Colorado ranked 11th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the home price appreciation during the second quarter of 2009, according the the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. The report shows that home values in Colorado increased 0.17 percent over the first quarter.

The Business Week magazine survey ranked Fort Collins number 19 among the nation's strongest housing markets! The report shows that 28.82 percent of homes in the area increased in value from the second quarter in 2008 to the second quarter in 2009. The report also states that Fort Collins "has excellent schools, low crime, and a vibrant downtown known as Old Town. It has miles of hiking and biking trails, 600 acres of parks, and 5,000 acres of natural areas." The survey in Business Week is based on data compiled by www.zillow.com.

The Larimer Home Ownership program is administered by the Housing Authority of the City of Loveland and offers down payment and closing cost assistance to low and moderate income families purchasing their first home.

The City of Fort Collins Home Buyers Assistance program is available for households financially ready to buy a home but do not have the funds in hand to cover down payment and closing costs.

Contact Team Cook for more information on statistics or programs available in the Northern Colorado area such as Berthoud, Loveland, Ft. Collins, Longmont, Boulder, Greeley and everything in between!

For the first time in five years, existing home sales have increased for four months in a row, according to an August report by the The National Association of Realtors® (NAR). Existing home sales - including single-family, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops - increased 7.2 percent in July, which is the largest monthly sales gain recorded since 1999. Analysts are projecting an increase in 2009 of existing home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units, which is 5 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace set in July 2008.

"The housing market has decisively turned for the better," said Lawrence Yun, chief NAR economist. "A combination of first-time buyers taking advantage of the housing stimulus tax credit and greatly improved affordability conditions are contributing to higher sales."

Located in the North West part of Loveland Colorado the official groundbreaking began for the Thompson School District's newest school, Ponderosa Elementary on July 23rd.

This will be Loveland's newest Elementary School and will cover 72,000 square feet and have anticipated for four classes per grade.

The school is expected to be completed in one year with plans to be ready for the 2010/2011 School year.

The current deadline for first-time homebuyers to take advantage of the $8000. tax credit is November 30th of 2009.

Team Cook has had several happy customers who have taken advantage of the tax credit and purchased their first home in the Loveland, Berthoud, Ft. Collins, Johnstown, Greeley and Longmont areas.

A group of home builders has gone to Congress and asked that the tax credit be extended for another year, as well as asking the credit to include those who also may be buying their second or third home.

Should this extension pass they are predicting this would help the economic recovery by creating an additional 350,000 jobs with new & existing homes.

"Housing historically has been a key factor in helping the economy pull out of a recession," says Bernard Markstein, senior economist for the NAHB. "Extending the credit will help reduce the supply of houses for sale, stabilize prices and return housing to its rightful place in the economy."

As of today the tax credit has not been extended which means we still have to work under the November 30th deadline. If you are a first-time homebuyer or have not purchased a home in the last 3 years, you still have time to take advantage of receiving $8,000!

Call Team Cook so we can help you purchase today...before it's gone tomorrow! 970-532-2695!