ConocoPhillips unveils plans for Louisville Colorado campus

ConocoPhillips expects to occupy more than half of its planned, 2.5 million-square-foot renewable energy facility at the old StorageTek site in Louisville by 2013, according to plans recently submitted to the city. The initial phase will include roughly 1.6 million square feet of office, research and retail space plus a hotel to be used only by those with business at the facility. The plan also said that over the next 20 years, the city of Louisville will gain $14.7 million, over its service costs, from the campus in property, sales and use taxes as well as other charges. Louisville stands to get an additional $10.2 million alone for its operating fund. The energy company recently finished demolishing the buildings there and plans to buy an additional 30 acres by the end of 2009. It expects to occupy the project’s first phase in 2013, and subsequent phases in 2018 and 2032. The company has said in the past that as many as 7,000 people could be working at the campus by 2030.
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/11/23/daily52.html?s=industry&i=commercial_real_estate

Leading Indicators Point to Sustained Expansion

"The U.S. economic recovery will extend into next year as manufacturing expands and the pace of firings abates ... The Conference Board’s index of leading indicators, a gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months, rose 0.3 percent in October."
- Bloomberg, Leading Indicators Point to Sustained Expansion

Home sales jump in October, beating expectations -

October U.S. home sales rose 10.1% from September, beating expectations, as the first-time home buyer tax credit helped spur sales. The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes, including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, surged to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.10 million units in October from a downwardly revised pace of 5.54 million in September. The rate is 23.5% above the 4.94 million-unit level in October 2008. It was the highest sales level since February 2007. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 5.65 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-11-23-existing-home-sales-oct_N.htm

Investor Report: HUD's Condo Rules - HUD just changed its condominium rules again.

It has relaxed its previously controversial requirement that at least 50% of the units in a project be sold before FHA could insure loans for new buyers on individual units. Under the amended rule, FHA financing will be available in projects where at least 30% of the existing units have been sold. HUD also relaxed its controversial policy that no more than 30% of the units in a condo project could be financed with FHA-insured mortgages. The new standard maximum will be 50%. Under certain circumstances, however, HUD said it would be willing to consider situations where the percentage of FHA financing on individual units is even higher.
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20091120_investorreport.htm

Obama mortgage rescue: Only a few get lasting help

Only a handful of homeowners are receiving permanent loan modifications under the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention plan.


Last Updated: November 19, 2009: 9:56 AM ET

Saving their homes: Did Obama help?

In June, CNNMoney profiled homeowners hoping to qualify for President Obama's foreclosure-prevention plan. Four months later, we check in on our panel.
View photosLife after foreclosure

After losing their homes, these 4 families thought they'd never recover. They've found it difficult to rent and their credit is wrecked, but life is looking up.
View photos
Quick Vote
How has the $787 billion stimulus package affected the economy?
It has aided a recoveryIt has made the situation worseIt has had no impactIt's too soon to tell or View results
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Only a tiny percentage of troubled homeowners have received permanent modifications under President Obama's foreclosure prevention plan, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the $75 billion effort.

Fewer than 5% of the trial modifications on loans owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac were converted to long-term adjustments as of Sept. 30, according to the mortgage finance giant.

Looking more broadly, the figures are even lower. As of Sept. 1, only 1.26% of all trial adjustments were made permanent after three months, reported the Congressional Oversight Panel, which monitors the government's use of bailout funds.

The Treasury Department is set to release within coming weeks the first comprehensive look at the number of permanent modifications issued so far.

The preliminary data, which has not been widely reported, underscores the next big problem facing the government's effort: Officials have leaned on banks to offer more homeowners trial modifications, but the real test will be whether homeowners will receive lasting help.

"No one is really sure why the conversion rate is so low," said Mike Zoller, assistant economist at Moody's Economy.com. "We're concerned these loans will eventually become foreclosures."

Under the president's plan, delinquent borrowers are put into trial modifications for several months to make sure they can handle the new payments and to give them time to submit their financial paperwork. If they qualify for a long-term modification, borrowers can keep making the lower payments for five years, after which time the interest rate is set at the rate at the time of the adjustment, or about 5% today.

The number of permanent modifications reported is expected to be small, industry observers said. Servicers say they are having trouble getting the necessary documents from borrowers, while homeowners maintain that their servicers are repeatedly losing the paperwork.

And, the question remains, how many people will meet the criteria necessary to adjust their loans for the long-term?

Once homeowners send in their paperwork, servicers may find these borrowers don't have enough income or have too much equity or savings to qualify. Or it may just be more profitable for the bank to foreclose on the home than modify the mortgage.

While the foreclosure rate has eased a bit recently thanks in part to the growing number of people in trial modifications, some experts fear foreclosures will start rising again unless more people receive permanent assistance.

"Everyone is going to be shocked at the low conversion rates from trial modifications to permanent modifications," said Guy Cecela, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, a trade publication. The president's program "won't result in a significant number of loans being modified and won't put a significant dent in foreclosure rates."

To be sure, the program is still in a relatively early stage, and the number of trial modifications did not really start ramping up until the fall. Also, in recent weeks, the administration and servicers have taken steps to increase the conversion rate by lessening the documentation requirements and even hiring firms to go door-to-door to assist borrowers with collecting the paperwork.

"We continue to identify new ways to refine the program and increase the likelihood that trial modifications will become permanent ones," a Treasury spokeswoman said.

Announced in February and launched in April, the foreclosure prevention program seeks to help as many as 4 million troubled homeowners by putting them mortgages where the monthly payments are no more than 31% of the borrowers' pre-tax income.

Though the initiative got off to a slow start, some 650,000 people have been placed in trial modifications, which were originally intended to last three months but recently lengthened to five. To get into the trial period, homeowners only need to meet some basic criteria, including owing less than $729,750 on their mortgage and having monthly payments above 31% of their pre-tax income.

Verifying documentation
During the trial period, borrowers must send in the documentation needed to verify their income and expenses, including tax returns, pay stubs and bank statements. Homeowners must also be timely with their trial payments to receive long-term adjustments.

0:00 /4:47Foreclosure fix not working
At JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), about 92,500 borrowers, or just over half of those in the president's loan modification program, have made more than three payments. But only 26% of those have also submitted all of the required documents.

"We're not sure why we're not getting the documents from people," said Chase Spokesman Tom Kelly, who declined to say how many permanent modifications the bank has completed.

Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), meanwhile, has converted about 1,800 borrowers into permanent modifications, said Sanjiv Das, head of CitiMortgage. The servicer has about 89,000 in trial modifications.

Citi, too, is having trouble with the documents. Often, borrowers send in paperwork that is not complete or has errors, Das said.

But, the Treasury Department's recent relaxation of the rules has allowed Citi to ramp up its efforts. In particular, servicers are now able to accept electronic signatures on tax documents instead of having to secure signed forms. As a result, the number of Citi borrowers whose files are complete has soared to 11,000, from 3,500 only three weeks ago.

"It will go up substantially" said Das, who expects Citi to place between 5,000 and 6,000 borrowers in permanent modifications by year's end.

Going door-to-door
The low number of conversions has kicked administration officials and loan servicers into higher gear to secure the paperwork needed to evaluate borrowers for long-term modifications. A growing number of servicers are hiring companies to knock on borrowers' doors in hopes of getting the required income and tax statements.

"This will give [borrowers] someone they can talk to who is reliable and knowledgeable so they can turn that trial period into a permanent modification," said Brad German, a spokesman for Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500), which in late September hired a firm to work with servicers to gather the needed documents from homeowners.

Many servicers, including Citi and Chase, are working with such firms. Others have tried other ways to entice borrowers to provide their documents.

Saxon Mortgage Services, which leads the pack with 44% of its eligible delinquent borrowers in trial modifications, has offered homeowners in California and Florida $25 gift cards to come to company-sponsored foreclosure prevention events with paperwork in hand.

Only about 15% of the borrowers took Saxon up on its offer, a spokesman said.

First Published: November 19, 2009: 3:54 AM ET

Middle-Market Sector to Improve

Executives from some of the largest brokerages in the country expect to see their sales grow 6-8% in 2010 and home prices to start heading up about 3%, agents heard in a state of the real estate industry discussion Saturday at the 2009 NAR Conference & Expo. Expansion of the tax credit to include repeat buyers will help boost middle-market sales next year, although mortgage financing above the $417,000 non-jumbo conforming loan limit will remain a challenge, according to J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. The improvement in the middle market will help tighten inventories, helping to shore up prices, but the upper-end market will continue to underperform until companies start hiring again.
http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/pages/News2009111705

Fed cracks down on overdraft fees

Central bank, beating Congress to the punch, issues rules to curtail banks practice of automatically enrolling consumers in overdraft protection programs.

Last Updated: November 12, 2009: 2:34 PM ET


Fed chair Ben Bernanke releases new rule on overdraft fees.
Are things really getting better?

Last quarter, the economy grew by the largest amount since the summer of 2007, but there are signs that things are still getting worse.
See gallery
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- The Federal Reserve on Thursday released a new rule to prohibit banks from automatically enrolling customers in overdraft protection programs, which charge fees when consumers spend more than they have.

Starting on July 1, 2010, all banks will have to ask their customers to opt in to overdraft protection plans for ATM and most debit card transactions.

Some banks charge as much as $39 when customers overdraw their bank account by even a few dollars.

"The final overdraft rules represent an important step forward in consumer protection," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a statement. "Both new and existing account holders will be able to make informed decisions about whether to sign up for an overdraft service."

Currently, more than 75% of banks automatically sign customers up for overdraft programs, according to a study by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The new rule only affects overdraft fee services on ATM and one-time debit transactions. Banks will still be allowed to automatically enroll customers in overdraft services for personal checks and automatic transactions like monthly bill payments.

5 evil things credit card firms can do to you
Congress is also weighing action to clamp down on overdraft fees. On the legislative agenda are proposals to force banks to ask customers before they automatically enroll them in overdraft programs.

The congressional bills are tougher than the Fed's rules.

The Senate would empower banking regulators to set overdraft fees in a way that is "reasonable and proportional" and disclose to consumers details about how an overdraft charge was incurred and what can be done to fix an account balance on the same day the overdraft fee is charged.

The House would cap the number of times banks can charge overdraft fees at three a year. It also would force banks to tell customers when an account is on the verge of being overdrawn, so they can decide whether a purchase is worth an overdraft fee.

Yet, the current congressional proposals wouldn't go into effect until one year after passage, though they would prohibit banks from increasing overdraft fees in the wait time.

0:00 /2:49Banks make a killing on fees
The Fed has been under fire for not paying enough attention to consumer protection. Separate from the overdraft legislation, Congress is proposing to strip the Fed of its consumer protection duties and create a separate consumer agency.

Lately the Fed has picked up the pace of its consumer protection activity. Last year, it approved a rule to rein in credit card fees, but Congress enacted credit card rules that will take effect in February before the Fed rules go into effect.

However, on Thursday, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Maloney, D-NY., generally praised the Fed's move.

"This is a long-overdue announcement for American consumers," said Dodd whose banking panel is scheduled to hold a hearing on overdraft fees next Tuesday. "Giving customers the chance to choose whether they want 'overdraft protection' is important, but we need to do far more to protect customers from abusive bank products."

For banks, overdraft fees are a big revenue generator because so many people rely on debit cards.

Some 75 out of 100 financial transactions are electronic, according to Moebs Services Inc., an economic research firm. The financial services industry is on track to make $38.5 billion this year on overdraft and non-sufficient fund fees, up 38% from $27.9 billion five years ago, Moebs estimates.

The banking industry was not pleased by the Fed's move.

"It radically changes and alters the overdraft services for consumers," said Scott Talbott, chief lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable. "The result will be confusion and embarrassment and frustration."

First Published: November 12, 2009: 12:19 PM ET

Denver bucks housing trend -

Homes in the Denver-Aurora metropolitan statistical areas overall gained 1.8% in the third quarter from the third-quarter 2008 - bucking a national trend of prices falling. According to a National Association of Realtors report, the 153 MSAs it tracks lost 11.2% overall. The Denver-Aurora area saw the median price in the third-quarter rise to $229,100 from $225,100. In Boulder, the median price fell 0.9% to $358,300 from $361,500. However, third-quarter home sales in Colorado were down 14.1% from the third-quarter of 2008, while overall sales increased 11.4% for the nation.
http://insiderealestatenews.com/2009/11/denver-bucks-housing-trend/

Make money in 2010: Your home

(Money Magazine) -- After three years of slumping house prices, the end of the real estate bust may finally be in sight. Home sales are rising, inventories are shrinking, and most economists believe values nationwide will hit bottom in the second half of the year -- but not before falling another 5% to 10% first.

Prices after that should stay mostly flat until 2012. "Next year will clearly be better than this year," says Mike Larson, a real estate analyst at Weiss Research. "Prices may drop a little more, but the lion's share of the damage is behind us."

One positive byproduct of the 30% plunge in prices since the 2006 peak: Houses are now more affordable than at any time in the past two decades, according to the National Association of Home Builders -- good news for anyone looking to buy.

Then too, mortgage rates, now at 5.15%, should stay low for the first few months, thanks in part to the Federal Reserve's ongoing purchase of mortgage-backed securities. But if the economy really picks up steam and inflation fears resurface in the second half of the year, rates could rise as high as 5.25% to 6.5%.

If you hope to sell your home or rebuild lost equity, there's new hope. One plus is that Congress has recently extended the first-time homebuyer credit, and even expanded it to include those with higher incomes and current homeowners.

But with layoffs high, defaults should remain problematic, hitting wealthy areas even harder next year, says Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR, a consulting firm. In fact, 30% of recent foreclosures were on higher-priced homes -- nearly double the 2006 rate.

Wild card: If the Fed stops buying mortgage securities in March as planned and private investors don't step up, rates could spike to 6% or higher sooner and faster than expected, slowing demand and pushing prices down.

Signs to watch: Steady growth in single-family housing permits (track it at census.gov) indicates that builders believe buyers are returning to the market.

The action plan
Buyers: Make your move now. Have you been on the sidelines waiting for prices to go lower before house shopping and bidding in earnest? Don't hold off much longer.

"The market will remain tilted in favor of the buyer over the next year, but that power will gradually be reduced as conditions in the housing market improve," says Larson at Weiss Research. You'll have plenty of homes to choose from as foreclosures continue to pile up and more homeowners list their houses in an improving market. Be sure to keep a close eye on mortgage rates. If they rise sharply as the Fed's mortgage buyback program draws to a close, act quickly to lock in a low fixed rate.

Anyone looking to buy or invest in a lower-priced, entry-level home should expect competition. Put down as much cash as possible (many investors are offering to make all-cash deals); come in below the listing price and there's a good chance you'll lose to another bidder.

But demand is much softer for middle- to top-tier homes, particularly those priced above $500,000. The supply is greater too, so you'll be in a stronger bargaining position. Offer at least 10% below what comparable homes have sold for lately (your realtor can supply this info). That way you won't take a hit if prices of higher-end homes fall another 10% or more, which is very likely, Shapiro says.

Sellers: Postpone listing your home, if possible. Sellers next year will be unloading property at what's likely to be the very bottom. Ouch. Hold out for a few more years, so you'll compete against fewer foreclosures, increasing the chances your home will fetch a higher price.

Delaying your sale isn't an option? Act fast before prices drop further. To expedite a sale, don't try to compete on price with foreclosures and short sales (when the bank allows owners to sell for less than they owe on their mortgage); most of the time, you can't win. Instead play up your home's strengths. Foreclosures typically need a lot of work, and short sales can take months. So make necessary repairs, throw in a paint job and new carpeting since buyers may be short on cash after the down payment, and offer a fast and flexible closing date. That will attract people willing to pay more for a home that's in move-in condition and a deal they can close quickly.

Owners: Look into refinancing, and rein in spending on home improvements. You're a prime candidate for refinancing if you have an adjustable-rate mortgage and will be in your home for at least five years. There's no reason to wait; you won't get a better deal than you will now.

As for fixing up the place, now's not the time to spend serious money; since prices aren't likely to snap back soon, you won't see much of a return on your investment. Focus on lower-cost cosmetic fixes, like painting and landscaping, and basic projects that improve functionality and design, such as adding molding or doing a basic bathroom remodel.

Denver home resales rebound in October

Metro Denver home resales increased in October from September, but were down from October of last year, according to a Metrolist housing report released Friday. Total October resales increased 2.9% from the month before to 3,958. Single-family home sales rose 1.7% to 3,052 in October from the previous month. During the same period, condo sales increased 7.22% to 906 from September. The average selling price for single-family homes in October was $261,771, while the average for condos was $161,451. The median selling price for houses last month was $222,000, compared to $135,000 for condos. Average days on the market for both types of home was 93 — a 3.13% drop from September and a 2.11% decrease from October 2008.
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/11/02/daily97.html

About jobs

9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Weatherize your home and get a tax credit

9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Weatherize your home and get a tax credit

Checkout the National Stress Index

http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_national/stress_index/index.html

Congress considers $3,500 tax credit for pet owners

Watch this space for updates!

Home sales contracts rise for 8th straight month

Home sales contracts rise for 8th straight month - The number of signed sales contracts to buy homes rose in September for the eighth straight month. The September Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) spiked 6.1% to 110.1. The index hasn't been this high since December 2006, when it stood at 112.8. The leap was far better than expected. A panel of analysts surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 1.2% rise. Analysts attribute much of the improvement to the government's first-time homebuyer tax credit program. It's estimated that between 200,000 and 400,000 additional sales will have been made because of the credit.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/02/real_estate/September_sales_contracts/index.htm?postversion=2009110210