Springtime in the Rockies is when summer and winter collide, and that was most apparent in Colorado Springs in the last 24 hours. After a balmy 75 or so yesterday, it is snowing at present. The sun started to come out for a brief interlude this morning, and I caught this shot from our RE/Max Properties offices. Pikes Peak was trying to appear for a moment, but was soon hidden once again by snow. This won't stick, and it has been quite dry, so the moisture is very welcome.

They think yesterday's rate decrease by the Fed might be the last one (maybe this is the last snow for the year?) It might take more than interest rate cuts to get housing back on it's feet.

Just when you think the worst is over, another new wrinkle gets thrown in. Yesterday we had a deal almost crash because the lender announced the property was in a "declining value neighborhood" and they wanted an extra 5% down to do the deal. From what I understand, most of the country has had trouble with soft prices, and such actions just further exacerbate an already difficult climate to do business. Fortunately the buyer could meet the requirement if they choose, and we found another lender that could do the deal (albeit at a higher rate), but it sure makes things more interesting than they really need to be! Government loans are not affected by this (yet!), and this sort of thing may put some pressure on the owners of foreclosure properties to recondition prior to putting them back on the market, instead of the typical "as is, where is" stuff they like to do, so they can qualify them for FHA or VA financing.