A new survey indicates that fully one quarter of all mortgage loan defaults may be strategic. According to the story from “The Truth About Mortgage,” Researchers believe 17 percent of current homeowners would voluntarily walk away (even if they could afford the mortgage) if negative equity exceeded 50 percent of the home value. Read more here.

There were 4 sales Monday totaling $1.27 million. Homes continue to be let go at bargain prices in Red Hawk Village in Stagecoach. On Monday, a 1,900-square-foot home that sold for more than $500,000 in 2007 sold for just $297,000. So far this year, six homes in the subdivision have been sold, none for more than $315,000.

To see all of Monday’s sales, check out the Recent Sales section of SteamboatHomefinder.com.

Mitch Clementson’s “fixer-upper” listing on Logan Avenue lead all property listings in views on SteamboatHomefinder.com for the second straight week. The West End Village townhome listed by Dwight Willman of Help-U-Sell properties moved into second on the list. Bargain shopping asgain led the way — only one property valued at more than $500,000 made the list.

The top 10 for the week (June 20-26), ranked by the number of property views according to Pulse Research Activity Data are shown below. Information includes the MLS number of the property, the date it was listed, the listing broker and the number of views.

1. MLS No.125867, $399,000.00, Jun 17, 2009, Mitch Clementson, 51
2. MLS No.125707, $265,000.00, Jun 04, 2009, Dwight Willman, 46
3. MLS No.122450, $350,000.00, Apr 30, 2009, Wayne Ranieri, 43
4. MLS No.123721, $299,900.00, Apr 30, 2009, Sharon Martin, 41
5. MLS No.125107, $369,000.00, Apr 30, 2009, Roy Powell, 39
6. (tie) MLS No.123954, $490,000.00, Apr 30, 2009, Dan Picaro, 33
6. (tie) MLS No.125845, $489,999.00, Jun 16, 2009, Jon Wade, 33
8. MLS No.124834, $325,000.00, Apr 30, 2009, Wayne Ranieri, 32
9. MLS No.124735, $895,000.00, Apr 30, 2009, Robyn Higginbotham, 31
10. MLS No.124829, $449,000.00, Apr 30, 2009, Cindy Rogers, 37

The market cooled a little this week (June 19-25) with 10 real property sales netting $5.6 million. There also were six timeshare sales netting $718,290.

The real property sales included a foreclosure in Hayden for $78,000. The high-selling property for the week was a 4-bedroom townhome in Stonewood at Eagleridge that went for $1.995 million.

Recent sales are updated daily on SteamboatHomefinder.com. See all of the sales in 2009 by clicking here.

Susana Field of Buyer’s Resource Real Estate reports that the June 23 tour of new listings included 34 properties of which only seven were repeats. That’s many more properties than any one Realtor could hope to visit in a single morning. Total listings were 2,277 of which 507 were single-family homes.

There were a handful of sales Monday and Tuesday, the most significant being the sale of a townhome at Cimarron at Steamboat for $1.081 million. Also sold was a Sierra View condominium, a Mustang Run condo and a Steamboat Grand timeshare.

To view all of the recent sales in Routt County, click here.

CNN reportsv today that the housing recovery has already begun and the linchpin is the Echo Boom, the generation of people born between 1979 and 1995. An annual Harvard study of housing in America indicates that the Echo Boomers outnumber the Baby Boomers by some 5 million and could have an even greater impact in growing the housing market. You can read the entire story by clicking here.

The Kent Eriksen Tour de Steamboat Century Ride joins forces with Prudential Steamboat Realty in a special effort to raise money for the Sunshine Kids Foundation. Along with the 110-mile ride, the event will also host a 40-mile bike ride out to beautiful Stagecoach Lake. All proceeds will go to the Sunshine Kids. Read more about the Tour de Steamboat here.

With a glut of inventory and a number of assistance programs available to them, first-time homebuyers are in great position to stop renting and buy a home. HUD and FHA officials said the best deals are out there for first-timers, who can buy a home for as little as 3.5 percent down and earn tax credits of up to 10 percent of the purchase price of a new home. To read more, click here.

Routt County Treasurer Jeanne Whiddon said that as of June 18, her office had been asked to initiate 72 foreclosure proceedings in 2009. That compares with 31 as of this date in 2008. Total foreclosures initiated for 2008 was 55.

Not all foreclosure proceedings culminate in the lending institution that holds the deed taking possession of the property in question. That has happened 23 times since 2007, according to the treasurer’s records.