Jo Ellen's Podcast 
Father’s Day Essay Contest
Want to let everyone know why your dad is such a cool guy? Local real estate brokerage, Nash & Company is sponsoring an essay contest for children ages 5-12.
The First prize winner and their dad will receive a fun-filled package including use of the company limousine, tickets to a Colorado Rockies Home game, and a Rockies fan package which includes food and drinks at the game and a souvenir.
Second prize is a gift certificate to Eagle Bowl, with bowling and dinner.
Third prize winner will be given lunch for two at Pazzo's.
Entrants should write a maximum 200-word essay describing what makes your Dad the coolest Dad in the world. Submissions should be received no later than June 8, 2007. Submit your entries by bringing them into the Nash & Company offices located in Riverwalk, across from the movie theater or send an email to contest@NashVail.com and be sure to include your name, age, dad's name, and contact information.
Nash and Company's President Jo Ellen Nash featured in Realtor Magazine
Jo Ellen's sucess in the business and her proven marketing strategies have brought her national recognition. Learn some of her marketing secrets and tips featured in May's edition of Realtor Magazine. The article is entitled 3 Budgets, 3 Great Plans.
Click here to read the highlights of the feature article and how Jo Ellen's marketing strategies are sure to bring in profits and repeat business.
To view the entire article featured on Realtor Magazine's web site click here.
Support Our Troops
Nash & Company have joined together with the To Iraq with Love campaign to provide food, supplies and hope to our troops stationed overseas. We are happily accepting donations at our offices at 97 Main Street, W106 and we will make sure it is shipped to the correct destination. For more information click here. For a list of requested items, send us an email to requests@NashVail.com or call 800-735-8246.
Jo Ellen Nash, President of Nash & Company Real Estate, recently attended the Who's Who in Real Estate Annual Luxury Real Estate conference in Key Biscayne, Florida. The invitation only event was held at the Ritz-Carlton and featured an international collection of top brokers and company owners specializing in the upper tier markets.
The conference provided exclusive information on cutting-edge technologies and trends in the world luxury real estate market. Nash states, "Networking with the best luxury agents in the business allows me to stay at the forefront of the industry and procure a steady stream of affluent buyers and sellers for my listings. This conference gave me some great techniques and tools for positioning our websites to attract the luxury market in the Vail Valley." To receive a complete report on affluent consumers and the Web, send an email to requests@NashVail.com or call Jo Ellen Nash at 970-926-SOLD (7653).
Nash and Company's newest Realtor Partner, Kurt Liss
Nash and Company is pleased to announce that Kurt Liss has joined the firm as a Realtor Partner. A native Coloradoan, Kurt has a track record of sixteen years in the business and has sold hundreds of new homes for a national builder. He has also handled complex commercial real estate transactions on behalf of large corporations and also played a key development role in a residential golf course community. Kurt's diverse and extensive background will guarantee his success and lend to the continued prominence of the team at Nash & Company. Helping clients fulfill their goals and dreams of property ownership is Kurt's greatest satisfaction, along with enjoying the Vail Valley lifestyle with his wife and two year old daughter.
Lai White rejoins Nash & Company Real Estate
After an extended leave of absence, Lai White has returned to the team at Nash & Company. Lai had previously been one of the top producing Realtor Partners with the company over a six year period. She has an extensive sales background and helps to serve clients by being multi-lingual; she is fluent in Spanish, Vietnamese and French.
Lai can be reached at 970-926-SOLD(7653) or by e-mail at bonglai@aol.com.
Jo Ellen Nash Speaks at Sellabration 2007
MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV - Jo Ellen Nash, President and Broker of Nash & Company, a long time Vail Valley real estate firm, was a featured speaker at Sellabration, the National Conference for Residential Specialists. Less than 4% of the agents in the United States have the designation of Certified Residential Specialist, (which exemplifies a higher level of education and experience). Nash spoke to hundreds of agents about the wave of the future in real estate, which is using virtual assistants to help you grow and manage your business. She said, "Tapping into the 'world talent pool' allows you to have more experienced people, more resources, more time efficiency and more streamlined operations. It also helps to trim expenses. Virtual assistants do not take the place of your key people who interact with clients and your agents who counsel clients and help them to buy and sell houses. But they can certainly do a lot of the background work. It is necessary to find a balance of both."
Nash predicts that, in less than 5 years, it will be commonplace for Realtors to have virtual assistants. She currently has 6. "Just like twenty years ago, when I hired my first assistant, which was unheard of in the industry at that time and is now common practice, top agents will use virtual assistants in their business." With Internet based transaction management offered by most title companies and with her clients living in more than one location, it is ideal to work virtually. Nash believes that virtual assistants can be applied to any business, not just real estate.
She is making available to the public a special report, a list of "101 ways you can use a virtual assistant" by sending an email to requests@joellennash.com . It is complimentary. For more information call Jo Ellen Nash at 970-926-SOLD (7653).
Websites
www.joellennash.com
vailinvestor.com
cordillerarealestate.com
joellennashteam.com
singletreerealestate.com
cordillerahomes.com
cordilleraland.com
cordillerarealestate.com
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Great News for Sellers & Buyers!
Existing-home sales are on the rise, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors. From October to November 2006 existing-home sales increased 0.6 percent, reflecting gains from single-family homes, town homes, condominiums, and co-ops.
"As the housing market recovers from its correction, existing-home sales should be rising gradually during 2007," said David Lereah, NAR's chief economist. "We've entered a more sustainable period of home sales now, and we expect greater support for prices over time as inventory levels are eventually drawn down."
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.24 percent in November, down from 6.36 percent in October; the rate was 6.33 percent in November 2005.
NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs adds, "Mortgage interest rates are the lowest they've been since January, and it's the first time since August of 2005 that interest rates are lower than a year earlier. This is increasing buying power at the same time that sellers are showing a willingness to negotiate price and terms. Combined with a plentiful supply of homes on the market, there's a window for buyers now with conditions that we haven't seen prior to the beginning of the housing boom in 2001."
Housing is proving to be one of the biggest wild cards in the economy in 2007 as analysts are deeply divided about whether the worst in the downturn is over or there is much more pain to go. Only nine percent of economists say the housing decline ended in 2006, according to a USA TODAY survey of 55 economists taken Jan. 18-24. Another 42 percent said the downturn will end in the first half of the year, and 45 percent said housing will bottom out in the second half.
When housing bottoms out is key for the economy. Thus far, the fallout has been small. The economy grew at a faster pace in 2006 than in 2005 even though sales of previously owned homes fell 8.2 percent, the biggest drop in 17 years, the National Association of Realtors says.
But the economy may not be able to shrug off further declines, A.G. Edwards & Sons Chief Economist Gary Thayer says. Lower energy prices and a strong job market have thus far helped consumers weather the housing downturn. But going forward, those two factors may not be big enough to offset further weakening, Thayer says.
Economist Tucker Hart Adams says the housing market won't stabilize in 2007. The combination of resetting adjustable-rate mortgages, homeowners unable to keep up with payments on so-called exotic mortgages such as interest-only loans, and other debt will lead to higher foreclosure rates and more homes on the market, she says. "It's really optimistic to think that it just took a little adjustment and everything is fine," she says. "It's one time I would like to be wrong." (USA TODAY)
January 2007 update provided by RealTrends:
- Existing-home sales drop 0.8% in December
- New-home sales rose 4.8% in December
- More than 1.2 million foreclosures reported in 2006
- A rising tide: attached construction
- House price estimator shows value of various features
- Ten markets at highest risk for declining prices
Sales of U.S. existing homes fell 0.8 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.22 million, the National Association of Realtors reported this week. Sales in December were down 7.9 percent compared with December 2005. Inventories of unsold homes fell 7.9 percent to 3.51 million, representing a 6.8-month supply.
The average median sales price was $222,000 in December, unchanged from December 2005. For the year, median sales prices rose 1.1 percent. But that was far below the double-digit gains during the boom years. The median home price had risen by 12.4 percent in 2005.
For all of 2006, sales fell 8.4 percent to 6.48 million, the third highest total ever, but the largest percentage decline since 1989, when existing home sales fell by 14.8 percent.
Sales of single-family homes fell 1.3 percent to a 5.44 million annual pace. Single-family home sales were down 7.2 percent in the past year. Condominium-unit sales rose 2.1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 777,000. Condo sales are down 12.2 percent in the past year.
Last month's sales rose 4.3 percent in the Midwest and 0.8 percent in the South. Sales fell 9.1 percent in the West and fell 2.8 percent in the Northeast.
New-home sales rose 4.8% in December
Sales of new U.S. homes rose 4.8 percent in December and prices climbed 1.2 percent as the number of homes on the market decreased, according to a government report released this week. But for the year, the Commerce Department said 1.061 million new homes were sold, down 17.3 percent from 2005. That was the biggest drop in sixteen years and the first annual decline after a five-year rally.
In December, sales of new single-family homes rose to a 1.120 million unit annual after climbing sharply the previous month. The department revised November's sales pace up to a 1.069 million pace from an originally reported 1.047 million unit rate. Still, the December report was better than expected. Wall Street economists had expected sales to register a slight rise in December to a 1.050 million unit pace.
The number of new homes on the market at the end of December fell to 537,000 from 542,000 a month earlier. At the current sales pace, that represented a 5.9 months' supply. The median home sales price rose to $235,000 in December from a downwardly revised $232,200 in November, the Commerce Department said.
New-home sales during December rose 27.3 percent in the Northeast, 26.6 percent in the Midwest and 0.3 percent in the South. In the West, sales declined by 4.4 percent.
More than 1.2 million foreclosures reported in 2006
RealtyTrac has released year-end data from its 2006 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows more than 1.2 million foreclosure filings were reported nationwide during the year, up 42 percent from 2005 and a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 92 U.S. households. The number of total foreclosure filings rose from about 885,000 in 2005 to 1,259,118 in 2006. While that is a substantial increase, it is still within the scope of normal historical averages, according to James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.
Colorado documented the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate for the year, one foreclosure filing for every 33 households — or three percent of the state’s households. The state reported a total of 54,747 foreclosure filings during the year, an 85 percent increase from 2005 and the eighth highest total among all the states.
Georgia and Nevada both reported one foreclosure filing for every 41 households in 2006, but Georgia edged out Nevada with a slightly higher percentage of households in foreclosure — 2.5 percent compared to 2.4 percent in Nevada. Georgia reported a total of 75,975 foreclosure filings during the year, the sixth most of any state and a 67 percent year-over-year increase. Nevada foreclosures surged in the fourth quarter, pushing the state’s total for the year to 21,045 — nearly three times the number reported in 2005.
Texas reported 156,876 foreclosure filings for the year, the most of any state and nearly 13 percent of the national total. The number of foreclosures was up more than 14 percent from 2005 and represented one foreclosure filing for every 51 households. California's foreclosure total of 142,429, the second highest among the states, represented one foreclosure filing for every 86 households.
A rising tide: attached construction
For most people, the notion of a newly built home conjures up the archetype of a detached, 2,500 square-foot home in the suburbs. But the reality is that newly-built homes today are often attached to one another, in clusters, condominiums, townhome configurations and the like. Buyers not only share walls, but they may share yards as well.
This shift, which has been gathering steam under the radar for five years or more, has reached the point where more than half the starts in markets such as Washington (DC), Chicago and San Diego are attached. Even in western markets such as Las Vegas, 42 percent of new homes sold now touch another home. This data comes from Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, which gathers data on house sales in three dozen major markets nationwide.
Granted, markets without land constraints (Dallas and Central California) haven't been part of this trend. But even cities where you'd think land is plentiful have participated. In Denver, a third of all new-home sales are attached. The percentage stands at 17 percent in Sacramento. And in virtually every major market the share of attached housing has been rising for the last five years.
House price estimator shows value of various features
To show the effects that various features can have on a home's value, the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Housing Economics Department has created a house price estimator model based on data from the American Housing Survey (AHS), a nationally representative survey of about 60,000 housing units conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in odd-numbered years.
Based on this information, NAHB found that waterfront locations have the most significant positive effect on home values in every census region and in every type of setting. For example, being on the waterfront raises the value of a standard home in a Midwestern suburb by 43 percent, or $92,000, and the value of a standard home in the non-metropolitan South by 44 percent, or $75,000. In the central city of a large California metro area, being near water raises the value of a standard home by 41 percent or $243,000.
The characteristic with the largest negative effect on home value is the presence of abandoned buildings within one-half block or roughly 300 feet of the home. For example, abandoned buildings within 300 feet of a standard home in a Midwestern suburb would reduce the home's value from an estimated $212,137 to $188,805. Bothersome trash, industrial buildings, inadequate shopping and bad roads also have significant negative effects on the price of a home.
To learn more about the house price estimator, or to explore the price effects of other house features and location characteristics, check out the model online at http://www.nahb.org/estimator.
Ten markets at highest risk for declining prices
PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. reports that its Market Risk Index scores have increased for 34 of the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas. The scores measure the risk that home prices will decline in the next two years. Nineteen MSAs face a greater than 50 percent chance that home prices will fall, up from 18 last quarter.
The risk of price declines continue to be concentrated in California and along the Eastern Seaboard. In fact, eight of the riskiest markets are located in California, eight are in the Northeast and two are in Florida.
The 10 markets with the highest risk of declining prices are:
1. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville (CA)
2. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos (CA)
3. Oakland-Fremont-Hayward (CA)
4. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine (CA)
5. Nassau-Suffolk (NY)
6. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (CA)
7. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale (CA)
8. Boston-Quincy (MA)
9. Providence-New Bedford-Fall River (RI/MA)
10. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (CA)
For more information, visit www.realtrends.com.
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Market Analyisis Report Presented by Land Title
Yes! Another record setting month!
2007 is off to another record setting start. The total sales volume for this January shattered last year’s record by over $35 million, showing $173,416,500 in real estate sales in Eagle County. Last year, 2006, ended with the second highest real estate sales volume in the recorded history of Eagle County, second to the record setting previous year, 2005.
Another historical record was set in January, the highest average sales price of any given month ever at $990,951 per transaction. Elevating the average for January was the high average sales price of single family homes which was $1,425,005. Also adding to the high average for the county was the $29 million in transactions taking place in Vail Village and Lionshead with average sales prices of $3,587,333. Figuring into the mix as well were 2 transactions of over $5 million with the highest being on Gore Creek Drive for $8,750,000.
The Valley leaders in the number of real estate transaction continues to be Eagle and Gypsum with over 50 transactions between the two areas.
January Highlights:
- The average sales price for single family homes is $1,425,005.
- The average sales price for multi-family homes is $666,257
- Eagle and Gypsum accounted for over 30% of all sales transactions in Eagle County.
Click here for information on property taxes.
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The Mortgage Market Guide provided by Shawn Dinkel
Last Week In Review
GOOD NEWS – THE FED INCREASES RATES! Although it sounds counter-intuitive, it really is good news that the Fed hiked short-term rates yet once again, as it means the economy is back on track. As had been highly expected, the Fed did raise short-term rates by .25% on Wednesday, and the always-intriguing content from Greenspan’s latest Policy Statement was optimistic, stating that inflation "remains well contained".
Now Bonds love hearing that the risk of inflation is low…so why didn’t Bond prices rocket higher and home loan rates improve on the news? After all, the last three Fed rate hikes since June have helped home loan rates improve by about .75%. The bottom line is that there has been a great deal of downward pressure on Bonds of late, so the good news of low inflation and a Fed hike - which could have normally propelled Bonds higher - simply helped stabilize them from any further downward movement. Overall, home loan rates remained unchanged for the week.
But why might Bonds be further pressured lower, which would cause home loan rates to trend higher? Declining oil prices and hot economic news have sparked a big rally in the stock market, which pulls money away from Bonds and into Stocks. Money flowing out of Bonds makes Bond prices worsen, which in turn makes home loan rates worsen.
Forecast For The Week
So how far does your Dollar go right now? The week ahead is full of Economic Reports that will give more indicators on inflation…which presently seems to be in check. Since inflation erodes the long-term value of a Bond, continuing reports of low inflation will help Bonds get happy and could help home loan rates improve. But remember, if the hot economic news continues to put downward pressure on Bonds, good news about inflation may more likely only soften the rate at which Bonds decline.
Technically, Bonds are now sitting in “no-mans-land” in the middle of the range between the floor of support and ceiling of resistance. No major moves are predicted, but the tone of the news for this week will determine whether Bonds trend towards the top or bottom of this range. Again, with all the great news of late, Bonds may continue to be pressured lower.
With home loan rates still terrific and near historically low levels, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them start to creep higher in the days and weeks ahead.
To learn more, visit Mr. Dinkel's complete online newsletter HERE.
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Mortgage Matters provided by Chad Theis
Market Comment
Mortgage bond prices fell last week pushing rates higher. Trading was relatively light despite the Federal Open Market Committee rate increase announcement last Wednesday. Most of the weakness occurred prior to the release. For the week, interest rates on government and conventional loans rose by about 1/4 of a discount point.
The most important event this week will be the consumer price index on Wednesday. The producer price index, housing starts, industrial production, capacity utilization, and leading economic indicators data will also be important.
The Philadelphia Fed will release their survey detailing business conditions in the Northeast on Thursday.
Weather
The mortgage interest rate markets are subject to an enormous number of factors. Most analysts agree that aberrant weather patterns can have an effect on market activity. Although the effects are seldom long lasting, the effects of weather on monthly data can be quite significant.
A prime example is the recent employment report showing strong job growth. Mortgage interest rates immediately spiked higher by about 1/2 of a discount point following the release. Many analysts note that a large portion of the job strength was directly attributed to a surge in construction employment following the recent Hurricanes. Despite this fact, mortgage interest rates remain at slightly higher levels than prior to the release.
A real fear currently exists concerning high energy costs and how severe the weather will be in the United States this winter. Already high energy prices could skyrocket if temperatures fall below average and the demand for energy increases.
The economic effects of various weather occurrences may cause only a temporary change in economic activity. However, those times of change can have a lasting impact on people obtaining mortgages. Despite the slight rate increases seen recently, mortgage interest rates remain low. Now is a great time to take advantage of rates at these favorable levels.
To learn more, visit Mr. Theis' website, www.loans4homes.net.
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