January 2016 Residential Market Report

January 2016 Residential Market Report



January 2016 Residential Market Report

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Can Your Home Survive a Wildfire?

Image
Whether a home survives a wildfire is not random, nor is it a function of luck, most homes that exhibited attributes promoted by the FireSmart program -- including keeping combustible vegetation away from the house, uncluttered yards and low-flammability roofs and surfaces -- survive fires. It seems clear that the survival of homes was a function of resistance to ignition and not a random event or a matter of luck, Beyond doubt, risk mitigation (FireSmart) guidelines demonstrated their effectiveness in mitigating risk under the harshest of wildfire conditions. Most homes caught on fire as the result of embers from the forest fire landing on their property. "Based on site visits, no instances were observed where home ignition could confidently be attributed to direct contact by flames of the burning forest, and there were very few observations where home ignition was likely due only to radiant heat from the forest. Other studies have shown that embers generated by burning vege...
Read more

Hail-Resistant Roofs: Fact or Fiction?

Image
Colorado often experiences severe  hailstorms  that can cause devastating property damage. The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association reports that Colorado’s Front Range and Wyoming’s eastern plains, commonly referred to as “hail alley,” receive the highest frequency of large hailstones in North America. Over the past 10 years, hailstorms have caused nearly $1.7 billion in damage to roofs and automobiles in hail alley. The damaging hailstorms generally occur mid-May through late July. Damages incurred to roofs during hailstorms can, however, be reduced with proper roof design and roofing product selection. A properly designed roof structure can substantially reduce hail damage. Several testing agencies have developed the following recommendations for the roof designer: Shingles made with polymer-modified (SBS) asphalt have better resistance to hail damage than shingles made from oxidized asphalt. Reroofing over an existing shingle system greatly increases the ...
Read more

Read if you think you are the next Donald Trump

We've all heard the nightmare stories about so-called "fixer-upper" homes. Sometimes things go smoothly, sometimes there are "surprises" you couldn't possibly imagine. For those of you that have seen "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, everything went wrong for the aspiring homeowners, but how would you like to be the poor folks featured in this story ? Sometimes reality is scarier than fiction.
Read more

Why Are So Many Trees Dying in Colorado?

Image
On a recent trip on I-70 to evaluate some land for a client, I was confronted with sad but beautiful image of red forests stretching for miles across the hills. The image of a red "evergreen" contrasting against the green scenery is mesmerizing at first until you take a closer look at red death destroying millions of trees in Colorado. Beetle epidemics across the western United States are becoming more obvious every season with entire landscapes turning red and brown as trees die. In northwest Colorado the beetle epidemics, triggered by extended drought in aging forests, are intensifying at an alarming rate, and there is little that can be done to stop them. Actions can be taken to protect high value areas such as ski areas, developed campgrounds and trees in people’s yards. Hastening Death: Pine beetles carry a fungus on their body and legs. Once they enter the tree, the fungus multiplies and spreads. This blue stain fungus blocks the transport of water up the tree’s trunk ...
Read more

Slowing New Home Construction? Not in Colorado!

Image
Although more home buyers eagerly seeking the dwellings of their dreams, fewer new homes are in bloom this summer. In not-so-promising signs for the housing market, permits to build new abodes, housing starts, and the number of new homes completed dipped in April from the previous month, according to the seasonally adjusted numbers in the latest residential sales report. The numbers of new permits, housing starts and finished homes hitting the market were all up year-over-year in April, according to the report. Housing starts are construction projects that have been started for new residences. It's too early to tell whether the slowdown is temporary or will continue, worsening the housing shortage. There's not enough homes on the market, and the shortage of homes is most pronounced at the low end of the price range, As prices continue to rise, millennials and households with low and moderate incomes will find it more difficult to take the homeownership plunge. The num...
Read more