REAL ESTATE: The Riley Report

Hello From Pagosa Country!

The biggest news story around town is the weather. It’s too nice! Temperatures have been running 20 degrees above normal, and it will be a balmy 60 degrees today. I’m really loving this weather, but I’m feeling guilty at the same time because I know we need snow for all our holiday skiers. More importantly, we need to deal with our ongoing drought. Wolf Creek Ski Area is open part time. They really need a big dump of snow before the holidays.

I’ve lived in Pagosa since 1983, and during my tenure, I have only seen three ‘non-white’ Christmases. I’m not looking forward to seeing a fourth.

Even without the white stuff on the ground, the town looks very festive. The lighting and decorations are up, and they are looking great. Some of the local merchants have really gone overboard with their lighting this year. I want to give a big salute to Colorado Dream Homes, which is right next to our office. Their building looks spectacular!

Another change downtown is the big construction project dealing with McCabe Creek is done for now. They’ve been at work for several months, and they’re taking a pause for the winter. All four traffic lanes are now back in operation. The project will start back up in the spring.

Now for the latest real estate news. Overall sales are up 28% from this time last year. Back in September, we were up 73%. The numbers keep creeping downward due to the lack of inventory. Home and condo sales are down slightly from last year, so the only reason we are up 28% is due to land sales. We’ve had 658 vacant land sales this year compared to 382 last year at this time. That’s a gain of 72%.

Land inventory is way down as well. There are 218 vacant land properties available today. There were 432 available a year ago and 603 the year before that. Median land prices are up 34%.

Interest rates are currently at 3.125% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and 2.375% for a 15-year. We may see a drop in interest rates depending on what happens with the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Building permits are at 143 this year compared to 119 last year at this time.

So long for now. I hope you and your family have a great holiday season! A special thanks to all of our military, first responders, and hospital workers!