REAL ESTATE: The Riley Report

Hello From Beautiful Pagosa Country!

It is not as green as it used to be. After a huge winter and lots of good moisture, July is the driest and hottest that I can remember, living here for over 40 years. The monsoon rains have skipped us so far. It has been clouding up every afternoon, but no rain. It’s either a feast or a famine this year!

A positive out of this negative is that I haven’t had to mow my lawn much this year.

Around town, the 72nd Archuleta County Fair was held last weekend. It’s a great family event. My favorite part is the chuckwagon barbecue dinner Saturday night, followed by the 4H animal auction. I have bought a bunch of animals over the years – it’s good business, and it’s a big help to those kids who have been working hard for several months, raising livestock.

Another fun family event is happening Saturday, August 12. This is the 22nd Annual Knights of Columbus Duck Race and Community Picnic – free food and live music. Everything gets started at 11:30am in Town Park, and the ducks hit the river at 3:00pm. You can purchase your race tickets at the Catholic church, or at the event. The proceeds go for scholarships and local non-profits like Special Olympics. This is an opportunity to do a little gambling for a good cause. There are $5,000 in cash prizes that you could win.

Now for the latest real estate news. Total sales are down 37% from this time last year. Home sales are down 30%, condo sales down 52%, and land sales are down 42%. July sales were a little sluggish with 68 total sales last month compared to 76 in 2022. High mortgage rates have taken their toll. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is up to 7.25%, and a 15-year is at 6.75%. Rates for second homes are even higher.

Compared with the 3% mortgage you could have had on January 1 of this year, your payment on a 30-year mortgage for a typical $600,000 home with 20% down has gone from $2023 per month to $3274 per month, an increase of $1251 for the same house. With that in mind, both buyers and sellers are sitting on the sidelines. Buyers don’t want to take out a loan, and sellers don’t want to give up their existing 3% loan. If you’re a cash buyer, you’re sitting in the catbird seat.

In this environment, even with ample supply, we just don’t have the demand, which is causing prices to decline across the board. Average days on the market are rising.

What was a seller’s market a year ago is changing to a buyer’s market.

So long for now! Enjoy the rest of summer. Pray for rain. Go fishing, camping, hiking, and tubing while you can.