Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Denver tops on 'Today' show list of cities poised for real-estate rebound

Denver Business Journal - by Mark Harden

Denver was named America's No. 1 city on the verge of recovery from the real-estate slump in a segment Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show.

Real estate expert Barbara Corcoran, a regular guest on the show, said Denver more than any other U.S. city is "clearly on a rebound."

"It's really the perfect real estate success story," she said. "It had one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation for years running, and now they've cut that foreclosure rate in half and they've turned the corner."

Denver, Corcoran said, has "a vibrant downtown, it has a high employment base, it has educated people, it has youth, [and] it has one of the biggest park systems in the country.

"Everything about Denver is pointing up, up up," she added. "Prices are moving up just now for the first time after seven years."

Rounding out Corcoran's list of cities poised for a real-estate rebound:

§  2. Raleigh, N.C.

§  3. Austin, Texas

§  4. Seattle

§  5. San Francisco

Corcoran said she included cities on her list on the basis of eight factors:

§  Job growth potential;

§  A growing population;

§  Good weather;

§  Lots of first-time buyers;

§  No overbuilding;

§  A vital downtown;

§  A well educated population; and

§  Foreclosures earlier than other cities.

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Enough Already.

Yes, these are the worst economic conditions since your grandfather's primary vehicle was a tricycle, with no end and little clarity in sight.

So let's gather ourselves and sort out which numbers really matter and which ones merely perpetuate the fear that's gripped the financial and real estate markets for months. First: Denver actually scores remarkably well on the index of overall housing-related distress. In 2008, area foreclosures declined almost 12 percent from 2007, the first year-over-year decrease in more than a decade. Second: Our home prices "only" declined by 5.1 percent from January 2008 to early 2009—compared to the national average of 19 percent—a relatively slight dip that made Denver one of the nation's top housing markets in 2008. 

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