Oakwood Homes Opens in Belle Creek

Oakwood Homes is Excited to Be Part of Belle Creek – The Perfect Place to Call Home!

Henderson, CO---Oakwood Homes, Colorado’s largest privately held hometown builder, celebrates its grand opening at Belle Creek this Sunday.  Once you visit Belle Creek, you won’t want to leave.  Community gardens, retail shops, school and open parks are right outside your doorstep.  Yet- the hustle and bustle of Downtown Denver is just minutes away.  The Belle Creek collection showcases 6 floorplans including delightful front porches, spacious kitchens and dynamic master baths.  These classic architectural designs offer up to five bedrooms, three baths and two-car garages on both the four alley load plans and two front load plans with pre-model pricing from $179,500 to the $218,600 with up to approximately 2,100 square feet. 

Visit Oakwood’s Belle Creek sales office Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm and Mondays from Noon to 6 pm to experience The Perfect Place to Call Home!  For more information or to schedule a community tour, contact Dwayne Montoya at 303.486.8728, or visit Oakwood Homes online at www.HomesPeopleLove.com. 

Good News For Sellers : Housing Starts Fall To 1-Year Low In May 2010

Single-family housing starts plummeted to a one-year low in May, just 30 days after soaring to a 20-month high.  It's no wonder home builders are confused.

Against a revised April figure, Housing Starts fell 97,000 units in May, a figure representing almost one-fifth of the total market size.

It's the worst showing for Housing Starts since May 2009, a surprise to builders and economists alike.

Furthermore, single-family Building Permits plunged in May, too -- down 10 percent from April. A permit is a certification from local government that authorizes home construction.

Housing permits are a precursor to Housing Starts with 82% of homes starting construction within 60 days of permit-issuance. Fewer permits, therefore, directly reduces the number of new homes coming to market in the coming months.

For home buyers in Henderson , this should create a sense of urgency.

Home prices are based on supply and demand and supply appears to be falling about the same time that economists predict a surge in home demand.  It could spell rising home prices and a complete loss of negotiation power with home sellers.

For now, though, home affordability remains high with properties cheap and mortgage rates near all-time lows. If you plan to buy a home later this year, the May 2010 Housing Starts data may be a reason to move up your timeframe a bit.

Uncharted Territory- the End of the Tax Credit

The end of April marked an historic event.

Think about it.  Never before in American history has there been a homebuyers' tax credit.  On April 30th, it expired.

We are in uncharted territory

If you were planning on buying your first home, or even replacing the home that you had lived in for 5 of the last 8 years, you would get FREE money from the government if you were under contract by the last day of April.  That contract would have to close by the end of this month to qualify for the tax credit.

So, what impact will this have on our market?  No one actually knows.  The first deadline for the credit was scheduled for the end of November, 2009.  Eager first time homebuyers rushed to the closing table to make the November 30 deadline- in spite of the holiday weekend that bumped right into the deadline.

This time, however, the impact seemed slightly less notable.  Many houses went under contract well before the April 30 deadline, and closings were spread out over April, May and June.  There is speculation that some home sales were "borrowed" from the coming months because of the tax credit, and this certainly has some merit.  

Meanwhile, showings of for sale properties dropped.  If you are trying to sell a home, you have seen this effect.  It's time to sit tight and have patience.  

As I said, we are in uncharted territory.