It’s a beautiful day in Pagosa Springs – not a cloud in the sky. Spring has sprung, and the crocuses are coming. Spring breezes kick up every afternoon. Wolf Creek Ski Area just closed for the year, so it’s time to break out the golf clubs and the fishing poles. Rafting season is about to start, but it won’t last very long this year due to lack of snowpack in the mountains. Our snow levels are currently at 45% of median for this time of year, so we are definitely in a drought situation with no sign of significant moisture in the foreseeable future.
Even though we had marginal snow for the skiers this season, the local economy is chugging right along. January sales tax revenues were up a whopping 19%. Our local contractors are busier than normal for this time of year. Pagosa is getting ready for another good year.
Pagosa Springs was recently featured in a glowing article in the Dallas Morning News. You can read the whole piece here. The article calls us a “postcard-perfect Colorado mountain town,” and does a nice job highlighting our many attractions: the hot springs, the river, the ski area, Chimney Rock, and of course, millions of acres of National Forest. I expect the article will send a few extra Dallas residents our way this summer, and we’ll be glad to show them a good time.
As far as the local real estate scene, our numbers for the first quarter are softer than I was hoping for. Business in my office is up, but the stats show a different story. Home sales are down 16% and inventory is up 21%. Condo sales are down 11% with inventory up 52%. Vacant land sales are the bright spot with sales up 17%. Most of the gain comes in small lots in the Pagosa Lakes area. The contractors are buying up these lots to build spec homes. Overall sales are down just 4%. The big surprise is that pending sales are down as well. We have 100 properties under contract today compared to 148 last year at this time. This means we may continue to see soft sales for the next month or so.
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the reason for the minor downturn, and I’m stumped. One angle is that prices have been steadily rising for the past couple of years, and perhaps home buyers don’t perceive enough value to justify the higher prices. Another possibility presents itself when looking at the historical context. If we go back to 2015 and 2016, our numbers this year are very similar to those years. So maybe 2017 was just an anomaly. Only time will tell.
Another factor is that interest rates are on the rise, which is pushing up borrowing costs. If you are in the market and you’ve been procrastinating, there’s a good chance your costs will go up if you don’t act soon.
So long for now! I hope you have a wonderful spring and you get a big tax refund!
GRI, CRS
2011 & 2014 Realtor of the Year
Phone (970) 731-4065
Fax (970) 731-4068
Cell (970) 946-3856
Email: [email protected]
