DORA

For those of you who didn't know, I visited DORA yesterday in Denver for the Board of Mortgage Loan Originators Meeting.  It was an interesting morning to say the least.  They are still actively dealing with licensing issues, marketing issues and rule changes.  They discussed license requirements, continuing education, renewal procedures, rules that are going to be cleaned up and current investigations.  Their next meeting will be January 15, 2014 at 9:00am.

CO Housing Council

After the DORA meeting, I made my way to the University Club to have lunch with the CHC group.  The presenter was Ron Milzer with MDC Holdings (Richmond Homes).  He went through some really good data during our time there.  In short, I came away with these bullet points:

Denver and CO in general is a very stable market

Builder contracts are up +20% YTD

Builder Sales Contracts dropped like a rock when Bernanke announced "tapering", they have not bounced back

3rd Quarter is generally weak for housing starts, but has had its best quarter since 2007 this year

All Housing Sales are up +21% but inventory is VERY limited, only 2.3 month's supply in Denver (their lowest since 2000)

The last time the supply of 'resale' inventory was less than 3 months Denver experienced double-digit appreciation...

This year Denver has experienced its highest annual appreciation in home values since 2001

Public Trustee Deeds & Election & Demands are at their lowest points since before the real estate crash

Land is very hard to find for builders.  

Land that is already developed is nearly non-existent.

Notice of Defaults spiked in September to over triple the previous month and the highest point in 2 years

New home median prices have seen roughly 35% appreciation since 2010

Foreclosures are at their lowest levels in 10 years

Vacancy rates have followed a similar path

Rent rates are on the climb

Cordray unveils ‘Know Before You Owe’ mortgage rule

The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a new rule to simplify mortgage forms Wednesday – but some industry groups are calling it an undue burden on smaller lenders.

Speaking at an event in Boston, CFPB Director Richard Cordray laid out the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage rule, which will require lenders to provide simplified mortgage forms that will make it easier for the borrower to find information like interest rates, closing costs and monthly payments. The rule is scheduled to take effect in August of 2015.

For full details, visit:

http://www.consumerfinance.gov/knowbeforeyouowe/