REAL ESTATE: The Riley Report

Hello From Pagosa Country! And happy 248th birthday, USA! 

Pagosa is hopping. There’s a lot going on around town. This past weekend was very busy. The new Tennyson Sculpture Park & Garden just opened. Local artists are displaying some of their spectacular sculptures. You’ll definitely want to check it out. This week the big kickoff featured an arts & crafts fair, food vendors, and live entertainment.

Coming up next are the Fourth of July festivities. Here are a few of the events you won’t want to miss. To start off, we have the parade at 10:00am. There’s a new parade route this year. The parade will start at the Post Office and end up at Yamaguchi Park, which is near the high school. You’ll want to get there early to get a good spot to see what’s going on.

Next, you’ll want to head to Town Park to check out the arts & crafts fair. It’s right on the riverwalk, and it’s always a fun time. At 2:00pm, the 74th annual Red Ryder Rodeo begins at the fairgrounds. If you need to cool off after that, you might want to bring a big tube and float down the river. 

Last but not least are the fireworks, which will start around 9:30pm.

As I look out my window this morning, it is pretty gray. We have been very fortunate over the last couple of weeks after having a drier than normal winter and spring. The monsoons have kicked in, and we’ve been getting some big rains to help squelch the drought. It looks like the Fourth of July should be beautiful and dry. To help celebrate this year, my side of the Riley clan is getting together for a family reunion, which means Laurie and I are scrambling to get everything around our home and yard cleaned up for our guests.

Now for the latest real estate news. In general, the market shows signs of slowing down. Total sales in June were down slightly with 59 sales this year versus 63 last June. The bigger story is the decline in pending sales, which were way down. There are 87 pending deals right now compared to 117 last year at this time. As I analyze the numbers, the total number of home sales was flat, only up 2%. 

The breakdown looks like this. Homes priced $600,000 and below are down 19%, whereas those priced above $600,000 were up 24%. The big surprise was that home sales priced above $1,000,000 have doubled. Total inventory was up 20%. Almost all of that increase was in the higher price ranges. Condo and townhome sales were a bright spot, up 61% with inventory up 41%. There are 45 condos and townhomes on the market today compared to just 11 back in 2021. The biggest drag on this sector of the market is the big increase in monthly association fees. 

Vacant land sales are also up 17%. The small lots with all utilities are up 47%. These are mainly in the Pagosa Lakes area. Parcels in the 1 to 3 acre range were also up 35%, which are mainly in the Aspen Springs area.

Reading between the lines, it looks like the entry level buyers in the $600,000 and below range are struggling. Mortgage rates are still a big issue. The 30-year mortgage rate is 7.1% and the 15-year is 6.5%. The Fed is sitting on their hands for the time being and waiting for inflation to get under control. We will be lucky if we see a single rate cut by the end of the year. A second issue is the big increase in insurance rates affecting the cost of home ownership. The last fly in the ointment is politics. Quite a few buyers have said they are waiting to see who will be running the show after November. The combination of all of these components is making the current real estate market a little messy. Right now, we are more of a buyer’s market than we were a couple years ago. This is the time of the year that motivated sellers are adjusting their prices to become more competitive.

So long for now. I hope you and your family have a festive and safe Fourth of July.

See the latest stats, comparing 2024 to previous years.