Housing News Digest, August 30

Foreclosures made up 31 pct. of home sales in 2Q
WASHINGTON (AP) - Foreclosures made up roughly one-third of all home sales this spring. While that's a smaller share of sales from the previous quarter, it's six times the percentage of foreclosures in a healthy housing market.

Foreclosure sales, which include homes purchased after they received a notice of default or that were repossessed by lenders, accounted for 31 percent of the market in the April-June quarter, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

New Luxury Condos in Denver
“Formerly the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Residence XXV condominiums and penthouses are finished to Ritz-Carlton standards,” said Tim Craft, partner at Residence XXV in an introduction to guests. “This is the upper echelon of downtown Denver real estate and represents a “new normal” in pricing for Denver investment real estate. Our current pricing is roughly half of the original asking price but we are able to deliver the same high level of concierge and valet services.”

Now officially rebranded, launched and open for sales, Residence XXV is largely viewed as the recalibration of Denver‘s luxury real estate market and represents the metropolitan niche in Colorado investment homes.

Distressed home sales growing
Distressed property sales inNorthern Colorado and throughout the Denver area greatly increased in the first half of this year, compared with the first six months of 2010, according to an analysis by the Genesis Group.

The Genesis Group, which tracks housing along the Front Range, recently completed an analysis of distressed home sales reported by Realtor members of Metrolist, who serve the 7-county Denver area, and IRES, which serves Boulder and northern Colorado communities.

King Soopers breaks ground
Officials from Commerce City, King Soopers and Shea Properties will host a ceremony on Tuesday to officially break ground Tuesday on the 123,000-square-foot King Soopers Marketplace, which will create about 550 construction and permanent jobs.

The store will anchor Shea Properties’ 22-acre Reunion Marketplace Center.

HUD Extends Application Period for EHLP
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is once again accepting applications for its Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program (EHLP). The new deadline for applications is September 15.

The original deadline of July 22 was extended to July 27, but HUD announced Monday that it is extending the application process again because the agency believes it has enough resources to help more homeowners than have currently applied.