For the seventh month in a row, home prices in the Denver area showed a year-over-year price increase in May, rising 3.6% from May 2009, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Index, released Tuesday.

Out of 20 cities covered in the Case-Shiller report, Denver was one of 13 that showed a year-over-year increase in prices in May.

Read more: Denver Business Journal
 

While sales of new homes rose 23% in June from the month before, the western states, which include Colorado, saw a 7% sales decline in June.

And the year-over-year decline in June new-home sales was greater in the West than elsewhere, according to a joint report Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales of new homes declined 46% in the western states from June 2009 to June 2010, versus a national decline of 17%.

Sales of previously occupied homes fell in June and are expected to keep sinking, indicating that the housing market's troubles are likely to drag on the economic recovery.

Sales fell 5.1%  to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.37 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Colorado had the nation’s 10th-highest rate of properties with foreclosure filings, both in the first six months of 2010 and in the year’s second quarter, according to a new report.

In the quarter ended June 30, Colorado had 15,287 properties with foreclosure filings, down 4.59 percent from the first-quarter total of 16,023 .

Read more at The Denver Business Journal

Resales of Denver-area homes — including houses and condos — rose 7 percent in the first half of 2010 from the same period of 2009, according to Metrolist Inc. data released Monday.

Total house resales increased 5 percent, while condo sales were up 14 percent.

Of the total 20,831 resales for the period, Denver County reported the most by county at 4,759 — 3,478 houses and 1,281 condominium/townhomes — up from 4,613 for the same period last year.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Monday it is providing $9.45 million in funds in two Colorado cities for new affordable housing for seniors and the disabled.
 

Read more at The Denver Business Journal

Owners of Westminster Mall have sued the City of Westminster and others to stop a plan to redevelop the property.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday by the mall’s owner, Westminster Mall Co.

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to give first-time homebuyers three more months to close on their purchases and land an $8,000 federal income tax credit.But the Senate needs to act fast - the deadline is currently Wednesday.

The bill doesn't help anyone currently shopping for a home. Buyers must have signed a contract by April 30 to qualify for the tax break. At issue is when the deal must be finalized.

The mortgage problem is hitting the African-American and Latino communities harder than whites, a new study has found.

Of borrowers who took out mortgages between 2005 and 2008, some 8% of both African-American and Latino borrowers have lost their homes to foreclosure, compared to 4.5% of non-Hispanic whites, according to a study by the Center for Responsible Lending, released Friday.

Sales of existing homes fell 2.2% from April to May, taking many industry analysts by surprise. Sales closings were expected to remain strong through the end of this month, the closing deadline for the federal homebuyers' tax credit.

In its monthly report, the National Association of Realtors says sales were at an annual rate of 5.66 million units, compared with 5.79 million in April. While the tax credit expired April 30, buyers have until June 30 to close on their purchases to qualify for the tax break.