According to October sales data, combined single-family and condo transactions from the 7-county Denver metro area surpassed those of the previous October, the first time in five years that October data improved year-over-year, according to a new report issued by RE/MAX Professionals.

RE/MAX Professionals President Leeann Iacino has been chosen as Residential Real Estate’s Power Book Newsmaker for 2009-2010, by the Denver Business Journal.

“This is a positive change, underscored by the fact that the totals were substantially better than October 2008’s, almost an 11% increase,” said Jack O’Connor, a senior partner in RE/MAX Professionals and author of The Monthly Report. O’Connor added that three or four months of monthly increases over the previous year would portend price increases. more »

By Mark Samuelson

The annual Birdies for Blessings Golf Tournament, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 24, at Inverness Golf Club, will feature former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle as master of ceremonies. The tournament is a major fundraiser for the Prestige Miracles Foundation, supporting Denver area families that are battling life threatening illnesses, particularly those involving children.
Becky Kenny, left, 2009 chair of Birdies for Blessings tournament at Inverness, is joined by Leeann Iacino and Jack O’Connor, principals in RE/MAX Professionals. RE/MAX agents are major supporters of the event.

Hurdle, who took the Rockies to a National League championship in 2007, has a 7-year-old daughter with Prader-Willi syndrome, a complex genetic disorder that can have lifelong effects. Major supporters of Prestige Miracles Foundation include agents with RE/MAX Professionals, who launched the charity in 2000 on behalf of one agent’s daughter who waged a successful battle with childhood leukemia. The Childrens Hospital Foundation remains a principal beneficiary of the PMF and of Birdies for Blessings, along with individual families needing financial or other support, often identified by agents and their contacts in the community. more »

By Mark Samuelson

In a year when the market for new homes should be lackluster all over the state, a European village on a hillside in Jefferson County has 30 sales racked up…at an average price that’s way, way beyond what’s supposed to be selling now: around $846,000.

Welcoming at Solterra are (from left) Carrol Howard, Wall Custom Homes; Sara Dieringer, Cardel; Lindsay Gannott, Infinity; Mike Copp, custom home sales; Steve Kruse, Infinity; Peggy Marvin, Remington; and Cardell’s Christine Busboom..

You can tour a special open house today at Solterra, east of Red Rocks (it has its own interchange on 470 near Dinosaur Ridge)…with sharp looking homes and patio homes starting way below that average, from $484,900. Four builders and a half dozen custom builders have models to show…including Remington Homes, which opened a new ranch-patio model three weeks ago…had 300 people out the first day, and took five sales. more »