were able to spend quality time with family and friends!  The week has been light on economic news, with just the release of the Feds meeting minutes, which was a non-event, and Initial Jobless Claims which fell slightly.  Overall rates stayed fairly flat for the week and our benchmark rate is at 6.99% (7.052% APR), the first time we have had a six handle on our rates for our benchmark since mid-July!  Let’s hope the trend continues.

·         Weekly Market Data² – Active Listings continued to decline as expected for this time of year (not to mention the holiday effect) and we are now under 7,000 with 6,853 homes on the market.  It is also no surprise that there were only 550 new listings and a mere 89 of these went under contract – heading into the height of the holiday season, we expect to see fewer listings and overall less activity.  In total, only 689 homes went under contract this past week pushing up the ‘Median Days on Market’ to 25, another high-water mark for the year.  (Source REColorado, all DMAR counties, this past week -Thursday to Wednesday).

·         Columbine Team Insight – While it was a slow offer week for our team, “real estate activity” in general picked up substantially with the drop in interest rates over the past couple of weeks.  Buyers are taking note, and we saw a jump in buyer referrals and mortgage pre-qualification requests.  This is in line with reporting from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), which indicates total home loan applications increase 3% for the week ending November 17th, marking their highest level in six weeks.  If rates continue to drop, there is no doubt competition will follow… and while “the More the Merrier” applies to most things this time of year, it most certainly does not apply to house hunting when you are on the buy-side.

·         Market Trends – For current homeowners, you no doubt remember receiving a notice from the county tax assessor’s office confirming that your property has gone up in value – substantially.  While this is good news for your equity position, it is not great news for the resulting impact on your property tax bill.  The increased tax figures will not officially be published until January; however, some counties have started publishing the updated assessed values, which can help prospective homebuyers with the prorations of 2023 taxes due from the seller.  While it is easy to glaze over when presented with a purchase contract and focus only on purchase price and seller concessions, savvy realtors will highlight paragraph 16.1.1 for their buyers.  In an environment with increasing property taxes, negotiating the use of the “Most Recent Mill Levy and Most Recent Assessed Valuation,” could make a substantial difference if the county has already published the updated assessed values for the Title Company to use in its calculations.  Be sure to check it out – even if it is standard practice in your office, most buyers don’t appreciate the difference and will appreciate getting a little surprise gift for the holidays!

NOTES:

(1)     The mortgage loan scenario presented assumes the purchase of a primary residence, excellent credit, an 80% loan-to-value (LTV), a loan amount of $480,000, a 30-year fixed interest rate of 6.990%, and a P&I payment of $3,190.  The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is 7.052%, which reflects a discount fee of 0.268% ($1,286).  Monthly principal and interest payments, which will continue for the stated term until paid in full, do not include mortgage insurance, property taxes or homeowners’ insurance premiums and actual monthly payments may be higher.  Interest rates are current as of 11/24/2023 and are subject to change at any time without notice.  All loans are subject to credit approval.  Other terms and conditions may apply.  Not all loans or products are available in all states.  Regulated by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Real Estate.

(2)     Source: REColorado®, Inc for the period 11/16/2023 to 11/22/2023.   Data for Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, and Park counties. This representation is based in whole or in part on content supplied by REColorado®, Inc. and REColorado®, Inc. does not guarantee nor is it in any way responsible for its accuracy. Content maintained by REColorado®, Inc. may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.