The program, which was cited by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last week as one way to address the housing crisis, would sell foreclosed homes now owned by Fannie Mae (FNMA, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FMCC, Fortune 500) to investors in bulk. The properties would then be converted into rentals.

The initiative began back in August, when the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced they were seeking suggestions on ways to dispose of repossessed homes now owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.

In addition to getting the properties off the government's books, officials are hoping putting the homes back into productive use will stabilize neighborhoods and housing values. Also, it is looking to expand the supply of rentals, which are increasingly in demand.

The agency is not releasing details on how the rental program would work, instead saying it is "proceeding prudently but with a sense of urgency to lay the groundwork for the development of good initial transactions in early 2012."

Administration officials said they are continuing to work with the agency to develop the program.

Housing, stocks, gold and oil: Hot or not in 2012?

Until now, most foreclosed homes have been sold individually because investors have demanded bigger discounts to buy large numbers of properties.

But federal officials are warily eyeing the expected surge in foreclosures as banks ramp up their action against delinquent homeowners. The process had been stalled since late 2010 when banks' shoddy paperwork practices came to light.

There are close to 2 million homes in the late stages of delinquency, according to Lender Processing Services. Since foreclosed properties often sell below market value, they can wreak havoc on home prices.

Converting these homes to rentals can both help the neighborhood and minimize losses to Fannie, Freddie and the FHA, which hold about 250,000 properties, Bernanke told lawmakers last week.

He urged lawmakers to ramp up their efforts to fix the housing market, placing particular emphasis on the problem of vacant homes on the market.

"Restoring the health of the housing market is a necessary part of a broader strategy for economic recovery," he said.

Bernanke's comments launched a full-court press by Federal Reserve officials last week to raise awareness of the continuing problems plaguing the housing market.

His proposals were quickly followed by Fed Governors Sarah Bloom Raskin, who spoke on ramping up enforcement of mortgage servicers, and Elizabeth Duke, who said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could do more to help heal the housing market.

Meanwhile, New York Fed President William Dudley gave a speech that touched on a wide range of housing policies -- including principal reduction and mortgage refinancing -- that he believes will boost the economy.

The Fed has already tried to boost real estate sales by pushing mortgage rates down to record lows through massive bond-buying programs.

But the renewed push for housing help indicates that the Fed, which has basically run out of monetary policy ammunition to revive the real estate market, is urging the federal government to ramp up its efforts.

"The Federal Reserve is signaling in even stronger terms the need for the government to do more to help housing," said Jaret Seiberg, a policy analyst with the Washington Research Group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9frmEv-vPA&feature=share

Call or email to discuss

roberts@cooldenverhomes.com

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01/03/2012 By: Carrie Bay

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For the first time in years, builders have something to smile about in the coming market; Denver's a 'sweet spot'

Oakwood Homes President Pat Hamill shows his new Fairway Villas models at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. Designed for 55-and-older buyers, they re bringing us unbelievable traffic, he said.

Builder Dave Mandarich, with 35 business years and 167,000 homes behind him, is putting a pencil to Colorado's indicators for 2012 and likes what he sees. "People are more confident," he said from Richmond American's headquarters in the Denver Tech Center. "They really don't want to be renters, they're feeling better about jobs, and rates are at a career low." Adding those up, Richmond American is launching a new model series -- and opening the throttles a little at master-planned locations such as Banning Lewis Ranch near Colorado Springs.

With lots of depth in markets that are bigger than Colorado's even in a bad year, Richmond American is sensing a "sweet spot" here - and other builders are nodding their heads in

Richmond American Homes American Dream collection will be priced from $199,950, with a large bedroom count and lots of standard features, including granite

counters.

agreement.

"We're fortunate having a market that's stabilized," says Pat Hamill, whose Oakwood Homes ranks third behind Richmond in total sales, but is Colorado's largest privately-held builder and highest seller-per-community. That includes Thompson River Ranch, a master-plan in Loveland's I-25/Centerra corridor, which Hamill says is top-seller in northern Colorado, benefitting from new NASA jobs and other arrivals.

"The whole housing market got the swine flu," Hamill reflected; "but now local markets are emerging. We're seeing lower inventory, net in-migration of around 38,000 (in Denver metro), and huge positive job growth -- the first in four years. Consumer indices show people are starting to feel better."

In addition to some job growth, all builders are focused on the favorable inventory side - down drastically over 2010 according to market analyst Jack O'Connor with The Denver 100, whose latest report shows metro Denver's 8,854 active homes-for-sale as having dropped a whopping 36.5% over the year. They're also, adds Hamill, noting the fact that the so many builder-competitors disappeared during that four-year drought - around 40% to 45% of the competing market, he says.

For Oakwood, that's expected to render around 40% more sales in 2012, showcased from nine new communities Hamill expects to open (a few will also close as they reach sell-out). But while Richmond's Mandarich sees the best opportunities at the low end where inventory is lowest (his new American Dream series is priced from just $199,950), Hamill and other builders are watching for openings in the pricier move-up and move-down product ranges, as well.

"We view re-sales as our primary competition," says David Bracht, Lennar's Colorado Division president, adding that many homes for sale in the supply-side have terrible energy bills and other deficiencies that could eventually cost a buyer between $10,000 and $30,000 in remediation. "We're trying to have homes available for anybody in the market," Bracht added. That includes in Denver's Southeast corridor, where Lennar is feeling good about its offerings that edge into the $300,000 to $500,000 range, many with upgrades such as hardwood floors, fancier cabinets and smart-home features included in the price.

Dan Nickless, president of Ryland's Colorado division agrees, showing new offerings around Boulder-Louisville, northern Colorado, and Castle Rock. "Some of the inventory you see out there are marginal properties. The more people can move from their existing properties, the more that gives them the opportunity to get into a new home, with a more livable floorplan as well as more energy efficiency."

Mark Samuelson writes on real estate and business; you can email him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com.

Stock market closes up 135 points on new-home deals and job growth prospects

The Commerce Department​ says the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the July-September quarter. That was the fastest growth this year, up from 1.3 percent in the April-June quarter. But it was down slightly from last month's estimate that the economy was expanding at a 2 percent rate in the summer.

The government now estimates that consumer spending grew at a 1.7 percent annual rate last summer, instead of 2.3 percent. The updated estimate reflects data showing less spending on hospitals.

Economists think the economy is growing at an annual rate of more than 3 percent in the final three months of this year. That would be the fastest pace since a 3.8 percent performance in the spring of 2010.

Among the positive factors are a brightening job market, strong holiday shopping, further gains in factory production and cheaper gas prices, which leave consumers with more money to spend on other items.

Stronger growth would be needed to significantly drive down the unemployment rate. Unemployment did fall to 8.6 percent last month after remaining around 9 percent for 2 1/2 years. The rate is now the lowest since March 2009, two months after President Barack Obama took office. Unemployment passed 9 percent that spring and had stayed there or higher for all but two months since then.

Still, Obama faces a re-election vote in less than a year and a presidential campaign that will turn on the economy. He may face voters next fall with the highest unemployment of a sitting president seeking election since World War II​. Unemployment was 7.8 percent when Obama took office in January 2009.

There are also threats that could derail the economy's modest recovery. The biggest is Europe, where the 17 nations that use the common euro currency are struggling to deal with debt problems and keep their currency union together. Many economists are already worried that Europe has entered another recession, which would be bad news for U.S. companies that export to that region.

Another source of uncertainty for 2012 is what Congress will end up doing about extending the Social Security payroll tax cut. The tax cut, which benefits 160 million Americans, is set to expire Jan. 1. Also expiring on Jan. 1 will be extended unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed.

If lawmakers don't renew the tax cut and the extended benefits, it could lower economic growth by as much a full percentage point in 2012.

Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics, said that he is forecasting economic growth of 2.6 percent for 2012 if the tax cut and extended benefits are renewed. But if those programs are allowed to lapse, Zandi predicted the economy will only manage to grow by 1.7 percent next year, a lackluster pace that would match what many analysts expect for all of 2011.

The third-quarter pickup in growth came even though incomes after taxes fell at a 1.9 percent rate in the July-September period. It was the sharpest decline in two years, reflecting still-high unemployment and lower pay raises.

The government's last look at economic growth in the third quarter showed that the economy received a boost not only from a pickup in consumer spending but also from a surge in business investment on equipment and software. Such investment grew at an annual rate of 16.2 percent.

Trade was also a positive factor as growth in U.S. exports outpaced imports. But government spending fell at an annual rate of 0.1 percent. The decline reflected sharp cutbacks as state and local governments cope with budget problems.

Buyers: Expect to see less choice on the market. The metro area has been struggling with having enough supply of homes all year, and at Christmas, inventory drops even further. Many sellers will take their home off the market in December because they dont want to be bothered with showings when guests and relatives are visiting. The holidays are busy enough and keeping your home in show-ready condition to sell can make life harder. There’s good news here though for buyers. Homes on the market over Christmas are motivated sellers. You may be able to negotiate a better deal at this time of the year than during peak selling season.

Sellers: You may be asking yourself, does anyone go to look at and buy homes in December? The answer is yes, and only the serious ones. Most of the time, people looking at homes over the holidays are the ones that must buy now, like a relocation client that needs to start work Jan. 2nd. If you get a showing over the next four weeks, at least you can rest assured that its probably not a looky-loo. The other option here is for you to take the home off the market for 30 days and take a break. The rest might be good for you. Put the home back on the market after the first of the year, you’ll get a new MLS #, and it will appear as a new listing. The real estate business should pick up again around the 15th of January.

The 37th annual parade will showcase three-person Kusogea Nobi Drum Ensemble for the first time. The Denver-based group will perform on a roughly 12-by-6 trailer, which organizers built for the group.

In addition, performers from nonprofit Boulder Samba School are slated to perform for the first time in the parade.

The groups will join existing cultural performers Colorado Mestizo Dancers, Japanese drum ensemble Denver Taiko and, tomorrow only, Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu.

“It’s part of an outreach that we have to make sure that the parade is really embracing the cultural and ethnic diversity of our community,” said Susan Rogers Kark, vice president of the Downtown Denver Partnership. “It was something that we felt would really add to it.”

Bob Hall, director of the Kusogea Nobi Drum Ensemble, said

the parade’s inclusion of various cultural performances will showcase a “little flavor of home, so to speak.” wherever the performers are from. He said: “It’s basically universal pulse.”

9News Parade of Lights

WHEN: The parade, which will feature more than 40 entries, will be at 8 p.m. Friday, December 2, and 6 p.m. Saturday, December 3.

WHERE: Route includes Tremont Place and 17th, Arapahoe and 15th streets.

For more, go to: www.denverparadeoflights.com

Matthew Rodriguez at 303-954-2409 or mrodriguez@denverpost.com

Front Range oil bonanza could mean billions in revenues for Colorado

Large drums fill up with oil in a farmers field in Weld County in this March, 2010 Denver Post file photo. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

(Click to enlarge)

Colorado's Front Range​ is sitting on top of as much as a billion barrels of oil, which could inject $4 billion a year in revenues into Colorado's economy, according to one estimate.

Houston-based Anadarko made the oil-reserve estimate based on 11 horizontal wells it drilled in the Wattenberg Field in Weld County.

The company put the range of the reserves as equivalent to 500 million to 1.5 billion barrels of oil — about 70 percent of the production in oil, the rest in natural gas.

"This is going to have huge implications for the economy of Colorado," said Pete Stark, vice president for industry relations at IHS, a Denver-based consulting firm.

A reserve that size could generate 150,000 barrels a day and, assuming oil is $80 a barrel, provide more than $4 billion in annual revenues, Stark estimated.

The total value of goods and services produced in the state in 2010 was $235.15 billion.

"Anadarko's announcement today shows once again that Colorado is a leader in the energy sector of our country's economy," Gov. John Hickenlooper said in a statement Monday. "We are thrilled to see the company plan a significant investment in Colorado."

Anadarko's wells had initial production averages of 800 barrels a day — with the best well producing 1,100 barrels a day.

The wells were drilled in the Niobrara formation, which is more than 6,000 feet deep and runs from El Paso County to the Wyoming border.

To get oil from the shale layer, companies drill horizontally through a formation and "hydrofracture" the well — pumping in water, sand and chemicals under pressure to break up the rock.

Anadarko said it also found oil in the neighboring Codell formation. While a "significant" shale discovery, it is smaller than the 9 billion-barrel reserve in North Dakota's Bakken Field, Stark said.

Anadarko plans to quadruple its drilling pace to 160 wells a year and drill between 1,200 and 2,700 wells in the Wattenberg Field.

The cost of each well has averaged between $4 million and $5 million, said John Christian sen, an Anadarko spokesman.

The Anadarko estimate is just for the 100-square-mile Wattenberg Field, which includes Weld County and small parts of Adams, Broomfield, Boulder and Larimer counties.

Anadarko is also doing exploratory drilling in Arapahoe County, and Chesapeake Energy​ has filed plans to drill in Elbert and Douglas counties.

Ultra Petroleum is set to drill exploration wells in El Paso County.

"The Anadarko results don't say anything about the prospects to the south," said Ward Polzin, a managing director at Tudor, Picking & Co., an energy investment bank.

The Wattenberg was always seen as the most promising area, Polzin said.

"What this does is give drillers through the area more confidence," Polzin said.

The prospect of accelerated drilling raises concerns among environmental groups.

"The announcement is a mixed bag," said Gary Wockner, director of the Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund in Colorado. "Every well that is drilled takes more water and poses pollution from fracking fluids."

"We think the economics of these wells are very good," Christiansen said.

Anadarko holds interests in more than 350,000 net acres in the Wattenberg Field and operates more than 5,200 existing wells.

Outside the Wattenberg, Anadarko holds another 550,000 acres in Colorado.

Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com

Homes on market in metro Denver dropped in October as sales jumped

(Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

The number of homes on the market plunged 27.7 percent in October compared with the same month a year ago, according to data released Wednesday.

There were 15,794 homes on the market last month, compared with 21,851 in October last year, according to an analysis of Metrolist data by real estate consultant Gary Bauer.

That's sparking concern that the number of transactions will drop sharply in November, December and January.

"The active-listing inventory is a new low for the year," Bauer said. "Existing home owners are taking a wait-and-see attitude and may not put their homes on the market until spring. If there's no inventory out there, why are you going to look?"

Meanwhile, the number of homes sold in October jumped 12 percent compared with the same month last year, according to the report.

Last month, 3,183 homes sold, compared with 2,842 sold during October last year, the report showed.

For the year to date, the number of homes sold remained flat, with a total of 33,163 sold this year compared with 33,128 last year.

Meanwhile, the median price for a single- family home showed a 1.8 percent year-over- year decline, from $230,250 last year to $226,021 last month.

Median condo prices increased 1.2 percent to $125,000, up from $123,500 in October 2010.

Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com

Real estate officials say annual sales from 2009 and 2010 will be easily topped this year. Real estate officials say total sales topped $1 billion in October, an increase of 19 percent over the same period last year.

In September alone, 86 real estate transactions were valued at more than $137 million.

However, it isn't all good news. According to the Aspen Daily Times ( http://bit.ly/rt8WAR), Land Title Guarantee Co.'s report noted there were 45 bank sales of property in Pitkin County for a total of $30 million through the first three quarters of 2011.

Last month, 3,183 homes sold, compared with 2,842 sold during October last year, according to an analysis of Metrolist Inc. data conducted by real estate consultant Gary Bauer.

For the year to date, the number of homes sold remained flat, with a total of 33,163 sold this year compared to 33,128 last year.

Meanwhile, the median price for a single-family home showed a 1.8 percent year-over-year decline, from $230,250 last year to $226,021 last month.

Median condo prices increased 1.2 percent to $125,000, up from $123,500 last October.

The number of homes on the market in October plunged 27.7 percent to 15,794, compared to 21,851 for the same month last year.

Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com

To kick off this Halloween season, we have chosen 10 homes in the U.S. notorious for their haunted history and spirits who like to visit. Some are privately owned homes, some are now bed-and-breakfasts, some have historic designations, and one is even the seat of our government.

Take a deep breath and let's visit some of the most notable haunted homes in the U.S.

Courtesy of Zillow

 

Winchester House
Location: San Jose, Calif.
Notable ghost: Sarah Winchester

As one of two homes in California sanctioned by the U.S. Commerce Department as being haunted (the other is the Whaley House, below), the magnificent Winchester House stands alone as perhaps the most bizarre haunted home in the U.S. It was inspired and designed by Sarah Winchester, widow of William Winchester, founder of Winchester rifles. Legend goes that Sarah was deeply affected by the deaths of her daughter, Annie, in 1866 and then her husband, William, in 1881. Sarah consulted a medium who instructed her to build a house to ward off evil spirits. Construction on the Winchester House started in 1884 and continued for 38 years — until Sarah's death in 1922.

Sarah reportedly held nightly seances to gain guidance from spirits and her dead husband for the home's design. What resulted was a maze-like residence full of twisting and turning hallways, dead-ends, secret panels, a window built into a floor, staircases leading to nowhere, doors that open to walls, upside-down columns, and rooms built, then intentionally closed off — all to ward off and confuse evil spirits.

dbking  /  Flickr photo

 

Lizzie Borden House
Location: Fall River, Mass.
Notable ghosts: Andrew and Abby Borden

Who killed Andrew and Abby Borden with an ax on the morning of Aug. 4, 1892 in this Fall River, Mass., home? To this day, no one truly knows. Lizzie Borden, the daughter of Andrew and stepdaughter of Abby, became the prime suspect and eventually, the subject of a popular children's rhyme.

Andrew was a widowed cabinet-maker and had two daughters, Lizzie and Emma Lenora. In 1865, he married Abby Durfee Gray and then in 1872, he bought the home so he could be closer to the city's downtown district. Reports say the Bordens were not a loving family unit and the stresses of step relatives created much tension in the house, which were only escalated by the Borden girls' fears that their father was bequeathing his assets and property to the stepmother's side of the family. Lizzie was indicted for the crime, and then acquitted by a jury. It was the trial of the century. She and her sister eventually moved to a home on French Street, and the murder home is now a bed-and-breakfast where Andrew and Abby are said to still roam.

Courtesy of Zillow

 

LaLaurie Mansion
Location: New Orleans, La.
Notable ghosts: Victims of Madame LaLaurie

Horrific stories of torture and abuse inflicted on slaves who worked in this house were reported in the 1830s and the abuser was said to be Madame Delphine LaLaurie, a socialite of great wealth and prominence in New Orleans. Delphine and her husband, Dr. Louis LaLaurie, would host elaborate parties at the house, but soon, stories of vicious cruelty emerged. In one tale, Delphine was whipping the child of a slave when the child broke away and ran to the roof, falling to her death. But the turning point came when a fire broke out in the mansion and when help arrived, they witnessed horrific scenes of punishment and torture inflicted on the slaves. Delphine fled, never to be seen again.

The home has undergone many changes and owners over the years, with one of the most recent owners actor Nicolas Cage. Cage said of the LaLaurie house, "You know, other people have beachfront property; I have ghost-front property." Unfortunately, Cage lost the property in a foreclosure auction.

Courtesy of Zillow

 

The White House
Location: Washington, D.C.
Notable ghosts: Abigail Adams, Abraham Lincoln

It makes sense that a home this old and with so much history has a lot of ghosts. Abigail Adams, wife of second president John Adams, is considered to be the "oldest" ghost in the White House since she and John were the first to live in the big, drafty home that was still unfinished when they moved in on Nov. 1, 1800. She was known to hang her laundry in the East Room and is still "spotted" there to this day. But perhaps the most notable ghost is 16th president Abraham Lincoln, who reportedly had psychic powers and even anticipated his assassination days before. Many former presidents, residents and heads of state have seen Lincoln or felt his presence throughout the White House, including British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, who fainted at the sight of him.

Other famous ghosts include Dolley Madison, who stands watch over her Rose Garden; seventh president Andrew Jackson has been heard laughing in the Rose Bedroom; third president Thomas Jefferson plays his violin in the Yellow Oval Room; ninth president William Henry Harrison haunts the White House attic; and British soldiers are seen walking the hallways.

Tabitha Kaylee Hawk  /  Flickr photo

 

Franklin Castle
Location: Cleveland
Notable ghosts: Babies crying

Finally, a haunted home that really looks haunted. Complete with a tower, turrets, balconies, stone outcroppings, gargoyles, wrought-iron fixtures and fences, this imposing, Gothic-style Franklin Castle is said to be Ohio's most haunted home. It was built in 1860 for Hannes Tiedemann, an immigrant from Germany who became a wholesale grocer-turned-banker. Depending on who you believe, Tiedemann was either an evil tyrant who had a hand in mysterious deaths that occurred in the home between 1865-1895 — including the deaths of three babies — or he was a decent and hard-working man, but faced unfortunate circumstances. There have been many owners of the home including a German singing society and a church group.

Presently, it is owned by an Internet businesswoman who wanted to renovate the home, turn it into a B&B and hold "haunted mystery weekends" — but a fire in 1999 derailed her plans. It is rumored that Franklin Castle will be listed soon. In the market for a haunted house? Amenities include sounds of footsteps, babies crying, and doors slamming … and no one's there. How many agents dare to appear for this broker's open house?

Cranston Historical Society

 

Sprague Mansion
Location: Cranston, R.I.
Notable ghosts: Amasa Sprague, Charlie the butler

One of Cranston's most prosperous families, the Sprague family, owned Cranston Print Works, a textile mill that was the first to make calico prints and help pioneer chemical bleaching. When William Sprague died in 1836, he left the business to his two sons, Amasa and William II. Amasa concentrated on the family business while William II focused on politics, serving as a U.S. Representative, governor and U.S. Senator. On Dec. 31, 1843, Amasa was found shot and beaten on the road between his textile mill and his mansion. A man was hanged for the crime, but later found to be innocent. The true killer was never found. The Sprague family's fortunes eventually faded and the Sprague Mansion changed ownership many times until the Cranston Historical Society saved it from demolition in 1967.

Hauntings of the mansion most often observed include Amasa in the wine cellar and a spirit thought to be "Charlie the butler" descending the main stairway. Legend goes that Charlie's hopes and dreams of riches were dashed when his daughter did not marry the wealthy homeowner's son.

San Francisco Properties

 

Chambers Mansion
Location: San Francisco
Notable ghost: Claudia

In the prestigious Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco is the Chambers Mansion, which was built in 1887 and named after its first owner, Richard Chambers, who was a silver mine tycoon. Legend goes that Chambers lived here with his two nieces who hated each other. When Chambers died in 1901, the nieces inherited the mansion. One reportedly bought the house next door and moved in while the other sister, Claudia, stayed. Claudia reportedly loved pigs but met her fate one day when she was nearly cut in half from what her family called a "farm implementation accident."

Ghost expert Jim Fassbinder, who conducts haunted home tours in San Francisco, "claims that an insane member of the Chambers family, who was kept in the attic, chased Claudia downstairs into the Josephine room and killed her." The mansion was eventually converted to the Mansion Hotel in 1977, where celebs such as Barbra Streisand, Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams stayed. Many guests have reported strange occurrences while staying there.

Read more: Fannie, Freddie could stop losing money by 2014 - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_19208070#ixzz1c2NsrRcK
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General Electric’s selection of Aurora for a state-of-the-art solar-panel manufacturing plant breathes new life into a clean-energy sector in Colorado that has been battered by economic turmoil, global competition and shifting political priorities. GE will begin retrofitting an existing warehouse near Interstate 70 and Tower Road in January and start producing panels next year at the $300 million PrimeStar Solar plant, which will employ 355 people. “With a PrimeStar fabrication plant here, you see a really strong cluster of solar companies emerging in Colorado,” said Chris-tine Shapard, executive director of the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association. “GE wouldn’t have picked Colorado if we hadn’t had the workforce and the talent that they need. That differentiates Colorado from many other states.” Solar companies operating here include Longmont-based Abound Solar, Thornton-based Ascent Solar Technologies and Denver-based Abengoa Solar, which is owned by a Spanish company. The state also is home to the SolarTAC research park in Aurora. “This is big business, and we are ready to take it mainstream here in Colorado,” Gov. John Hickenlooper said Thursday about GE’s bet on solar in the state. He spoke to a crowd of roughly 1,000 at the Aurora Economic Development Council’s annual dinner at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Denver. New York had been Colorado’s primary competition for the PrimeStar Solar plant. Colorado won because it had a technology head start and a facility that could quickly be turned into a factory, said Victor Abate, head of GE’s renewable-energy business. The technology to be used in the factory was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden and PrimeStar, an Arvada-based company GE bought in April. State economic development officials also identified a warehouse in Aurora that could be converted into a factory with annual production capacity of 400 megawatts of solar panels, enough to power 80,000 homes. “We could take the talent we had here, and we found a facility we could make work so we could get to market sooner,” Abate said. Abate said construction would start on the country’s largest thin-film solar plant in January and be producing panels for the market in 2013. GE will invest $300 million to retrofit and expand a 200,000-square-foot former L’Oreal Worldwide warehouse in the Majestic Commercenter. The company hopes to double the building’s size within the next two years. Many states interested When GE announced in April plans to build the plant — using technology developed by Colorado startup Prime-Star — it set off a pitched battle among 10 states. At the end it came down to Colorado and New York, which made a very generous bid, according to Colorado development officials. “There was a tremendous amount of interest across the country,” Abate said. Aurora will provide GE with up to $20 million in tax rebates on manufacturing equipment and sales taxes, provided GE makes the purchases. Adams County will rebate up to $6 million in personal property taxes. The state will provide $2 million, most of it for job training. The factory will be “highly automated, sophisticated, clean-room technology,” Abate said. It will provide a range of operations, inventory control and maintenance jobs. “It is a very high-tech thing,” he said. GE already has 1,200 employees in Colorado at its energy-services division in Greenwood Village, a medical-systems manufacturing facility in Englewood, an analytic instrument manufacturing plant in Boulder and an office for its control solutions services business in Longmont. In April, just after GE announced plans for the factory, Colorado’s congressional delegation, Hickenlooper and university leaders wrote a letter to GE highlighting the state’s commitment to renewable energy. “As state and federal collaboration can facilitate innovative economic opportunities such as GE’s proposal, we stand ready to provide any additional help to attract this facility to Colorado,” the letter said. PrimeStar was created in 2006 by Ken Zweibel, who worked at NREL for 25 years; Joe Beach, a Colorado School of Mines physics professor; and Fred Seymour, former director of technology for Newmont Mining. The company received $6 million in private capital, $780,000 from NREL and $3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. GE took a minority stake in 2007. Industry difficulties Three U.S. solar-panel makers have filed for bankruptcy in the past three months. The highest-profile failure was California-based Solyndra, which had received a $535 million federal loan guarantee. The problem solar-panel makers face is declining prices in traditional silicon solar cells produced by subsidized Chinese manufacturers. GE will employ thin-film technology that applies a micro-layer of Cadmium telluride on a flexible substrate to create a solar cell. Positioning Colorado as a leader in clean energy was a priority of former Gov. Bill Ritter, but the effort lost momentum after the economic downturn and change in administration. Ritter said Thursday that credit goes to Hickenlooper for landing the GE plant. The effort began more than two years ago. He noted that tax credits created in 2009 helped lure GE and Arrow Electronics, which is moving its headquarters to Arapahoe County. “At the time, we believed the two things would work together — the tax credit and the new energy economy,” he said. “It allows companies to create high-paying jobs in a burgeoning industry.” Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com  ; Greg Griffin: 303-954-1241 or ggriffin@denverpost.com  

Gov. John Hickenlooper listens as Victor Abate, head of General Electric’s renewable-energy business, speaks at the Aurora Economic Development Council’s annual dinner Thursday. Karl Gehring, The Denver Post

The number of metro Denver homes on the market reached a new low in September, plunging 26.5 percent compared with a year ago as many homeowners decided now is a bad time to sell, according to Metrolist data released Monday. The economy, foreclosures and short sales still on the market and the difficulty buyers have qualifying for a loan are among the reasons the inventory plummeted to 17,139 homes for sale last month, said independent real-estate consultant Gary Bauer. “Right now, there is the appearance that the home sellers are saying, ‘With everything that’s going on, I’m not going to put my home on the market because I will not have multiple choices to look at when I sell my home,’ ” Bauer said. Even so, the number of homes sold in metro Denver in September jumped 12.8 percent compared with the same month a year ago, according to data released Monday. But the 3,337 homes sold was 16 percent less than the 3,973 homes sold in August. “School’s back in, people are getting settled and that affects sales,” said David Simonson, a broker for ReMax Professionals LLC. “I can’t picture that being a trend. I won’t read a whole lot into one month’s numbers.” The median price for a home in metropolitan area was $229,804, down 2.2 percent from August and essentially flat compared with the same month a year ago. “Prices are very reasonable,” Bauer said. “We haven’t seen any major adjustments.”

By Les ChristieOctober 7, 2011: 7:26 AM ET

 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The percentage of Americans who owned their homes has seen its biggest decline since the Great Depression, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The rate of home ownership fell to 65.1% in April 2010, 1.1 percentage points lower than it was in 2000. The decline was the biggest drop since the 1930s, when home ownership plunged 4.2%.

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The most recent decade-over-decade drop, however, only tells half the story.

Home ownership during the 2000s "was really high in the middle of the decade, up to almost 70% at one point around 2004," said Ellen Wilson, a survey statistician with the bureau.

The crash from that peak was more than 4 percentage points in just about five years -- a far more dramatic decline than the 1.1% drop over the 10-year period.

A rough 10 years for the middle class

Certain regions have been hit harder than others. The West had the lowest home ownership rate at 60.5%, while the Midwest had the highest rate at 69.2%.The South came in at 66.7% and the Northeast at 62.2%.

Among the states, New York had the lowest home ownership rate of 53.3%, but the District of Columbia's home ownership rate was below that at 42%.

West Virginia (73.4%) led the way with the highest home ownership rate, while Minnesota (73%), Michigan, Delaware and Iowa (all 72.1%) were also well above the norm.

Number of vacant homes grows by 44%

Thanks to the housing bust there has been a substantial increase in empty homes. The number of vacant housing units jumped an astonishing 43.8% to 15 million (or 11.4% of all housing units) in 2010, up from 10.4 million in 2000.

During that 10-year period, the number of homes in the U.S. increased by 16 million to 131.7 million housing units, according to Census.

0:00 / 04:59 Squatters move into foreclosed home

Many Sun-Belt states suffered large vacancy increases. In Nevada, ground zero for foreclosures over the past few years, vacancies grew nearly 120% to 14.3% of all homes. Georgia vacancies jumped 82.7%, Florida's 62.6% and Arizona's 61%.

Although vacancies in Maine grew by only 23%, the state had the highest percentage of vacant homes overall at 22.8%. Vermont was close behind with 20.5% of its homes empty. Florida was third with 17.5%.

Foreclosure backlog deepens

Many of the nation's residents have also become renters, especially in large metropolitan areas.

Of the 10 largest cities, New York had the highest ratio with a whopping 69% of all homes in the five boroughs -- Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island -- occupied by renters. Los Angeles had a 61.5% rental rate and Dallas was 55.9%.

San Jose had the lowest percentage of renters for any of the 10 largest cities with just 41.5%. San Antonio (43.5.%) and Phoenix (42.4%) had comparatively few renters as well. 

First Published: October 7, 2011: 6:01 AM ET