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Numerous staff reductions have been announced at various Colorado newspapers recently.  In Denver, the Post and Rocky will lay off 57 and in Fort Collins, the Coloradoan is eliminating ten jobs.  Many of these jobs are in the various news departments.

Colorado lost 3,049 manufacturing jobs, 1.4% of its manufacturing employment in the 12 months through May, according to the annual Colorado Manufacturers’ Directory.  Colorado Department of Labor data indicate there were 3,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in July than a year earlier.

Income: 

All of Colorado’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) slid in relative per capita personal income ranking, according to preliminary 2006 data.  Boulder, which ranked 8th, had the highest pre capital income in the state at $48,324, followed by Denver-Aurora, 16th, at $44,299.  Greeley, at $25,528, had Colorado’s lowest per capita income and ranked 345th among the 362 MSAs.  The average per capita income in the nation’s metropolitan areas was $38,109.

Tourism: 

Longwoods International reported that Colorado had a record 26.9 million visitors in 2006, a 4% increase over 2005.  These visitors spent a record $8.9 billion, up 8%.  Leisure travel by people not staying with friends and relatives had the biggest gain, up 7%, while business travel rose 4%.  The state increased its share of marketable travel in the U.S. to 2.35%, the highest since 1999.  Longwoods also reported that Denver tourist visits rose 13% to 11.7 million.  Overnight visitors spent a record $2.76 billion, 31% of the state total.

The hotel occupancy rate in July averaged 74.4%, down 1.1 percentage points from July 2006, according to the Rocky Mountain Lodging Report.  The average daily room rate of $123.87 was 8.7% above a year earlier. 

Gaming revenues in Colorado in July reached an all-time monthly high of $76.6 million, up 3.1% from a year earlier.  Casinos paid $2.1 million in gaming taxes.  For the fiscal year ending June 30, a record $112 million in gaming taxes were paid on a record $798.9 million in adjusted gross proceeds.  Since limited stakes gambling began in Colorado in 15 years ago, $1.14 billion in gaming taxes have been paid on $8.44 billion of AGP.

Denver International Airport reported 4.57 million passengers in June, up 3.3% from a year earlier.  For the first two quarters, passenger traffic rose 4.2%.  The Colorado Springs Airport experienced a 4.2% increase in enplaned passengers, although traffic is down 3.8% year-to-date.  Two new airlines, ExpressJet, which began serving the Springs in April, and Midwest, which arrived in July, added more than enough passengers to offset a 4.8% drop in passengers on other carriers.

U.S. skier visits declined 6.9% in the 2006-2007 season, according to the National Ski Areas Association.  The number of skiers in the Rocky Mountain region, which accounts for about 38% of the nation’s skier visits, rose slightly to 20.9 million visits.  Colorado reported 12.65 million skier days, a new high.  This was 23% of the national market.

Housing: 

New home permits in Colorado plunged 25.9% through July, led by a 31.8% fall in single-family permits.  Multifamily permits were down 4.3%, but rose 20.2% in metro Denver.

There are several sources of home price data, each calculated differently.  However, all indicate that Colorado’s housing market has softened.

The series from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight includes only conforming, conventional mortgages purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, thus excluding mortgages over $417,000, multifamily mortgages and those insured by the government (e.g., FHA and VA loans).  It looks at mortgage data over the past 32 years where one or more transactions have occurred.  The second quarter data indicate that the Colorado home price index rose 2.95% relative to a year earlier.  The OHFEO Index declined for nine quarters from 1987:2 through 1989:2, in the second quarter of 1985, the first quarter of 1984, the last quarter of 1983 and the first quarter of 1976.  Local prices rose at double digit rates from 1999:4 through 2001:2, in 1994, 1982 and 1976:4 through 1979:4.

Annual % Change in Home Price Index

	1-Year	5-Year
Boulder	2.25%	15.52%
Colorado Springs	3.34%	26.41%
Denver	0.76%	13.38%
Fort Collins	0.74%	13.66%
GrandJunction	14.30%	65.24%
Greeley	-  0.9%	4.35%
Pueblo	4.35%	21.98%
COLORADO	2.95%	20.21%

  Source:  CO Div of Housing.

The S&P/Case Shiller Index uses a similar methodology, but value-weights the index (in other words, expensive homes have a greater influence), excludes refinancings and obtains its data from county assessor and recorder offices.  Data are provided for 20 cities, including Denver, as well as a national index.  Second-quarter data indicate that home prices in Denver were down for the third consecutive quarter, dropping 1.0%. [The OHFEO Index showed a 0.76% increase.]  Detroit had the biggest decline, -11.0%, while Atlanta, Dallas, Portland and Seattle posted gains.  Denver had less than half the home price gains of the 20-city index from 2000-2006, with the majority of the increase in 2000 and 2001.  The broader index more than doubled, with the biggest gains in 2004 and 2005.

The Metro Denver Association of Realtor data reported single-family sales rose 0.7% through July, although they fell 4.1% relative to June.  Both average and median price were down for the month and year-to-date and the inventory of homes for sale was down slightly.  Multifamily transactions followed a similar pattern.  These data include all transactions – primarily existing homes – handled by Association members.

The National Association of Realtors reported that home resales were down 10.8% nationally in the second quarter, led by a 41.3% drop in Florida.  Colorado resales were off 4.8%, while neighboring Wyoming had the largest gain, 10.8%.  The national decline was described as the worst in 16 years.

Pikes Peak Association of Realtors’ data show existing single-family home sales down 13.0% through July and condo/townhome sales declining 13.1%.  The average sales price for the month was up 3.0% and 1.0% respectively, while inventories soared 21.4% and 30.7% from July 2006 to July 2007.  

New home sales in metro Denver fell by one-third in the first half of 2007, the worst decline since the late 1980s, according to the Genesis Group Mid-Year 2007 Housing Overview.  One in five sales contracts was canceled and visits to new subdivisions were the weakest sine 1994.  Existing home sales declined 2.9%, prices were flat and the weakest segment of the market was the $125,000 to $200,000 price range.

Foreclosures in Colorado rose 55.8% in July relative to 12 months earlier, one for every 347 households, according to RealtyTrac, which adds together foreclosure filings and foreclosure sales.  Nationally, foreclosures were up 93.4% and Colorado slipped to fifth place behind Nevada (up 214.6%), Georgia (168%), Michigan and California. 

According to a different report from the Colorado Division of Housing, which separates filings and sales, the ratio of Colorado homes in foreclosure sale to homes that entered foreclosure in the first six months of 2007 was 60%, up from 50% last year.  There were 19,460 foreclosures through June relative to 28,435 in all of 2007.  The highest foreclosure rates were in metro Denver and Pueblo counties, while the lowest were in the mountain and Western Slope counties.

The metro Denver apartment vacancy rate fell to a six-year low of 6.2% in the second quarter, while the average monthly rent rose 2.5% to $863.53.  The economic vacancy rate, which takes into account concessions and discounts, dropped to 18.5%, down from 24.1% a year ago.

The Colorado Springs apartment vacancy rate declined from 11.4% to 9.6%, with an economic vacancy rate of 21.3%, the lowest in almost four years.  The average rent fell 3.3% to $683.06.  Troop movements continued to be a key factor, according to Gordon von Stroh, who conducts the surveys.

Nonresidential: 

The value of nonresidential construction contracts in Colorado declined 0.6% through July, led by an 86% decline in the value of contracts for manufacturing plants and a 28% drop in educational and scientific facilities.  Despite the decline, education facility contracts were still the largest sector, accounting for 16% of the total.  The gains were concentrated in office contracts, up 78%, and government buildings, up 281%.