The Pulse Of The Real Estate Market

Friends,

We have discussed in past communication that June activity has been a little slower than the active spring market, but we continue to outpace the previous year in the number of properties sold.  Year to date through June 28th, there have been 456 residential properties sold in La Plata County as compared to 349 last year, a 30% increase.  The median price for this year's properties is $315,000 versus $289,500 for last year, an 8.8% increase.

As of this moment there are 179 properties that are under contract with a median price of $309,000 in La Plata County.  It looks like the initial burst of higher prices may have plateaued, as the median price for properties that will sell in the next 30-60 days appears to be a little lower than those that have closed in the first half.

As of today, there are 827 active listings in La Plata County that are not under contract.  This still makes the entire County a "buyers market" based on the amount of inventory.  Of course, in the neighborhoods in the lower price ranges close to Durango, we are in a balanced market and in some cases, a sellers market.

There are a couple of concerns for our summer market:

This morning, Durango is full of smoke.  The fires through the region may have an impact on visitors to the area, and of course, we continue to pray for rain and that we won't have the destructive fires in our area.  You can imagine the economic  impact that has affected South Fork.

Second, interest rates are up more than 1%.  This is a huge change for a buyer, as it has a 10% change in their affordability on an 80% loan to value.  For example, if a buyer could afford a median priced home of $315,500 one month ago, they can now only afford a home priced at $283,950.

Have a great 4th of July!

Don

Don Ricedorff, Broker Associate, GRI, CRS, CCIM, ABR, RSPS, CDPE

The Wells Group Real Estate Brokerage

E-Mail:  don@durangorealproperty.com

Direct:  970-375-7014

Fax:  970-259-5007

Web:  www.DurangoRealProperty.com

Welcoming The Summer Season

Well we are officially in SUMMER with this hot, hot weather!  We are also seeing again this year something we have historically seen every year in early June for the past 10 or more years: these first few weeks after school is out there seems to be a let down in real estate activity.  It always catches us by surprise and there is no concrete explanation that we can think of, except that we know it happens year after year and may be due to pre-occupation with graduations, weddings and family vacations.  We have just come off of a good spring buying market and we don't see this June slow down as any kind of projection for the year to come.  We just think people are taking a breather right now and we predict we will see a continuation of the good activity seen earlier this year as the summer progresses.  We have had several calls this week from some of the Sellers we represent asking why showing activity has seemed to decrease lately.  Hopefully the weeks ahead will see a return of activity by buyers searching for real estate.

I also wanted to give you a general statistical update of the overall market.  As of yesterday there were 940 total residential solds over the last 12 months in La Plata County which represents very strong activity for 2013 to date.  Of those sales, 83.8% were in the price category of $0-499,999; 14.3% were in the price category of $500,000-999,999; and 1.9% where in the price category of $1,000,000 and up.  We have seen an uptick in mortgage rates to around 4.5% but we still believe that real estate sales will continue to be strong through the rest of 2013.

How Is The Market Today?

This is the question most often posed to me, so today, let’s look at the newest information. 

Criteria:

Residential

La Plata County

Source: Colorado Real Estate Network (MLS)

Dates:

May 30, 2012 thru May 30, 2013                 Calendar Year 2012

Homes Sold: 902                                           Homes Sold: 834

Median Price: $310,000                                Median Price: $299,450

The number of homes sold is up 8.2% and the median price is up 3.5%.

If we compare this quarter (with a couple of days left in it) to the 2nd quarter of last year, it is much bigger difference.  The second quarter last year was the very bottom of the market for our La Plata County residential prices, and this year prices are significantly higher.

Dates:

March 1, 2013 thru May 30, 2013                               March 1, 2012 thru May 31, 2012

Homes Sold: 223                                                          Homes Sold: 180

Median Price: $327,500                                               Median Price: $279,625

The number of homes sold is up 23.9% and the median price is up 17.1%!

As a reminder, the prices are dependent on location, the number of homes on the market, and the price range.  It is still a buyers market in some market areas and in the higher price ranges of properties.

The other information that may be interesting to compare is the percentage of the market for residential, commercial and land.  This excludes leases and commercial land sales will show in the numbers for land.

Dates: May 30, 2012 thru May 30, 2013

Commercial:       27 Properties Sold        2.4%

Land:                  181 Parcels Sold           16.3%

Residential:        902 Homes Sold            81.3%

Total:                     1,110 Properties Sold