Local real estate market shifting to hope

The irises are not the only thing blooming early in Northern Colorado this year.

In case you haven't been watching closely, our local real estate market is also in full bloom for the first time in many years.

The re-emergence of colorful flowers brings with it a sense of hope that life springs eternal.

Never was there a better metaphor for our current real estate market.

During my time with the Fort Collins Board of Realtors, it has become evident that spring is time of hopefulness in our industry.

As I have visited with any number of our 900 members during the past several spring seasons, there has been a pronounced sense of hopefulness for the market as buyers and sellers begin to look anew at their current living situation and ponder changes.

However, there is a distinctly different feel in the air this year and it is a welcomed change, not only for our Realtor members, but for all homeowners in the greater Fort Collins area. It is a true sense of hope.

On first blush, there may not seem to be much of a difference between hopefulness and hope. I can assure you that there is a meaningful difference. The difference is not necessarily based on what is being said, as much as it is based on how it's stated.

Hopefulness was what you got via responses about the state of the market during the past few years. Oftentimes the responses were "Saturday Night Live" character Stuart Smalley-like affirmations, meant more to inspire or manifest hope for the market's return than they were statements about the real market conditions. Really, no different than how Americans as a whole, especially small business owners, have felt the past few years.

Hope, on the other hand, has been as pervasive as 80 degree days this spring in response to the current market conditions. The hope that I have heard expressed over and over again this year is based on the belief that the market is recovering because there are legitimate grounds for this feeling.

Just this week the National Association of Realtors announced that sales around the country were up 4.1 percent and that contract activity is at its highest levels in more than 2 years.

Locally, both home prices and volume are generally higher. One long-time local market expert is predicting almost double-digit appreciation in value for the lower-end housing market during the next 12 months.

The best part about Realtors and the housing industry regaining hope is that it reflects a very positive shift for our entire community. Housing indicators are irrefutably linked to the health of our overall economy. Moreover, increasing home values, especially for homes under $300,000, means many of our community's middle-income earners may finally start to see reasonable returns on their largest acquisition of wealth for the first time in several years. This will provide them with more choices for their financial and personal wellbeing.

This palpable shift away from hopefulness to communitywide hope should benefit our local businesses and Fort Collins as a whole.

Clint Skutchan is the executive vice president for the Fort Collins Board of Realtors, or FCBR. To learn more about FCBR, visit its Web site at www.fcbr.org. Call Skutchan at (970) 223-2900 or send email to clint@fcbr.org.

Source: http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20120429/COLUMNISTS129/204290340/Local-real-estate-market-shifting-hope