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INDUSTRY NEWS:
Stronger housing market floats all boats; fewer Colorado Springs homeowners underwater, report says BY RICH LADEN, RICH.LADEN@GAZETTE.COM
Fewer Colorado Springs homeowners are underwater on their mortgages, thanks to a stronger economy and improved housing market, a report released Thursday shows. During the fourth quarter of last year, 3,034 — or 1.9 percent — of residential properties with a mortgage in the Springs were in negative equity, according to California-based housing
data firm CoreLogic. That’s down from 4,870 residential properties, or 3.1 percent, in the fourth quarter of 2015. The local problem had been far worse in the years immediately after the Great Recession. In the fourth quarter of 2009, for example, more than 30,000 — or nearly 20 percent — of residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity in Colorado Springs,
according to CoreLogic. Negative equity is a housing industry term that refers to owing more on a mortgage than a property is worth; for homeowners, it’s commonly known as being underwater or upside down. Homeowners fall into negative equity when their property values decline; if they owe more on their property than it’s worth, homeowners typically can’t
qualify to refinance their mortgages or sell their homes without bringing cash to the closing table. After the economy rebounded, and as historically low mortgage rates drove the demand for homes, property values began rising a few years ago and fewer homeowners were plagued by a negative equity problem. Local home prices have risen each
month since late 2014, according to Pikes Peak Association of Realtors reports. In February, the median price of homes sold that month was $255,000, after tying a record high of $265,000 in January. Meanwhile, the average price of homes sold in February set a record high of $301,385, according to the Realtors Association. ■
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your home. “This is one of our most, if not the most exciting product launch of the year,” says Steve Barron, co-founder of FauxWoodBeams. “The beam’s material is extra strong to handle the new length options. This wider range of custom sizes is exactly what customers have been
requesting.” The beams can be used for any project calling for the look of real exposed wood beams, whether you’re looking to add parallel beams to a living room, build a dramatic truss in the dining room, or enhance a kitchen with a single accent beam. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
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