Well it's been a week since the last update and little has changed.  The 10 year T-Bill is at a new low today (1.53%) and it seems the economy isn’t doing all that well.  For every good piece of information, there’s one or two not so good.  Locally, mortgage rates are down, house sales locally are doing very well, we just need inventory and we’re supposed to have temperatures below 90 this weekend.  So it's mostly good around here.

In economic news, the ISM manufacturing index came out Tuesday with very weak numbers.  The index went negative (contracting) for the first time since April 2009.  The consensus range was 51.0-53.4.  Instead we came in at 49.7.  The economic weakness in Europe and China is starting to be reflected in our exports. 

Jobless

The 16,500 housing units on which construction began in May in the U.S. West region, which includes Colorado, represented the most housing starts in four years, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Housing starts of both single-family and multifamily units in the West were up 25.9 percent from May 2011 to May 2012, according to new housing construction and housing starts data released June 19 by the Census Bureau. Of the new units started, 11,400 were single-family structures and the remaining contained more than one housing unit.

Nationally, housing starts rose 26 percent in May 2012 compared with May 2011, with total housing starts reaching 68,300 units.

However, total housing starts are still well below May’s peak levels – 69 percent below – the

Apparently if you don’t live in the Denver metro area already, you may want to move there.

Denver was No. 8 of the top 10 most popular moving destinations from January to March of 2012 based on inbound shipments, according to the American Moving and Storage Association and reported by Yahoo! Real Estate.

These metros offer job opportunities, a reasonable cost of living and plenty to do for singles and couples as well as families.

Yahoo! Real Estate notes that, in the Denver metro area, the average rent for a one-bedroom unit is $819 and for a two-bedroom unit is $989. The city is home to a variety of industries, including information technology, education services and manufacturing.

With 300 days of sunshine, it offers plenty of downtime activities,

 The Boulder Valley is well known for many things, whether it’s our environmental-friendly people and companies, our highly intelligent and educated work force, the University of Colorado, our scenic countryside or our fairly wealthy population. But none of these individual characteristics alone can define our community to the world. What is the Boulder Brand? Or, better yet, what should it be? Even the city of Boulder is seeking ideas from the public on the Boulder brand in hopes of passing a bond measure in 2012 for a capital project that’s in line with whatever brand idea is chosen. In an effort to make our community more aware of the Boulder Brand ideas being discussed for the city and the Boulder Valley as a whole, RE/MAX of Boulder will feature

Boulder County’s home prices are gaining ground again, appreciating 2.35 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2012 and climbing a modest 0.04 percent over the fourth quarter of 2011. But that was enough to get Boulder ranked 10th – the highest of any Colorado city – out of 303 metropolitan statistical areas by the Federal Housing Finance Authority.

It was followed closely by Fort Collins-Loveland, which was ranked 11th with a 2.28 percent appreciation rate for the year and a 0.25 percent drop in home prices compared with the fourth quarter of 2011.

As a whole, Colorado’s home prices increased just 0.61 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2012 but decreased 0.64 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2011. Nationally the state

Don’t look now, but the Boulder-area real estate market may be on the verge of recovery – albeit a mild one that’s taking its sweet time.

The 422 single-family homes and 145 condominiums/townhomes that sold in May represent increases of 41 percent and 46 percent respectively compared with May 2011, when 299 single-family homes and 99 attached homes sold. And that makes 11 out of the last 12 months the Boulder-area markets have experienced improvements in home sales.

Ken Hotard, senior vice president of public affairs for the Boulder Area Realtor Association, points out that May was the fifth consecutive month that Boulder-area markets had seen growth in home sales.

“It’s reasonable to conclude that the market has likely bottomed out and is on that slow

Lots of information and not much response from the markets.  Yesterday we saw the 10 year treasury drop into the 1.57% range as the nervousness of the European crisis loomed following disappointing numbers from the US on GDP and jobless numbers.  Today, with Europe “solved” again, the bonds crept back up into the current comfort level of 1.65%. 

So what happened?  The US economy grew by a dismal 1.9% during the first quarter.  That was right at the consensus but still disappointing.  With the exception of the robust 3.0% GDP number in the fourth quarter, we’ve been pretty constant right around an annualized rate of 1.9%.  The new jobless claims came in, again at consensus number of 386,000.  Last week’s numbers were revised up from 386,000 to 390,000

Not much happening of big consequence.  New home sale came in a stronger than expected 7.6% improvement.  Inventory is down to 4.7 months supply.  Home prices were up a strong 1.6% but that’s still down 1.9% from last April.  Durable goods orders were up a stronger than expected 1.1% when the consensus was up 0.4% but the previous months numbers were revised down, again.  The pending home sales index (Properties under contract) was up a very strong 5.9% when the consensus was a range of -1.6 to +4.0%.  The only concern is that contract fallout on this number has been extremely high in recent months.
Truly all the focus is on the up coming EU Summit.  The US 10 year T-bill has settled into a range around1.60-1.65, down slightly from last Friday.  The

While a home inspection is standard protocol when purchasing a home, many buyers overlook one major type of inspection before move-in day, and if a problem is brewing, it can lead to some nasty consequences later on. What type of inspection is not included in the traditional home inspection? A sewer inspection.

Too often, buyers are unaware that the responsibility of the sewer line leading from the street to the home falls on their shoulders.  Should a problem with the line occur, the cost of repair can be a staggering $5,000—not to mention a seriously messy clean-up.

An old septic tank can explode or degrade over time. Not only is the smell extremely unpleasant and lingering, but the mess is unsafe and hazardous to your health. Additionally, it can

Another week ends and the economic world is as clear as mud.  Yesterday’s jobless claims report came in 4000 above the consensus estimate and the previous report was revised higher by 3000.  That is bad and surprising news on our economy but good for interest rates  In response, treasury yields dropped, only to jump up again today on speculation that Europe isn’t as bad this morning as it was yesterday afternoon.  No news, just speculation.

FreddieMac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates dropped to a new record low of 3.66% with 0.7 points.  That calculates out to about a 3.8% rate with no points which is close to the norm in Colorado.  15 year loans are down below 3% (2.96%) again with 0.8 points according to the survey, about a 3.25% note rate at par.