Steamboat Today, Aug. 7, 2009

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S T E A M B O AT

TODAY

FRIDAY

AUGUST 7, 2009

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

®

Vol. 21, No. 188

RO U T T

Steamboat Springs

Pot dispensary laws vague City Council considers regulations for budding marijuana industry

FREE

C O U N T Y ’ S

DA I LY

N E W S PA P E R

House of Cards ♦

The rise and fall of Routt County’s real estate economy

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Steamboat Springs

Fortress loses $171 million Intrawest parent company reported 2nd-quarter financials Wednesday Page 12

Hayden

New taxes head to voters Hayden to decide in November whether to increase car-rental fees

Part 2: The mortgage market folds

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J

ust two years after Routt County real estate sales surged to a record $1.58 billion, a system built on relaxed lending requirements and skyrocketing home values has been turned upside down. At the center is the mortgage industry, which helped fuel the booming real estate economy of the mid-2000s with products such as subprime, interest-only and adjustable-rate loans. Although those types of loans helped many people — working-class residents included — get into Routt County’s resort real estate market, they’re now forcing some of them out. Local foreclosure filings are on pace to triple 2008 totals, and short sales also are on the rise. The mortgage meltdown is indeed taking its toll on Northwest Colorado. How did it happen? Who’s to blame? Should we have seen it coming? Whatever the answers, the questions affect us all, as homeowners, business owners, lenders and borrowers struggle to face a new financial reality.

Sports

Young racers head south

Story by Brandon Gee | Photos by John F. Russell

Snowmass mountain bike event offers new opportunity for riders

Inside:

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■ WEATHER

■ INDEX Briefs . . . . . . . . .10 Classifieds . . . . .42 Colorado. . . . . . .28 Comics . . . . . . . .40 Crossword . . . . .41 Happenings . . . . .7

Horoscope . . . . .40 Nation. . . . . . . . .30 Scoreboard. . . . .39 Sports. . . . . . . . .35 ViewPoints . . . . . .8 World . . . . . . . . .33

Partly cloudy and breezy. High of 76.

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Part 2 of a five-part series from the Steamboat Pilot & Today

■ EXPLORE STEAMBOAT Your weekend guide to arts and entertainment in Steamboat Springs, including movie times and film reviews, begins on page 17.

Visit www.ExploreSteamboat.com


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