Real Estate Archives - Fort Collins Homes

Commercial And Residential Real Estate Continues To Ride The Tailwinds

Both the residential and commercial markets in Northern Colorado are robust according to industry experts, despite the headwinds of higher interest rates, a potential recession and changes in how Americans work.

Residential
The residential market experienced upheaval in the past several years with growth during the pandemic followed by a dip starting in 2022 as interest rates ticked up.

Longmont and Johnstown were among the communities topping the charts for sales over the past couple of years. Median prices are rising but not at the previous rate of growth.

The Northern Colorado population continues to grow. By 2050, the Weld County population is forecast to reach 610,000 people and the estimate for Larimer County is 495,000 people. That means more homes will be needed.

Key points:
• Inventories will remain low, but the number of potential buyers has declined because of interest rates. Homeowners with mortgage rates below current market rates are reluctant to move.
• Builders are not keeping up with demand, even though newly built homes are selling a bit slower compared to 2021 and 2022.
• Home appreciation is expected to be flat or see a slight increase.
• Inflation will taper off.
• If a recession happens, it will be a slowdown instead of a full-fledged recession.
• The market is normalizing compared to recent years that were epitomized by “rushes”. Since 2020, 75% of the people who bought houses express “buyers remorse” which could result in increased sales activity as people attempt to correct their situations.

Commercial
In comparison, the commercial market in Northern Colorado remains better than most.

Short-term interest rates, which jumped from 3% to 7.5% in a short period of time, affected construction loans and likely caused some projects to be delayed. As rates begin to level off, they will remain manageable at about 5%.

Compared to the prior year, retail commercial properties have recovered fairly well with supply and demand in balance. Fort Collins retail has completely recovered from the pandemic, and Greeley has almost recovered. Overall along the Front Range, construction of new retail is low.

The office market is the segment in most distress since the pandemic forced many office workers to move home. Nationwide, the return-to-office rate has been about 50%.

Since Northern Colorado doesn’t have as many large corporate offices as found in Denver, its vacancy rates have been lower.

Larimer office vacancies are at 5.7% and Weld’s vacancy rates are at 7.6%, compared with 15.4% in Denver.

The bright spot in commercial real estate, like last year, has been industrial and warehouse uses. Industrial rental rates are growing 4% in Weld County and 6% in Larimer, and everything that’s been built is being absorbed.

By comparison, and taking Amazon distribution center in Loveland out of the equation, industrial is seeing five times more demand than office and retail.

Call me to discuss your future ideas about buying and selling!

Source: bizwest.com

FHA Borrowers Will Pay Reduced Mortgage Insurance Premiums

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On February 22, 2023, the Department of Housing and Urban Development released details of a long-anticipated plan to reduce the annual MIP (mortgage insurance premiums) that are currently charged to FHA borrowers by 30 Basis Points (0.3% of the loan balance).

The FHA mortgage insurance premium is the monthly fee homeowners pay to insure their mortgages. The fee is calculated as a percentage of the loan amount and paid in addition to the monthly principal and interest payments.

The annual FHA mortgage insurance premium will reduce from 0.85% to 0.55% for most new borrowers.

The National Association of REALTORS® applauded HUDs move to reduce the MIP for Federal Housing Administration loans, saying the financial relief will help more homeowners and buyers weather affordability challenges, and potentially save borrowers with FHA-backed mortgages hundreds of dollars a year.

FHA loans offer down payment options as low as 3.5% to first-time and low- to moderate-income home buyers. Eighty percent of FHA borrowers are first-timers, and more than 25% are minorities.

Homeownership is currently the principal source of wealth creation for most American households, but due to a nationwide shortfall in the supply of affordable homes, first-time homebuyers have struggled in recent years to achieve homeownership.

FHA loans offer a small down payment and more flexible underwriting, enabling credit worthy borrowers to begin building wealth through homeownership earlier than they might otherwise.

National Association of REALTORS President Kenny Parcell said in a statement: “Mortgage rates have doubled over the past year, and home prices have increased more than 30% in some counties. In this competitive market, new and low- to moderate-income buyers are often left behind.”

With a $400,000 FHA-insured mortgage, the MIP reduction could save a borrower approximately $1200 in the first year of homeownership.

The MIP reduction is the result of several factors: an improvement in the credit quality of borrowers in the FHA mortgage portfolio, home price appreciation, and significant refinance volume. As a result, the FHA’s mortgage insurance fund has seen gains in its capital reserves.

The FHA mortgage insurance premium reduction became effective in March, 2023.

Find more details about the FHA MIP reduction and savings on page 2 this month’s newsletter!

Contact me about specific loan programs for first time homebuyers available to you or someone you know!

Source: nar.realtor/magazine, nationalmortgageprofessional.com, https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/02222023-fha-mortgage-insurance

Delivering Water To Northeastern Colorado

Delivering Water To Northeastern Colorado.

During the 1930s, Colorado suffered through the Great Depression and a devastating drought. Entire fields of topsoil were blowing away and one-third of the farms in Larimer County were put up for sale.

In the summer of 1933, the Greeley Chamber of Commerce organized the Grand Lake Committee to pursue a water diversion project. The committee preceded a group
formed in 1935 to propose the Colorado-Big Thompson Project as a supplemental water source to Northeastern Colorado farmers.

In May 1937, the Colorado Legislature passed the Water Conservancy Act, laying the groundwork to create the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District the same year.

The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, or Northern Water, was created to jointly operate and maintain the federally-owned Colorado-Big Thompson Project. In
1937, the main purpose of the C-BT Project was to provide supplemental irrigation water to farmers in Northeastern Colorado.

Today, the C-BT Project collects supplemental water west of the Continental Divide for delivery to approximately 1 million people and 615,000 irrigated acres in Northeastern
Colorado for agricultural, municipal, domestic and industrial purposes.

The C-BT Project began its first year of water deliveries to the full district in 1957 and since then has collected and delivered more than 200,000 acre-feet of supplemental water each year on average. The project is designed to collect and store water from the melting snowpack near the headwaters of the Colorado River and bring it underneath
the Continental Divide to Northeastern Colorado.

In addition to the original C-BT infrastructure, Northern Water has worked cooperatively to create enterprises to finance and build additional water infrastructure,
including the Northern Integrated Supply Project.

In 1970, Northern Water’s Municipal Subdistrict, a separate and independent conservancy district, was created by six Front Range municipalities: Boulder, Estes Park,
Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Loveland.

The Municipal Subdistrict began formal efforts to develop and construct the Windy Gap Project in the summer of 1967. Currently the Subdistrict is constructing Chimney Hollow Reservoir near Loveland, the main component of the Windy Gap Firming Project.

The Windy Gap Project consists of a diversion dam on the Colorado River that creates a 445-acre-foot Windy Gap Reservoir, a pump plant and a six-mile pipeline to Lake Granby. Currently, Windy Gap water is pumped and stored in Lake Granby for delivery to water users via the C-BT Project. Windy Gap Project water utilizes both West Slope
Collection and East Slope Distribution infrastructure to reach Windy Gap participants.

Northern Water provides cities, towns, rural-domestic water districts and industries with year-round water deliveries. During the primary growing season between April
and October, water is also delivered to more than 120 ditch, reservoir and irrigation companies serving thousands of farms and more than 500,000 acres.

With growth continuing in Northeastern Colorado, more than 1 million residents are now served by Northern Water. This area encompasses portions of eight counties:
Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer, Logan, Morgan, Sedgwick, Washington and Weld.

Source:www.northernwater.org

Leverage Investment Property With A 1031 Exchange

When you sell an existing investment property, you’ll pay capital gains on any appreciation, as well as the depreciation recapture.

In 1031 exchanges, one income property is swapped for another and the gain transfers from the former property to the newer property, allowing your investment to grow tax
deferred.

As an investment property owner, you can exchange for a vacation or future retirement home.

Requirements of a 1031 exchange
Here are seven primary 1031 exchange rules to keep in mind:

1. The investment property being sold and the property being acquired must be similar, or like-kind.
2. 1031 exchanges only apply to business or investment properties, not personal property.
3. The replacement property must be of equal or greater value.
4. For a tax-free exchange, you can’t receive “boot” which is cash or other property added to an exchange to make the value of traded goods equal. While partial exchanges of a newer, but lesser value property, are allowed, you will pay capital gains tax on the difference or “boot”.
5. The titleholders of both properties in the exchange must be identical.
6. After selling the property currently owned, you have 45 days to identify up to three potential like-kind replacement properties.
7. The replacement property must be received and exchanged within 180 days after your original property is sold.

There are currently no limits to how many times you can conduct a 1031 exchange. Even if subsequent swaps produce a profit, you can defer paying taxes until you sell for cash.

Only business or investment properties are eligible for a 1031 exchange, including vacant lots, apartment buildings, commercial properties, and even single-family residences you rent out to tenants.

A property you use solely for personal use, such as your primary residence, does not qualify.

Buying a vacation home with a 1031 exchange
You can invest the proceeds of a likekind exchange into a vacation rental home by meeting these requirements:

During the first two 12-month periods after the exchange:
• You must rent the property for 14 days or more per year.
• You must limit personal use to not more than 14 days per year and no more than 10% of the days rented.

Rental rates must be at fair market value. Renting it to a family member for $1 per night would count as personal use.

You can also sell your current vacation home through a 1031 exchange as long as the rent and occupancy requirements for the two years preceding the sale are
met.

After meeting the requirements of the first two years of ownership, then you are free to stay as often as you’d like without further requirements.

Buying a retirement home with a 1031 exchange
The rules during the first two years of acquiring your future retirement home require that your personal usage not exceed 14 days, and the property is rented
for 10 times the number of personal use nights: at least 14 days per year.

Additional rules apply to converting a rental property acquired in a 1031 exchange to a primary residence.

Be sure to consult your attorney and tax advisor to determine if a 1031 is right for you.

Contact me to discuss a vacation or future retirement home investment with or without a 1031 exchange!

I’ll help you find an out of area REALTOR® as well!

Source: https://www.vacasa.com/buy-vacationhome/1031-exchange

What’s Ahead For Housing In The Next 5 Years?

No one has a crystal ball and we can’t be certain what the future holds for any investment asset. There’s always the potential for something completely
unexpected.

Even so, it makes sense to look to the future for some guidance as to the impact on our finances.

This is particularly true for the housing market. For many people, buying a home is the single largest purchase they’re ever going to make. It takes
years of saving and planning, which is why looking into the future is a good idea.

It might work out differently than you’d expected, but having a plan in place at least means you’re taking steps in the right direction, regardless of the actual
outcome.

So what does the future hold for the housing market?

1 Year
With the recent mortgage rate hikes, the housing market is expected to soften over the next year.

According to data from Freddie Mac, the average interest rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage in December was 7.08%. One year earlier, that same average rate was below 3%.

A 30 year mortgage of $300,000 at a rate of 2.98% results in a monthly repayment of $1,262. That same mortgage at a rate of 7.08% equates to $2,012, or an increase of $750 per month.

This massive difference has a major impact on first time home buyers or would-be movers, suggesting that property prices could fall 5 to 10% over the next 12 months in the United States.

3 Years
By late 2023, prices nationally are expected to level off and remain relatively flat until mid 2024.

This aligns with Fed chairman Jerome Powell’s suggestion that the interest rate cycle is likely to last longer than had originally been anticipated, peaking just under 5% at the end of 2023.

As mortgages remain expensive, home buyers are likely to hold off on their purchases, further slowing the market.

By the middle of 2023, the housing market can be expected to stabilize.

Into 2024 and 2025, a gradual rebound of house prices is predicted with values creeping up towards the end of the period.

5 Years
While looking forward five years is challenging, the overall long term outlook is positive.

A drop in price growth over the coming year is expected followed by a leveling out in 2024 and then a subsequent period of relatively strong growth, providing an average yearly return of low to mid single digits over the next five years.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®, predicts 15% -25% total price growth across the US over the next five years.

The main issue impacting housing affordability isn’t going to be the changes in the value of properties, it will be the increased cost for the mortgages required to buy them.

Long term, homeownership generally provides consistent returns above the rate of inflation. It’s never a straight line, but with real estate, that’s historically been up.

Source: Forbes.com