Odds of selling your home in Durango Colorado

WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF SELLING YOUR HOME IN DURANGO COLORADO/LA PLATA COUNTY?

The Odds Of Selling Your Home!!

PRICE RANGE: BUYERS: FOR SALE: ODDS:

$ -0- $199,999 120 90 133%

$200,000-$399,999 454 354 128%

$400,000-$599,999 203 229 89%

$600,000-$799,999 71 126 56%

$800,000-$999,999 30 50 60%

$1,000,000-$1,199,999 8 22 36%

$1,200,000-$1,399,999 8 35 23%

$1,400,000-$1,599,999 2 17 12%

$1,600,000-$1,799,999 3 11 27%

$1,800,000-$1,999,999 1 6 17%

$2 MILLION PLUS 2 40 5%

TOTAL: 902 980 92%

SOURCE: PARAGON MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE

LOCATION: LA PLATA COUNTY RESIDENTIAL

DATE: 1/28/2008

BUYER INFORMATION (SOLDS): 1/1/2007 THRU 12/31/2007

ACTIVE PROPERTIES DATE: 1/28/2008

RECENT FED RATE CHANGE AFFECTS LONG TERM MORTGAGE RATES

MY DURANGO REAL ESTATE CLIENTS ARE INTERESTED IN HOW THE RECENT FED RATE CHANGE AFFECTS LONG TERM MORTGAGE RATES...

A CHANGE IN THE FED RATE AFFECTS SHORTER TERM BUSINESS LOANS AND MORTGAGES ON COMMERCIAL PROPERTY, AS BANKS CHANGE THE RATES THEY CHARGE THEIR BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL CLIENTS. TYPICALLY, WHEN THE FEDERAL RESERVE CHANGES THE FED RATE, THE LOCAL BANKS CHANGE THEIR PRIME RATE, AND OTHER RATES FOR CORPORATE AND BUSINESS CLIENTS.

IT DOES NOT DIRECTLY IMPACT THE SECONDARY MARKET MORTGAGE RATES, WHICH ARE THE RATES THAT MOST OF US PAY FOR OUR RESDENTIAL HOME MORTGAGES.

THE SECONDARY MARKET RATE IS THE INTEREST RATE DETERMINED BY THE MARKET, AND MOVEMENTS IN THE MORTGAGE RATE REFLECTS SUPPLY AND DEMAND CONDITIONS IN THE MARKET FOR MORTGAGE BASED SECURITIES. THESE INTEREST RATES TEND TO FOLLOW MOVEMENTS IN OTHER LONG TERM INTEREST RATES, SUCH AS THE 10 YEAR TREASURY BOND RATE.

GENERALLY SPEAKING, WE SOMETIMES SEE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE FED RATE WHICH DO NOT IMMEDIATELY IMPACT THE LONG TERM MORTGAGE RATES, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE RATES OVER A LONGER SPAN OF TIME, THEY BOTH TEND TO MOVE UP OR DOWN TOGETHER. THE LONG TERM INTEREST RATES ARE USUALLY HIGHER THAN SHORT TERM INTEREST RATES, DUE TO THE RISK OF LONGER TERM MORTGAGES.

Luxury Home Marketing In Durango Colorado!

I have just returned from a course offered by The Institute For Luxury Home Marketing which covered such topics as demographics of the affluent, lifestyle segmentation, and trends and amenities in today's luxury home product. The course was taught by Laurie Moore-Moore, author of the book "Rich Buyer, Rich Seller".

The training provided new insight about the upper tier market, helped me polish my skills, and provided valuable networking contacts with other agents across the country who specialize in luxury properties. In addition, I found new and creative tools for promoting expensive homes and estates; so home buyers and sellers will benefit from the investment of time to participate in this class.

Skills learned will benefit all of the properties we market. An emphasis on improving our skills and knowledge on photography and marketing will make a differnence for everyone.

The top end of the market is in a stellar growth curve. As an example, 10,000 homes sold for over $1 million in 1999, and 109,113 sold for over $1 million in 2005. In New York, a record sales price for the U.S. was established when a home sold for $103 million!! The world record is a penthouse in London sold for $200 million!!

Why is the luxury home market growing? There are 3.2 million households in North America with $1million or more in financial assets, and in the world, there are 9.5 million households. The rich are getting richer, and the rich invest more in real estate, with 24% of their portfolios in real estate. As mentioned in some of my other blogs, the baby boom generation is having a major impact on the upper end market. Their desire to enjoy the lifestyle and success that they have achieved has them looking for the amenities they desire. Many of these "boomers" have been successful, increasing their estate size, and there has also been a large transfer of wealth from inheritance.

In the Durango Colorado area, 778 properties have sold for over $500,000 in the last five years, and over 100 homes have sold for over $1 million!! The most expensive property in La Plata County sold for $12 million in 2006.

If you have any questions about the upper tier of the market, please contact Don Ricedorff , don@frontier.net, www.durangorealproperty.com or call me at my office 970-3757014.

DURANGO COLORADO ECONOMIC UPDATE FOR 2007!

There are several areas of growth that have stabilized this regional area, and have produced an increase in employment of 8%. La Plata County has the advantage of having one of the largest national gas basins in the United States, and with the rising cost of oil and gas, the interest in expanding the drilling operations is high. Other areas of economic health include tourism, retail sales, airport passenger activity, and agriculture. Population has grown in the County to 48,563 in 2007. Unemployment has stayed under 3% for the last two years.

The forecast for the national economy is expected to have a slow start in 2008, with a slow recovery in the 2nd half of the year. There are concerns for inflation and unemployment, and continued international uncertainty. GDP growth is projected to be 1.3% for the first half, and 2.1% for the second half of 2008. Inflation is expected to increase to approximately 5% to 5.5%. Unemploymnent is projected to increase to 5.2% in the first half of 2008 from 5% in 2007. Housing starts are expected to decrease to approximately 1 million units from 1.1 million units.

Information Source: Southwest Business Forum, January 11, 2008, Fort Lewis College's 16th annual focus on our future: Business and Economics Sponsored by Wells Fargo San Juan Market.

If you would like further information from the forum, please contact me, Don Ricedorff, www.donricedorff.com, don@frontier.net, or 970-375-7014.

Preliminary year end real estate statistics for Durango Colorado/La Plata County for 2007!

The statistics for the total Durango Colorado/La Plata County real estate market are down 13.4% in transactions, with 119 fewer homes sold in 2007 as compared to 2006. Total residential transactions ended at 904 as compared to 1,023 in 2006. The median price was fairly stable with only a median difference of -1.5%, with the median price at $335,000. This compares to $340,000 for 2006, and $290,000 for 2005. The total volume was down 13.4% to $360,381,189.

The strongest segment of the market was the $500,000 to $1,000,000 segment, which posted a gain of 10 transactions for a 5.6% increase, and the volume was up $8,140,055 for a 7.2% gain. For the first time in the history of La Plata County, 187 homes sold in this price range.

The market over $1,000,000 counted 24 homes sold, which was two greater than 2005, but significantly lower than the historical 2006 year, which accounted for 43 sales.

The market below $500,000 was down 13.7% in transactiions, down .9% in median price, and down 14.6% in total transactions. This price segment has been impacted greater with the concerns over the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and buyers hesitant to jump back into the market. This should change in 2008 as the population continues to increase, and there is a pent up demand.

These market numbers show a vast improvement over the first five months of 2006, when the market was showing a 20% decrease in transactions. It appears that this market is flattening, and in much better condition than most of the country. Recently, there has been an article in Ski Magazine highlighting our area, and our neighboring city to the south, Farmington New Mexico has also received some postitive national press.

The market statistics are sourced from: Colorado Real Estate Network on 1-7-2008.

All opinions are mine, Don Ricedorff. You may contact me at don@frontier.net, Durango Real Property.com, or 970-375-7014 for a comparison of market statistics for 2005 through 2007.