Riding the Real Estate Wave

Despite the media-driven economic panic around the country, Grand Junction's real estate market has managed to keep its head above water! This makes our community an exception to th current real estate rule, both statewide and nationally! While builders and developers are feeling dramatic dips, they're still constructing homes for growing numbers. Realtors experienced a slight downturn, according to our First Quarter Stats, and sellers have been forced to be patient - but compared to the nation, Grand Junction is fortunate, thanks to a stable economy. Advice to buyers...if you are even thinking that a home purchase is in your future, I suggest you kick it into gear... these terrific prices and low interest rates are not going to be around forever. I can recommend a handful of solid lenders for you to chose from! Call me anytime to discuss buying or selling!

Save money - plant a garden

Can we garden our way out of this hole? Just a few years ago, the road to riches was clear. We could all sit on our porches drinking mint juleps while our houses appreciated 30% a year. Now, our houses are falling in value by 30% a year. Forget about them. The real money maker, it turns out, was always our backyard. By planting a vegetable garden, we can slash our food bill while eating healthier.

Grand Junction Real Estate Affordability

Housing affordability is the best it has been in 38 years, and the monthly cost of homeownership has fallen 43% from the peak in this housing cycle, according to research released this week by Real Estate Consulting.
"Once the word gets out that homeownership is less expensive than renting, which is now also true in 54 of the 88 markets where we track this information, we expect buying activity to increase substantially (even in a horrible economy)," the firm said in a newsletter sent out this week. The firm's clients include home builders, developers, lenders, equity investors and product manufacturers.

Grand Junction, Colorado voted one of the best places to live

Read more real-estate news in this week's pages, including the best places to live in 2009. Plus, read why it's looking even more attractive to buy a home today.
It's looking especially attractive if you're a first-time buyer or investor -- they're driving the market today, due to increased home affordability.
Rates on long-term mortgages are lower than short-term home loans, according to Freddie Mac's latest weekly survey of conforming rates, released on Thursday.

What is so special about Grand Junction, CO?

We spend a great deal of time looking at numbers, trends and analysis and have noticed that Grand Junction, despite the troubled economy, has shown a 4.9% growth in the median home value since this time last year. As the national economy continues to struggle – the U.S. is down 9% compared to this time last year — Grand Junction continues to grow. The initial theory of Grand Junction’s growth revolved around the ski industry, mostly because that’s why folks move to Colorado. Aspen and Snowmass are more than two hours away, which is not an efficient commute for mountain staffing. There are a few smaller ski areas closer but hardly enough to explain Grand Junction’s growth. So, what is it that makes Grand Junction so special? After some digging it became clear, but first, let me provide some background.
Grand Junction and the western slope of Colorado have the largest concentration of oil shale in the world. Oil shale can be mined and processed to produce oil. It’s much more expensive to produce oil from oil shale, but in the gas crisis of the 70’s, Exxon set up shop in Grand Junction to do just that. However, when the crisis concluded and traditional means of getting oil became more affordable, Exxon left as fast as it arrived. Twenty-five years ago, Exxon pulled out of Grand Junction on what became known as Black Sunday, and left 2,100 workers without jobs. Black Sunday plunged the Western Slope — including Grand Junction’s economy — into a depression that took many years to recover. Understandably, Grand Junction is reluctant to get excited about the latest boom.
Interestingly enough, the Piceance Basin, located northwest of Grand Junction, is an energy rich formation loaded with natural gas. Natural gas — unlike the oil shale — is a commodity that may be more sustainable. And it doesn’t hurt that most of the money is private compared to the government-subsidized oil shale project of the 70s. It’s unclear if there is a rebirth in the oil shale mining projects from the past, but it does seem that natural gas reserves are a bit safer than the oil boom of the 70s.
As the national unemployment rate is rising, Grand Junction is busy recruiting workers out of state in an effort to fill energy-related jobs. According to the Denver Post, as of July 2008, Halliburton, an oil field services company, had 100 open positions with an average annual salary of $50,000. As the number of jobs increases, the available rental properties drops and the need for new housing increases.
What’s so special about Grand Junction? … It has GAS!

The sky is not falling in Grand Junction, Colorado!

Companies who wish to survive the economic downturn could do their businesses a favor by diversifying their operations.
About half the businesses that responded said they see opportunities for increased market share or new competitive advantages.
Businesses that are on solid ground, however, seem to be well-situated to survive the national storm.
Those that are going under weren’t in good shape to begin with.
According to the snapshot of the economy, the sky is not falling, just see beyond the gray cloud!
Dean Massey, regional president of Wells Fargo for western Colorado and chairman of the board of directors of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, agreed that for businesses to survive the down economy, they must adapt.
They need to conserve liquidity and capital while remaining open for business.
In a recession, companies cut back on spending, which causes the economy to slump even more.
The mood of the economy needs to turn positive, and that’s the only thing that can stop it.
Colorado’s economy is stronger than the nation as a whole, and the Western Slope has fared better than other areas of the state.
We need to realize there are some strengths out here, and we need to capitalize on that.
As always, I invite you to pose comments or questions here!

Satisfaction with life in Mesa County increasing

Results from a recent poll of Mesa County residents are in and according to the county’s latest Citizen Attitude Survey, almost 80 percent of responders rate the quality of life in Mesa County as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. The survey also indicates a solid majority is also satisfied with the overall quality of services provided by the Mesa County government.The survey was administered by the ETC Institute, a company that conducts similar surveys elsewhere in the country. A company spokeswoman says with the current economy, many governments are seeing significant declines in their citizens’ opinions of their services but that Mesa County’s results are unusually positive.Areas that saw significant improvement since the last survey in 2007 include: believing Mesa County is good place to raise a family, recreation, ease of travel, condition of major roads, employment, growth management and quality of law enforcement. “These improvements haven’t come at the expense of other services,” says County Commissioner Craig Meis. “We’re still doing well in other areas. To me, that means we’re spending our dollars in the right places.”Most of the questions in the survey also show Mesa County is doing better than the regional or national averages,” says County Commissioner Janet Rowland. “On average, sixteen percent more of our citizens rate county services as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ than citizens in other counties around the Rocky Mountain region.”
As always, I invite you to post comments or questions here.