ALPINE BANK FORT COLLINS GRAND OPENING DEC. 3

Alpine Bank is set to open its first northern Colorado branch in the heart of Fort Collins, with a grand opening holiday celebration for the community on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 3 to 6 p.m. This event is open to the public and will bring together local businesses and community partners for a celebratory holiday party. Alpine Bank Presents: Holiday Fest will feature an outdoor tree lighting and complimentary, family-friendly holiday activities. Attendees will enjoy pictures with Santa, cookie-tasting, mistletoe-making, prize drawings for tickets to CSU Rams, Colorado Rockies and Denver Broncos games, plus hot chocolate and snacks served from food trucks. Kids can write and send letters and Christmas wish lists to The North Pole in a special mailbox. As part of its grand opening celebration, Alpine Bank is donating $2,500 each to nonprofits RamStrength and Bike Fort Collins. For more information, visit the link below or call 970-665-5670.

XCEL SEEKS RATE HIKE IN ELECTRIC RATES

Xcel Energy has filed a proposal with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission requesting an increase in electric rates. In the filing, Xcel notes that it “finds itself needing to seek an increase in base rate revenues in the fourth quarter of 2022.” The filing Wednesday proposed a $312.2 million revenue increase. The proposed rate increase in electric rates, follows a recently approved natural gas rate hike and a $182.2 million jump in revenue for electric service that took effect in April. If the increase is approved, the typical residential electric bill would rise by $7.33 a month, or 8.2 percent, and a typical small business bill would go up by $10.16, or 7.77 percent. The current average residential monthly bill is $89.35 and the average bill for small businesses is $130.79.

U.S. HOUSE AND SENATE HAVE NOW PASSED LEGISLATION TO HALT RAILROAD STRIKE

The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed two measures, one that would force the railroad unions to implement a previously negotiated deal and prevent a nationwide strike by rail workers. The second would give union workers seven additional paid sick days. The Senate Thursday passed the measure to force unions to adopt the earlier labor agreement. The vote was 80-15, exceeding the 60-vote threshold for the measure to pass. Senate lawmakers declined to include the additional sick days in the previously negotiated agreement. The vote was 52 in favor to 43 against, short of the 60 needed to pass. Under the Railway Labor Act, Congress can make both sides accept an agreement to prevent harm to the U.S. economy. The measure, that passed both houses, now goes to President Biden.

MORTGAGE RATES HIT 20-YEAR HIGH IN JANUARY, NOW HAVE SIGNIFICANT DROP

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac released its weekly report of mortgage rates Thursday which showed the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to 6.49 percent. That is down from 7.08 percent on Nov. 10, marking the biggest three-week decline in 14 years. The last time mortgage rates fell that much over a three-week stretch was during the peak of the financial crisis in late 2008. Mortgage rates are still more than double what they were in early January, mirroring a sharp rise in the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Home prices were down for the third straight month in September.

BILL TO CONSERVE DOLORES RIVER GETS BLM SUPPORT

U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., have introduced the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act in the Senate and U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert, Doug Lamborn and Ken Buck, introduced identical legislation in the House of Representatives. In hearings this week of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Nada Wolff Culver, the deputy director of policies and programs of the Bureau of Land Management, added to the bipartisan support of the bill to conserve the Dolores River, saying the BLM supported the bill as well.

DURANGO LOTTERY TO SELECT APPLICANTS FOR DEED-RESTRICTED HOUSING

The city of Durango and HomesFund, an affordable housing and homeownership nonprofit, will conduct a lottery in mid-December to select applicants for purchase of four deed-restricted units in the 22-unit complex dubbed the Animas City Park Overlook Townhomes. The development includes 12 market-rate units and 10 deed-restricted units near East Second Avenue and 33rd Street. Of the 10 units, six will be workforce-qualified units in which residency or workforce restrictions must be met. The remaining four units are to be income-qualified units in which residence qualification is limited to people who earn below a certain income threshold. More than 50 people submitted applications expressing interest in purchasing one of four income-qualified units at a 22-unit townhome project under development by Agave Group in Durango.

WORLD CUP RACING AT BEAVER CREEK

There will be World Cup racing at Beaver Creek this weekend, with the Xfinity Birds of Prey event: downhill racing on Friday and Saturday and Super G on Sunday. In addition to the races, there will be autograph sessions with the U.S. Ski Team as well as with Shaun White, Julia Mancuso and Ted Ligety on Friday. For spectators, parking is available in the Elk and Bear lots for $10 per vehicle. There are regularly scheduled shuttles taking spectators from the parking lot to the Vilar Performing Arts Center and Birds of Prey expo area, with another free shuttle running from the covered bridge entrance to Red Tail Stadium. There will be ski-in, ski-out access to the stadium starting Friday via Red Tail Trail. There will also be a live watch party set up on the ice rink in Beaver Creek Village. Complete information on all events is available at bcworldcup.com/events.

2022 REAL ESTATE FIGURES IN SUMMIT COUNTY SKEWED BY 2021 “OUTLIER”

This year was most interesting for real estate in Summit County. Real Estate prices and transactions steadily increased since 2008 and 2009, but in 2021 everything peaked. According to Chris Lankhorst, Slifer Smith & Frampton’s real estate market president, 2021 peaked so high and appreciated so fast, it is an "outlier." Because of that, comparing numbers in 2022 to those in 2021 is difficult. When 2019, the year before the pandemic is used, the numbers for 2022 seem more reasonable. For instance, the total dollar volume of sales in 2022 was 25 percent below the total in 2021. However, there was $400 million more in sales in the county in 2022 than in 2019. One thing that did increase in 2022 was the average price of a single-family home. In 2022, it is just under $2.08 million, or 20 percent higher than the $1.72 million in 2021.

WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES, 2022

The Economist Intelligence Unit released its Worldwide Cost of Living report for 2022. The EIU surveyed 172 cities in August and September, comparing the costs of more than 400 individual prices covering some 200 products and services:

• 1. (tie) Singapore; New York
• 3. Tel Aviv, Israel
• 4. (tie) Hong Kong, China; Los Angeles
• 6. Zurich, Switzerland
• 7. Geneva, Switzerland
• 8. San Francisco
• 9. Paris, France
• 10. (tie) Copenhagen, Denmark; Sydney, Australia