Pace of local homebuilding jumped in February

The pace of homebuilding jumped last month to its highest level in nearly two years, while foreclosure filings might be stabilizing, according to a pair of reports released Monday.

Single-family homebuilding permits totaled 166 in February in Colorado Springs and El Paso County, a more than threefold increase from 53 permits during the same month a year ago, a Pikes Peak Regional Building Department report said.

It was the highest number of single-family permits in any month since 180 in May 2008 and the most in any February since 179 in 2007.

For the first two months of this year, Colorado-based Oakwood Homes has sold 17 homes locally, said Jay Walther, president of Oakwood’s Colorado Springs division. During the same period last year, Oakwood sold six.

The federal government’s $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers and $6,500 credit for existing owners have boosted the market, Walther said.

But some recent Oakwood buyers haven’t relied on the incentive, which Walther said might be a first sign of a turnaround.

Still, he’s not ready to say a full-scale rebound is under way.  “The verdict is still out if it’s sustainable,” Walther said.

“Certainly the indicators are we’re moving in the (right) direction.”

Challenger Homes President Brian Bahr said his company is on pace to have its best year ever. Some buyers are sensing that builders won’t cut home prices any further, so they’re purchasing now and taking advantage of mortgage rates in the neighborhood of 5 percent, he said.

Meanwhile, foreclosure filings — the start of a process that can lead to the loss of a home — totaled 376 in February, up from 365 in January but down sharply from 450 during February 2009, according to the El Paso County Public Trustee’s Office.

For the first two months of this year, filings are down 8.1 percent from the same period a year ago. Filings set a record of 5,470 in 2009.

The foreclosure news is mixed, however.

Releases — an indication of homes rescued from foreclosure after they’re sold, paid off or refinanced — are on pace for their lowest annual number in a decade, said Public Trustee Tom Mowle, whose office processes foreclosure filings.
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