Blog • Fun Facts • March 30, 2019

It’s Tax Time

by Rondi duPont

You probably don’t need a reminder that this is tax season.

Not only because tax returns are due in two weeks but also because you will soon receive your property tax notification in the mail.

Every two years your County re-assesses the value of your property and then sends that new value to you.

When this happens, many of our clients:

Don’t agree with the new assessed value
Aren’t sure what to do
Are confused by the process
Want to save money on property taxes

Good news! We have a webinar that will help you. On the webinar we will show you:

How to read the information from the County
What it means for you
How to protest the valuation if you want
How to get an accurate estimate of your property’s value

You can listen to the webinar live or get the recording. In any case, you can sign up at www.WindermereWorkshop.com

The webinar is April 17th at 10:00. If you can’t join live, go ahead and register so you can automatically receive the recording.

This is a complimentary online workshop for all of our clients. I hope you can join!

Blog • For Buyers • Fun Facts • March 25, 2019

Party Like It’s 2018!

by Rondi duPont

Just a few months ago most people thought mortgage rates were heading to 5% and now they are back to where they were a year ago.

You probably saw this week’s news from the Federal Reserve declaring that they would not raise their Federal Funds rate for the rest of 2019

(just three months after saying they would raise rates at least twice this year).

While this is big news, even bigger news for mortgage rates is that the 10-year Treasury yield just hit its lowest point since January 2018. One thing we’ve learned from our Chief Economist Matthew Gardner is that mortgage rates follow the 10-year treasury (not necessarily the Fed Funds rate).

Last Spring it looked like mortgage rates had bottomed out and they steadily climbed through the Summer and Fall of 2018. It looked certain that they would hit 5% around January.

Instead they started dropping. Now with the 10-year Treasury at a 15-month low, they just dropped a little more and they are back to where they were a year ago.

Great news for buyers! Party like it’s 2018!

Blog • Fun Facts • March 15, 2019

Condo Cyclone

by Rondi duPont

While the “Bomb Cyclone” closed roads and schools over the last two days, the “Condo Cyclone” is opening new opportunities for first-time buyers.

What’s the “Condo Cyclone” you ask. It’s the proliferation of multi-family inventory that has come on the market up and down the Front Range.

Compared to last year, multi-family inventory which includes town-homes and condominiums, has increased…

• 79% in Metro Denver
• 34% in Larimer County
• 45% in Weld County

This is terrific news for the market overall, as inventory has been unusually low for several months. It’s especially terrific news for first-time buyers who need this type of product as a stepping stone to home ownership.

What we notice is a $170,000 to $130,000 difference in average price between a single-family home and a multi-family home in Front Range markets.

Specifically, here’s the spread between multi-family and single-family average price:

• $349,801 vs. $512,312 in Metro Denver
• $312,493 vs. $469,294 in Larimer County
• $237,645 vs. $370,027 in Weld County

So as we dig out from the “Bomb Cyclone” we can be happy for the “Condo Cyclone” which brings more affordability and opportunity to our markets!

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Blog • Fun Facts • March 8, 2019

The Office

by Rondi duPont

As you travel around the Front Range you will notice the following under construction:

New Homes
New Apartments
New Medical Facilities

However, you will not notice new office buildings under construction.

What gives? I thought we had a booming economy. Why no new office buildings?

There are a couple of reasons. First, construction costs have sky rocketed. In ten years, construction costs have gone from about $200 per square foot to over $300 per square foot.

Rental rates have not increased at the same pace as construction costs so speculative investors can’t make their numbers work.

It’s too expensive to build compared to the rents that can be charged.

One reason why rental rates haven’t increased at high rate is property taxes. Property taxes on Class A office buildings have basically doubled in the last 10 years in many cases.

So, until rental rates catch up with construction costs, we won’t see many new office buildings under construction.