According to Fox News, the top city for investing and making money in the housing market is Denver Colorado.

Greg Rand, CEO of OwnAmerica.com spoke with Fox Business News on how to invest in the economic and housing growth of Denver.

People are moving to Denver from all over the country," says Rand, "The average age is 31 years old, so the population is young, stable and the future looks good in the long term."

The unemployment rate in Denver at 7.9 percent is lower than the national average and the foreclosure rate, according to Rand, is half the national average.

"It comes down to the lifestyle," says Rand, "low cost of living, high quality of life, and a love of the outdoors."

Denver is also home to 9 Fortune 500 companies, offering great job opportunities and the median home price is only $244,100.  Looking at housing prices for Denver in the last 15 years; "we didn't see a full housing collapse in the Denver market," says Rand, "we see a correction, but it bounced back again."

Watch the full video at Fox Business News.

Image Source: Denver.org

Posted in Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Industry, National News

The U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for January 2012, released by Freddie Mac, shows that the economy is in a better place than the same time a year ago, but economic recovery will not be a fast one.

Freddie Mac predicts that economic growth will be about 2.1 percent in the first quarter and mortgage rates are expected to remain low, at least in the beginning of 2012. Home sales should grow up to 5 percent this year but the recovery will be slow due to a large gap between buyer and seller sentiment.

"With the new year comes a sense of cautious optimism. There are some positive signs in the job market and consumer confidence," says Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, Frank Nothaft, "which is starting to raise hopes for continued gradual economic recovery. But the economy still is giving some mixed messages."

Read the Freddie Mac January 2012 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook.

Posted in National News

Foreclosures in 2011 declined 34 percent which is the lowest levels since 2007, according to RealtyTrac.

"The number of units in foreclosure declined to 1,887,777, or one out of 69 homes, from 2,529,261, or one out of 44. Nevada, Arizona and California had the highest foreclosure rates." according to Business Insider. Colorado's rate of foreclosure was slightly lower than these states at 3,498 or one out of every 620 units.

RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore said that foreclosure activity will most likely go up as states with judicial processes begin to resolve issues with lenders.

"There were strong signs in the second half of 2011 that lenders are finally beginning to push through some of the delayed foreclosures in select local markets." said Moore. "We expect that trend to continue this year, boosting foreclosure activity for 2012 higher than it was in 2011, though still below the peak of 2010."

Business Insider reports that foreclosures fell in December to a 49 month low, down 20 percent, year over year.

Read the full Foreclosure Marketing Report at RealtyTrac

Read more at Business Insider . 

photo credit: merfam

Posted in Mortgage, National News

Houston based, Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, a commercial real estate financing firm is opening an office in Denver.

"We are excited about the opportunity to better serve our existing and future clients in the Rocky Mountain region," said Joe Thornton, executive managing director.  "As with our recently opened offices in Austin and Tampa, HFF's goal is to strategically build-out the full platform of services and product specializations in our new Denver office."

The company focuses on debt and equity placement, loan sales and investment sales according to The Denver Business Journal.

The new senior managing director will be Eric Tupler, formerly of CBRE Inc. The company is seeking office space in the Central Business District and will be hiring 8 to 10 employees by year's end.

"HFF has been active in Denver for many years," Tupler said in an interview. "They are extremely confident in the future of Denver, both economically and for the future of its commercial real estate. It's a great time for HFF to make a long-term investment in Denver."

Read the full story at The Denver Business Journal

Photo from TripAdvisor.com

Posted in National News

The number of pending contracts for home sales rose 10 percent in October to their highest level in almost a year, says Meg Handley on US News.com.

This is an encouraging sign, says Handley, "that pent up consumer demand building over the past several years could finally translate into meaningful improvement for the housing market."

Pending sales does not always mean closing sales, however.  Contracts that have been cancelled rose to 33 percent in October, primarily due to declined mortgage applications.

"Still, experts hope the uptick in pending home sales," writes Handley, "means consumers are finally taking advantage of the excellent affordability conditions in the housing market today."

Read the full story at US News.

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Posted in Real Estate Investing, National News