Colorado Second Mortgage
Mortgage firm expands
The lender said Thursday that it's acquiring Greenwood Village- based Premier Mortgage Group for an undisclosed amount.
Cherry Creek Mortgage, also based in Greenwood Village, did about $1.7 billion in lending last year, both in new mortgages and refinancings, across 25 to 30 states, Vice Chairman Will Armstrong said.
With the addition of Premier Mortgage Group, which operates primarily in Colorado, Armstrong said he expects Cherry Creek Mortgage to surpass $2 billion in loans and crack the top 50 companies nationwide in production.
It's the second deal this year for Cherry Creek Mortgage; it added Chicago-based Majestic Mortgage in May.
Mortgage companies are coping with a drastic shift in their business. As interest rates rise, the refinancing market has evaporated.
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Apartment occupancy, rents rise in West
Apartment rents and occupancies rose throughout the West in the second quarter as higher mortgage rates made renting more attractive than buying.
Rents increased from a year earlier in each of the 29 largest metropolitan areas except Colorado Springs, and occupancies failed to improve only in Fresno, Calif., research company RealFacts said last week.
All regions had occupancies of above 90 percent, with the San Jose, Calif., area rising to 96.7 percent from 94.3 percent, and the Reno, Nev., area climbing to 96.6 percent from 94.7 percent.
The findings mirror those of the Denver metropolitan area in the first quarter, when the apartment vacancy rate dropped to its lowest point in five years.
The Denver area's vacancy rate was 7.4 percent for the first quarter, compared with 7.9 percent for the fourth quarter last year, according to the Apartment Association of Metro Denver.