And Happy Birthday America! The Fourth was last weekend, which is the busiest day of the year in our fair little town. If you have not partaken in our Independence Day festivities, you are missing some big doings. The parade starts at 10:00, followed by an arts & crafts fair in town park along the river. The Red Ryder Rodeo is held at the county fairgrounds, and the carnival is in town as well. There is a free band concert featuring patriotic tunes across the river on the lawn of the Springs Resort Hotel. The evening is capped with an amazing fireworks show. The bottom line is town is a happening place on the Fourth. This year was the busiest I have ever seen it, which is great for our local economy.
The other downtown news is that a new grocery store will be open in about a month. The company, called Home Town Food Market, also owns another store in Antonito, which is over Wolf Creek Pass and south of Alamosa. The new store will go in where the old City Market used to be. The downtown residents are very excited not to have to make the trip up Putt Hill to buy groceries.
Moving on to real estate, overall sales are up 21% over last year at this time. The residential market slowed slightly in June, falling from +13% last month to +4% this month. There are two residential markets out there, and $400,000 is the dividing line. 87% of home sales are under $400,000, but they represent 44% of the inventory. The other 13% of home sales are above $400,000, where you’ll find 56% of the inventory.
The hottest part of the market is vacant land, which continues to benefit from low prices. Vacant land prices are still at 2004 levels, but the good news is we’re starting to see prices rise and inventory come down.
Pending deals are not quite at the record-breaking peak they were a month ago, but we’re still above the number from the same time last year, as you can see here:
Interest rates are currently at 4.125% for a 30-year fixed loan and 3.375% for a 15-year fixed. Building permits are up slightly, with 39 new home permits this year versus 31 at this time last year.
I hope everybody is having a fun summer!
GRI, CRS
2011 & 2014 Realtor of the Year
Phone (970) 731-4065
Fax (970) 731-4068
Cell (970) 946-3856
Email: [email protected]
