(Newswire.net — June 28, 2013) Colorado Springs, CO — Metro Brokers Real Estate Broker Associate Lori Jones is citing information posted on the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors website. The association is reporting that homes sales in the Colorado Springs area increased 34-percent as compared to 2012. Jones says there appears to be several factors fueling the real estate recovery. “A big thing motivating buyers is that interest rates remain at historically low levels at four-percent and lower. We also see a number of buyers reentering the market after losing their homes to foreclosure or short sale during the recession. Many of those folks have waited the two or three year period required to qualify for a mortgage following foreclosure or short sale. Another dynamic causing homes values to increase is that many sellers seem to be holding onto their homes, possibly hoping that prices will increase even more.”
Meanwhile, Jones says the housing recovery seems to be happening across the state and nation. “The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that Pending Home Sales in a recent month were up seven-percent from the year before. Pending Home Sales is a leading indicator for the housing sector based on pending sales of existing homes. Also, all 20 major cities in the recently released S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index are reporting gains in overall home prices. Cities including Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Francisco have had year-over-year gains of 20-percent and higher. Those cities are bouncing back faster than others, but they were also among the hardest hit during the housing crisis. The Case Shiller report shows home prices in March were nearly eleven-percent higher than the year previous and at the highest level in more than six years.”
Lori Jones is urging anyone in the Colorado Springs area entering the market as a buyer or seller to work with an experienced realtor. “The housing market is shifting so rapidly that we strongly urge buyers and sellers to seek the guidance of a real estate professional. I’ve been in this industry for a long time and understand how dynamic the market can be in a downturn and during a market correction like we’re seeing now. The danger of not using a realtor is not getting your best deal as a buyer or seller. We track house prices daily and they are changing fast, so it’s vital that our clients have the most current value information as we move forward in the process.”