Home prices rise nationally; Denver gains 2.8% in past year

positive news in the post...

Denver Post

6.26.2012

Home prices rose in nearly all major U.S. cities in April, further evidence of a housing market that is slowly improving even as the job market slumps.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index showed increases in 19 of the 20 cities tracked. It's the second straight month that prices have risen in a majority of U.S. cities.

Home prices in the Denver area have risen 2.8 percent in the past year and improved 1.7 percent from March to April, according to the report.

And a measure of national prices rose 1.3 percent in April from March, the first increase in seven months.

San Francisco, Washington and Phoenix posted the biggest increases in April. Prices fell 3.6 percent in Detroit, the only city to drop.

The month-to-month prices aren't adjusted for seasonal factors.

A separate report issued Tuesday painted a less optimistic picture for Denver's housing market.

That report, from housing data provider CoreLogic, said the share of metro Denver mortgages delinquent by 90 days or more increased slightly in April from March, ending a 14-month streak of declines.

The rate of seriously delinquent mortgage borrowers in metro Denver ticked up to 4.05 percent in April from 3.91 percent in March. The Associated Press

6 Things to Consider When Pricing Your Home To Sell

always good information

How to Price Your Home
Pricing decisions should be grounded in reality rather than wishful thinking.

By Marcie Geffner

When the time comes to price your home for sale, you may be tempted to start with the price you paid for it, add a healthy markup and call it a day. Unfortunately, that strategy is unlikely to result in a true reflection of your home's market value.

Here are six strategies to help you figure out how much your home is worth:

1. Abandon your personal point of view. How much will a ready, willing and able buyer be willing to pay for your home? Buyers don't care how much you paid for the home, how many memorable moments you and your family shared in the home, how much cash you need for the downpayment on your next home or how much time and money you've invested in your home's hardwood floors, fresh paint, lush landscaping or other improvements.

2. Get a couple of CMAs. Invite at least three real estate agents to visit your home and give you their opinion of its likely selling price. Ask for a "comparative market analysis" (CMA), which shows the prices of comparable recently sold homes, on-the-market homes and homes that were on the market, but weren't sold. The on-the-market homes are the "competition" for your home. Ask the agents why each home was included in the CMA and whether any other comparable homes were eliminated from the CMA. Price recommendations based on CMAs aren't gospel. Some agents will tell you to under-price your home in hope of sparking a bidding war. Others will suggest a flatteringly high price to "buy" your listing only to demand a price reduction a few weeks later.

3. Do your own market research. Go to open houses in your neighborhood and try to make an impartial assessment of how those homes compare to yours in terms of location, size, amenities and condition. Assuming all the asking prices were the same, would you buy your home or someone else's?

4. Calculate the price per square foot. The average price per square foot for homes in your neighborhood shouldn't be the sole determinant of the asking price for your home, but it can be a useful starting point. Keep in mind that various methodologies can be used to calculate square footage.

5. Consider market conditions. Are home prices in your area trending upwards or downwards? Are homes selling quickly or languishing? Will your home be on the market in the spring home-buying season or the dead of winter? Are interest rates attractive? Is the economy hot or cold? Will you be selling in a buyer's market or a seller's market? Is the local job market strong or are employees fearful of staff reductions?

6. Sweeten the transaction terms. Some buyers have needs that go beyond the bottom line. If you're willing to close escrow quickly, you'll attract buyers who want to move in right away. If you can offer seller-financing, your home will appeal to buyers who need to stretch their financial resources. A lease-option can help first-timers who need downpayment assistance. The more creative and flexible you can be in meeting the buyer's needs, the more success you'll have in pricing your home to sell.

8 Things to Know about Buying a Home Today

national article not totally applicable to the local market, yet helpful all the same...

8 things to know about buying a home today

Use mortgage preapproval to your advantage
By Dian Hymer
Inman News

The home-sale market is showing signs of life. More buyers are confident now than they were a year ago that now might be a good time to buy. Interest rates are near all-time lows and home prices in some areas are back to 2002-2003 levels.

Some analysts are finally suggesting that we may be headed for recovery. If you have a secure job, plan to stay put and feel this is the right time for you to buy a home, consider the following.

In most places in the country, home prices are still declining. It has only been recently that the market picked up and it's too soon to know if this will result in a sustainable increase in prices.

The recent home sales in areas around California's Silicon Valley defy the norm. Significant job growth in the area combined with a low inventory of good homes for sale has resulted in multiple offers with buyers bidding the price up sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars over the asking price.

In other high-demand, low-inventory areas, you may find yourself bidding against other buyers, perhaps even more than once. This doesn't necessarily mean that the price will be bid up significantly over the asking price. This will vary from one listing to the next depending on property location, condition and price.

It's important to research the local community where you want to buy. Find out what homes are selling for, if multiple offers are common and if listings are selling for more than the asking price. This will help you make a realistic offer that might be accepted when you find a home you'd really like to buy. It helps to work with an experienced local real estate agent.

Some sellers in high-demand niche markets intentionally list their home at a low price hoping to stimulate multiple offers. If you see such a listing and there are a lot of buyers wanting to make offers, you will be better able to know how high your offer would need to be to win the contest if you have done your due diligence.

HOUSE HUNTING TIP: Whether you're anticipating competition or not, you should be preapproved for the mortgage you'll need to complete the purchase before you write an offer. In competition, this will make a big difference, particularly if everyone else who is offering is preapproved. It also lets you know what you can afford. And, it puts you in a good bargaining position with the seller.

Buyers aren't the only participants in the housing market that have heard the news that the market has improved. Some sellers are putting their homes on the market because they've been waiting for a better time to sell. This is good news for buyers looking in low-inventory markets.

You should expect that you will have to negotiate. Many of today's sellers are selling for less than they paid. Even though the market has improved a bit, sellers may be disappointed with the current market value of their home. Be prepared to negotiate, not just the initial price, but after inspections are completed if items come up that you hadn't anticipated.

Include realistic contingency time frames in your purchase contract for loan and appraisal approval if you're applying for a mortgage. The recent uptick in the market means that lenders are suddenly overwhelmed.

In mid-March, buyers in Oakland, Calif., who were seeking approval for a jumbo loan were told they could close a transaction in 21 days. Not only could they not close in 21 days, it took more than 21 days for loan approval due to lender backlog.

THE CLOSING: Underwriters could require that additional conditions be met before you can be approved. Act quickly to avoid further delay.

Economists: 2012 marks the end of a long bottom

interesting article....

Real estate industry experts offer midyear forecastsBy Paul Hagey, Friday, June 22, 2012.

Inman News®

DENVER -- U.S. housing markets are likely to continue on a path of slow recovery after seeing a multiyear bottom, according to three real estate industry economists participating in a forum hosted by the National Association of Real Estate Editors said today.

Continuing uncertainties over negative equity (about a third of homeowners with mortgages owe more than their homes are worth, according to Zillow), fuzzy housing finance reform possibilities, lagging foreclosure processing and tight lending standards are potential obstacles to the slow-rising tide of the U.S. housing market, they said.

David Crowe, the chief economist and senior vice president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB); Lawrence Yun, chief economist and senior vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors (NAR); and Stan Humphries, chief economist at online real estate marketplace Zillow gave their insights at a panel discussion.

Despite the semi-bright outlook, recent years have been tough for the market. "Last year was the worst year on record for house sales, for 60 years of housing-sale info," Crowe said.

NAHB is forecasting a 19 percent improvement in single-family housing starts this year over last, Crowe said, from 434,000 last year to a projected 516,000 this year.
There's an increase in demand, despite frictions in the market, NAR's Yun said. Appraisal issues are holding back 15 to 20 percent of home sales, he said, and strict mortgage underwriting standards are holding back another 15 to 20 percent of potential deals.

These issues are slowly being resolved. And that the percentage of distressed home sales is declining -- from about a third in 2011 to a projected 25 percent in 2012 and 15 percent in 2013 -- bodes well for the outlook for housing for the next couple of years, Yun said.

Yun said he "wouldn't be surprised" to see a 60 to 70 percent increase in housing starts next year, or 10 percent home price appreciation, as the market responds to increasing demand. Both will not happen, he said, but one or the other could -- if lawmakers manage to avoid a fiscal cliff as the U.S. once again approaches its debt ceiling.
If lawmakers can't reach a compromise by Dec. 31, more than $1 trillion in automatic spending cuts are set to begin taking effect at the end of this year.
Zillow's Humphries sees a recovery as well; he's more optimistic than he's been in a couple of years, he said. The recovery is one that starts on the micro level, ZIP code by ZIP code, he said.

"It's almost like a bacteria attacking a bad virus," Humphries said of the recovery occurring in metros; he showed ZIP code-level map views of recoveries in Phoenix, Miami and Detroit in 2011 as examples.

What's more, the recovery won't be L-shaped, Humphries said. It's going to stair-step as homeowners with large negative equity begin to enter the market as housing prices go up, which will temporarily swell the supply and pause the recovery briefly.

However, Humphries says the rush of investment in the single-family rental market could be the next housing market bubble. As rental rates increase and homeownership looks more attractive with increasing supply, that now-hot sector of the market will cool.

Boulder's boom: More than 30 building projects on tap for next 2 years

Developments could add 1,500 new apartments, hundreds of hotel rooms

Boulder's Boom: More than 30 building projects on tap for next 2 years

 

interesting daily camera/denver post article

Big changes are brewing in Boulder.
The city is on the brink of a building boom that -- in relatively short time -- could alter the look and feel of large parts of the city.
The developments that are expected to come online within the next two years are on track to add 1,500 apartments, a few hundred new hotel rooms and a large volume of new office and retail space.
Of the dozens of projects either in their planning process or already under construction, the Daily Camera has identified more than 30 private developments that are significant in size, location or historical context.
"This long list certainly contradicts the notion that Boulder is not growing -- and, indeed, is a note of caution that we not rush to develop them all at once," City Councilwoman Suzanne Jones wrote in an e-mail to the Camera. "There are finite options for new development and redevelopment within Boulder, so we need to proceed with deliberation, creativity and even restraint to ensure that this pulse of building activity reflects Boulder's long-term values and community aspirations."
The amount of projects that could move forward is not surprising, city officials say. Financing and construction dried up with the rest of the economy four years back.
"I don't know that there would be a dramatic transformation," said Charles Ferro, a city planner. "It may feel that way in certain pockets."
In some of those areas -- notably the transit-oriented Boulder Junction east of 30th and Pearl streets -- the city has planned for change, said Tim Plass, a city councilman. For other areas, this flood of new projects will serve as a "great test" for the effectiveness of the city's rules and regulations, he said.
"My hope is that with the regulatory structure in place with the site review (and other) processes, that we get products that are going to complement our vision for our community," he said. "...While we have room for change, we want to make sure we keep the things about Boulder that make it Boulder."
The influx of construction activity and the resulting projects could be a boon for city coffers.
In recent years, construction by the University of Colorado helped the city get through lean times, said Lisa Morzel, Boulder's deputy mayor. CU's development spree is expected to continue in the coming years with even more activity -- including the construction of a new geosciences building -- on its East Campus.
The intensity of this many developments moving forward at one time also stirs concern. While the last building boom brought more mixed-use and residential units to the city, sales efforts for pricey condos in downtown and at places such as the Peloton stalled.
Others point to a filling of a pent-up demand, especially in the areas of hotels and multifamily housing.
"Quite frankly, there hasn't been a lot of that built in Boulder in the last 15 or 20 years," said Terry Palmos, a local developer building an apartment complex off Broadway and Violet Avenue.

Mortgage rates halt 6-week slide

Another interesting Inman article....

Mortgage rates halt 6-week slide

Demand for purchase loans highest in 6 months
By Inman News
Inman News®

Mortgage rates finally found a bottom this week, following six consecutive weeks of declines, but remained near record lows as worries about the European debt crisis continue to make bonds that fund most mortgages look like a safe bet to investors.
Rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.71 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 14, up from 3.67 percent last week but down from 4.5 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Last week's rate for 30-year loans was an all-time low in Freddie Mac records dating to 1971.
For 15-year fixed-rate loans, rates averaged 2.98 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from 2.94 percent last week but down from 3.67 percent a year ago. Last week's rate for 15-year loans was a low in records dating to 1991.
Rates on the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.8 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from 2.84 percent last week and 3.27 percent a year ago. Rates on five-year ARMs hit 2.78 percent during the week ending April 19, an all-time low in records dating to 2005.
For one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs, rates averaged 2.78 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from 2.79 percent last week and 2.97 percent a year ago. Rates on one-year ARMs hit an all-time low in records dating to 1984 of 2.72 percent during the week ending March 1.
A separate survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed demand for purchase loans for the week ending June 8 was up a seasonally adjusted 13 percent from the week before, and up 4 percent from a year ago.
Although requests to refinance accounted for eight out of 10 mortgage applications, demand for purchase loans was at the highest level in more than six months, the MBA said.
Mortgage rates are near historic lows in part because global investors see mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae as a safe haven from turmoil in financial markets.
Fears that heavily indebted countries like Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain will default on those debts, disrupting eurozone trade and plunging the global economy into another recession, continue unabated this week.
Moody's Investor Service downgraded Spain's sovereign credit rating Wednesday, and Greek banks have seen a run on deposits as customers prepare for the possibility that parties opposed to austerity measures will prevail in elections scheduled for Sunday, Reuters reports.
The impact a eurozone meltdown would have on the U.S. economy is unclear. The 17-nation eurozone was America's largest trading partner in 2011, Yahoo Finance economics editor Daniel Gross notes. But Canada, Mexico and Latin America, Asia and Africa have become increasingly important trading partners in recent years.
Trade isn't the only issue at stake, Gross said, "There are several other channels of contagion."
Central banks around the globe are making plans to protect their currencies and economies from the impacts of an exodus of capital from eurozone countries, Reuters reports. Demand for U.S. dollars strengthens the currency's value, which can hurt exports by making U.S.-made goods more expensive to foreign buyers.

Overcome mortgage obstacles when relocating

Interesting relocation article from Inman News...

Overcome mortgage obstacles when relocating

REThink Real Estate
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News®
Q: My husband and I are planning to relocate up north and change jobs and our environment. Should we get preapproved before changing places of employment, or would it be all right to take another job as long as it is the same type of work? What steps would you advise us to take?

Relocating can be a little tricky, from a mortgage perspective. It's always advisable to get preapproved for a mortgage before you make a major move like a job change, but lenders are pretty good about scrutinizing all the details these days.

If you get approved for a home loan while you live and work in one town, then try to use that loan to purchase a home more than 25 miles away from your job, chances are good that your lender will require some sort of note from your existing job documenting that they understand you are moving and will allow you to have some sort of long-distance working arrangement, or will want to see proof of a new job in your new town.

To your point, though, by "new" job, lenders are looking for you to have a job in the same field as you're currently working in. They don't want you experimenting with entirely new lines of work on their dime, in case things don't work out and you find yourself with the new mortgage but without any job at all.

Keeping those things in mind, I recommend you take the following course of action:

1. Find your local real estate and mortgage pros in your new home town. Get referrals from folks you know in your soon-to-be neck of the woods and ask questions of agents on the active Q-and-A pages of the big national real estate listing websites to develop a short list of agents to meet with.

Ask these agents to refer you to local mortgage professionals. Although most lenders are national, local mortgage brokers and bankers know what local financing challenges may exist; they know local appraisers; and they also know about opportunities like city and state down payment assistance programs.

Contact them, make appointments, then take a day trip to your intended hometown and meet with these folks face to face to find a great personality fit. When you feel like you've created a good connection with one real estate pro in particular, you might even ask him to give you a tour of a number of homes that are currently on the market, so you can get a real-time reality check on what price range of homes you'll be aiming for.

2. Explain every part of your financial and job situation to both of your pros. Well before you quit your job, perhaps even while you're meeting with these agents and mortgage pros, explain your financial, job and timing situation to them. Don't miss out on the expert knowledge these professionals have, as well as their up-to-date experience of what lenders will want and will require from you. Talk with them about what specific paperwork you'll need to produce in order to document that your next job is in the same line of work as this one. And keep all of these things in mind as you execute your relocation, your home purchase and your job hunt.

3. Work with your chosen real estate and mortgage pro to put an intentionally sequenced action plan in place. With so many moving parts in the air, don't be surprised if some advise you to get a job, move and then rent a place on a month-to-month lease while you house hunt. Others may tell you to try to time it all perfectly, house and job hunting at the same time.

Personally, I'm inclined to eliminate any intense time pressures from the house-hunt experience whenever possible to minimize panic-based (i.e., bad) decision-making, so I would encourage you not to create a situation in which you have to close a home purchase by a certain date in order to have a place to live when you start your new job or have similar pressures in that vein.

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook" and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions." Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.

National Association of Realtors "2011 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers"

Some interesting stats...

89% of Buyers and Sellers used a REALTOR in 2011, a 20% increase compared to a decade ago. Only 7% of Buyers went straight to a Builder, and only 4% went directly through the owner. 37% of Buyers in 2011 were first-time Buyers. Of these first-time Buyers, 77% were renting and 19% were living with family or friends. Their top reason for purchasing was their desire to own a home (60%). Of homes sold in 2011, 84% were re-sale and 16% were new construction. 77% of the homes sold were single-family detached homes. Nationally, the median price of all homes purchased was $190,000. As far as the first step in the home-buying process, 35% of Buyers started their search on-line, while 21% started by contacting a REALTOR. For general information during the home-buying process, 88% of Buyers used the internet at some point, and 87% relied on their REALTOR during the transaction. In regards to the usefulness of information sources, 83% of Buyers reported their REALTOR was helpful, while 81% reported the internet was useful. In 2011, 40% of Buyers found the home they eventually purchased on-line, whereas 35% found their home through a REALTOR. 51% of Buyers said that finding the right property was the greatest challenge in the home-buying process; coming in second was paperwork at 22%. In regards to marketing methods, 85% of Buyers reported photos as being a "very useful" feature on the internet, whereas only 58% reported virtual tours as "very useful". The top websites used by Buyers during home search: 1) 56% - MLS websites (eg. www.ColoProperty.com); 2) 46% - Agent individual website; 3) 45% - www.Realtor.com; 4) 40% - Real estate Company websites; 5) 38% - Other real estate websites (Google, Yahoo, etc.) Special thanks to Venna Hillman for sharing NAR's 2011 Buyer and Seller Profile. If you'd like a copy, please contact Charity or Lindsay.

Mortgage rates still looking for bottom

Mortgage Rates Remind me of the Johnny Cash Song..."Down, Down, Down...."

Mortgage rates still looking for bottom

Investors like safety of bonds as eurozone crisis builds
By Inman News
Inman News®

Mortgage rates sank to new lows this week as investors contemplated the prospect of bank runs in Europe and disappointing U.S. job growth.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.75 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending May 31, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That's down from 3.78 percent last week and 4.55 percent a year ago, and a new record low in Freddie Mac records dating to 1971.

For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, rates averaged 2.97 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from 3.04 percent last week and 3.74 percent a year ago. Rates on 15-year loans have never been lower in records dating to 1991.

Rates on five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans averaged 2.84 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from 2.83 percent last week but down from 3.41 percent a year ago. Rates on five-year ARMs hit an all-time low in records dating to 2005 of 2.78 percent during the week ending April 19.

For one-year Treasury-indexed ARM loans, rates averaged 2.75 percent with an average 0.4 point, unchanged from last week but down from 3.13 percent a year ago. Rates on one-year ARMs hit an all-time low in records dating to 1984 of 2.72 percent during the week ending March 1.  Mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the government fund most U.S. home loans, and investors see them as a safe haven in times of uncertainty. Increased demand for mortgage-backed securities and similar investments, like Treasurys, pushes long-term interest rates down.

"Market concerns over tensions in the eurozone led to a decline in long-term Treasury bond yields helping to bring fixed mortgage rates to new record lows this week," Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said in a statement.

The European debt crisis has raised the cost of government borrowing for countries including Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. Financial aid for those countries has been tied to austerity measures that voters may ultimately reject.  Although Irish voters look ready to approve a referendum that would allow the country to continue receiving aid from the European Union, the outcome of Greece's June 17 general election "is too close to call," Reuters reports.  Spanish banks lost $82 billion in deposits before Spain's fourth-largest lender was nationalized in May as account holders moved money abroad, Reuters said.  European Central Bank President Mario Draghi today called for a joint guarantee for bank deposits across the eurozone to fight bank runs, and the European Commission's Olli Rehn said a "genuine stability culture" and a "much upgraded common capacity" -- more rescue funds -- was needed to "contain common contagion," Reuters reported.
It remains to be seen whether Germany will continue to oppose such measures at a two-day summit meeting set to begin June 28.

In the U.S., unemployment claims rose last week for the seventh time in eight weeks, to a seasonally adjusted 383,000, Reuters reported. Payroll processor ADP said private companies added 133,000 jobs in May, better than the 113,000 seen in April but below economists' expectations.
Taken together, those events suggested "the U.S. labor market recovery was stalling after a strong performance early in the year," Reuters said.

The National Association of REALTORS® reported this week that an index measuring pending home sales fell 5.5 percent from March to April, breaking a three-month string of month-over-month gains. But pending sales were still up 14.4 percent from the same time a year ago, and NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said home sales "are on track to see the best performance since 2007."
The Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 25 showed demand for purchase loans was down a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent from the week before, and 3.9 percent from a year ago.

Saudi Prince Sells Aspen House for $49M

Just a small cabin in the woods....

By Aspen Daily News

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — A Saudi prince and former ambassador to the United States has sold his luxury Aspen ranch for $49 million.

The Aspen Daily News reports Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia sold the Hala Ranch on Thursday to Starwood Mountain Ranch LLC. He bought the land in 1989 and built the main residence in 1991.

The prince, who was ambassador to the United States from 1983 to 2005, listed his 95-acre ranch and the 56,000-square-foot home in 2006 for $135 million, but he pulled it off the market 16 months later.  He later sold two of his other Starwood homes for a combined $49 million in 2007.  Starwood is a gated residential neighborhood on the slopes of Red Mountain.

4 considerations when making offer on 'overpriced' listing

Interesting Inman News Article...

4 considerations when making offer on 'overpriced' listing

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News

Q: I am currently in the market for a new home. I have found a property that I really like; however, it is priced $200,000 over the tax assessment. It is in the country, so there really aren't any comps that I can find near the property. The only thing I can really find is that the house near it sold for close to its assessed price last year.
Why would an agent even list a house with a price above the assessed value? In general, would a lender even finance the property for that much over the assessment? --Lesa
A: It can be very difficult to get a handle on the actual market value of any home on today's market. Many buyers and sellers are finding it difficult to come up with comparables that support their agreed-upon price, even in cases where there are multiple offers. Add to that the complication of a rural property that you called out -- very few comparable homes, much less sales, even exist nearby -- and you can have a real dilemma on your hands when it's time to figure out what such a property is worth and/or how much to offer for it.
Here are a few need-to-knows that should inform your thought process around this home:
1. The assessment is largely irrelevant. As a global rule of thumb, the real estate market moves faster -- much faster -- than the tax assessor. As well, there are lots of reasons assessed values can be wildly off of from a home's fair market value. First among them is that homeowners have a deep, vested interest in depressing their home's tax assessment: it's the basis for their property taxes.
So, tax-savvy homeowners jump through all sorts of loops, legitimate and less so, in an effort to get or keep their assessments (and property taxes) low, from failing to report improvements to the property, to submitting aggressive appeals of their assessments using not-so-comparable sales data. And no, an assessment lower than the true fair market value doesn't necessarily help you if you do buy the property; in many states, tax assessors revise the assessed value to the purchase price when you buy it.
I'm not saying the low assessed value is wrong or off, or that the sellers aren't overpriced or delusional; I'm just saying that the assessed value is not dispositive of what the property's true fair market value is. In many cases, it might actually be completely irrelevant.
2. Maybe the list price is fair -- or fairer than you think. What's more, the definition of a home's fair market value on any given Sunday is what a qualified buyer would be willing to pay for the property on that day. And, as you already understand, the best way to gauge that is by what similar, nearby homes have sold for as recently as possible. This is where the fact that the home is rural and that very little comparable sales data exists becomes a problem.
This will likely also become a problem for any buyer that attempts to purchase the property with a mortgage; the lender will require an appraiser to provide comparables and/or some other strong argument that supports the purchase price.
As many agents will tell you, in lots of areas, the market has heated up somewhat this year and this spring. If the property is desirable to buyers now, it's possible that the home is actually worth that much more than the nearby home sold for last year. It's also possible that the sellers believe that their property is larger, more beautiful, more upgraded, or otherwise $200,000 different or better than the other property.
Ultimately, only you can decide whether you agree; it might be a good idea to look through any pictures or old listing materials your agent can find about the other home, so you can do your own compare and contrast.
3. Maybe they're overpriced. The fact that it's priced $200,000 higher than the assessed value leads me to believe that we're probably talking about a relatively expensive property, even if it were priced properly. At higher price ranges, it's more common than elsewhere to see sellers price higher than they believe the place is worth, assuming they'll need room to negotiate downward to meet a buyer's demands. And virtually everywhere, at every price range, buyers know that there are simply some sellers that are bizarrely fantasy-based in their pricing.
I wouldn't assume that the agent had much to do with it; remember that agents are, by and large, vocally bearish on their sellers' overoptimistic expectations about pricing. If the place truly is overpriced, chances are good that the listing agent has decided to list it at the price and allow the market (i.e., few or no showings, no or only lowball offers) to "educate" the seller that the price needs to be lowered.
4. The list price should inform, but not govern, your offer price. This is real estate, remember, so nearly everything is negotiable -- and especially price. The list price and any information about the seller's motivation level or priorities that the listing agent will give your agent should definitely factor into your decision-making about how much to offer, if you decide to make an offer. But so should your own good judgment, common sense, personal financial resources and analysis of the relevant local market data, which your agent should happily help you undertake.
Do what you can to make the best offer that takes into account all of these factors; don't feel forced to overpay for a property because the seller is unrealistic.
If you can wait for a while, you might see the price come down on its own, but before you choose that strategy, be sure that you're comfortable with the reality that some other buyer might make a move. It never hurts to have your agent contact the listing agent and suss out the seller's willingness to negotiate, or to simply let them know that you'd like to be notified of a price reduction or if they receive any other offers.

Saudi prince sells Aspen ranch for $49M

By Aspen Daily News

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — A Saudi prince and former ambassador to the United States has sold his luxury Aspen ranch for $49 million.

The Aspen Daily News (http://bit.ly/L8tNPT ) reports Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia sold the Hala Ranch on Thursday to Starwood Mountain Ranch LLC. He bought the land in 1989 and built the main residence in 1991.

The prince, who was ambassador to the United States from 1983 to 2005, listed his 95-acre ranch and the 56,000-square-foot home in 2006 for $135 million, but he pulled it off the market 16 months later.

He later sold two of his other Starwood homes for a combined $49 million in 2007.

Starwood is a gated residential neighborhood on the slopes of Red Mountain.