Housing News Digest, February 8

Local apartment rents continue to hover near record high
Rents at Colorado Springs-area apartments hovered near a record high late last year — part of a two-year climb in renter costs that’s expected to continue as demand for multi-family properties remains strong, industry experts say.

Monthly rents averaged $775.44 in the fourth quarter of 2011, about $37 more than the same period in 2010, according to a report released Wednesday by the Colorado Division of Housing and the Apartment Association of Southern Colorado.


Greccio adds 36 apartments to its affordable housing portfolio


Greccio Housing, a nonprofit organization that serves low-income families and individuals in the Pikes Peak region, has added 36 apartment units to its affordable housing portfolio with the purchase of Uintah Park and Terrace Apartments.

HUD gives funds to 2 Colorado tribes The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced $2.5 million in Indian Housing Block Grant allocations to two tribes in Colorado.

The Southern Ute Housing Authority in Ignacio will receive $1,165,340 and the Ute Mountain Housing Authority in Towaoc will receive $1,346,601 .

Colorado real estate group explains why they booted Zillow’s Diverse Solutions
Why did Metrolist — the largest Multiple Listing Service in Colorado — cut ties with Zillow-owned Diverse Solutions?

Online real estate watchers, including several on GeekWire, have been wondering about the motivations of that decision ever since word spread earlier today.

Fledgling housing recovery has a long way to go

David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, said housing starts are likely to jump to 700,000 units from 600,000 in 2011, with single-family starts reaching just about 500,000. Existing-home sales for the year should climb to 4.4 million from 3.8 million in 2011, he predicted.

A development in Miami in 2010: The sign said it all. “But we are going from the worst year for starts ever, or at least as far back as we can go to 1942, and the worst year for new-home sales since we started collecting that data,” he said. “This is not going to be a great year.”