REAL ESTATE: The Riley Report

Hello From Pagosa Country!

One of the nicest surprises this summer is how green it is. The monsoons have been better than the weatherman predicted, and the rivers and lakes are in good shape. The 70th Annual Archuleta County Fair started Thursday, August 5, and ran through Sunday, August 8 — great family fun for everyone, featuring a livestock show and 4H auction, a rodeo, a chuckwagon dinner, a dance, and much, much more! This local party is always a great way to enjoy some small-town flavor.

This coming weekend is the 12th Annual Car Show on August 13 and 14. It sure is nice to see our town mostly getting back to the good old days!

Now for the latest real estate news. The market is still strong. Total sales are double last year. There were 394 closed sales last year at this time, and today there are 789. Inventory remains way down from last year, but it’s about the same as last month. Median sale prices are up 31% for homes and 25% for condos. This is largely due to the mix of properties being sold this year. We’ve sold a lot more high-end properties, and we have very few low-end properties available. As you look at the graphs below, you’ll see that monthly sales and pending sales are about the same as last year at this time.

Seems to me that there are two groups of properties on the market. There are new listings which are priced right and go under contract quickly. Then there are those properties which have been out there for awhile and gotten stale. These properties most likely need price adjustments.

I expect sales to stay strong for the rest of the year, but slower than last year. August of 2020 is when sales really picked up dramatically, so it will be difficult to keep up with that pace. The pent-up demand from the first half of this year has subsided somewhat, as most of these folks have already found what they were looking for. Multiple offers still happen, but they are less common than they were.

Hopefully we will start to see some of the spec homes that were started this spring hit the market soon. These are typically 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2-car garage homes at around 1600 square feet. They should be priced somewhere in the $450,000 to $500,00 range, which is $100,000 more than they would have been a year ago.

Personally, I’m having a very enjoyable summer. Laurie and I are trying to get away for what I call mini-vacations. A couple weekends ago we did the train ride in Durango. Our next trip is a four-day getaway to Lake Tahoe for a real estate conference.

I’m still very busy, but I’m trying to take as much time as I can to smell the roses. Today is the most important day of your life. Don’t take it for granted!

So long for now, and have a great summer!