We wrote a contract for another new build this week, in the Falcon area, northeast of Colorado Springs. The ability to get a nice new home on a 1/2 acre lot in the mid 300's is still very attractive. I think the builder wrote 3 contracts this week on that site.

Fall weather has set in here, it was not even 60 degrees yesterday, though today should be back above 70 at least. Our normal fall pattern is for sunny warm dry days and cool nights, broken up by a series of cold fronts that progressively bring the temperatures lower until our first snow storm, usually by Halloween. Perfect football weather!

With Democratic Party Convention in Denver last week, I guess it was only fitting that John McCain and Sarah Palin would make Colorado Springs one of their first stops after the Republican Convention. They were expecting a big crowd at the airport today as the campaign kicks off in earnest. Enthusiasm for the race seemed to pick up enormously here in Colorado Springs after the Sarah Palin announcement. As I have mentioned previously here, this is a pretty strong Republican stronghold, but Romney and Huckabee seemed to get more enthusiasm than McCain in the primaries. That seems to have changed now.

Statistics for August Colorado Springs home sales are not official yet, but the preliminary figures are not as encouraging as last month. Sales were down 17.7%, and the average price was down a whopping 9.3%. It appears that distressed properties have cast a shadow once again over our market, with 23.3% of the sales being foreclosure and/or short sales.