It’s a gorgeous morning as I write – not a cloud in the sky. In fact, this summer has been one of the nicest I can remember. We had a wet spring that followed a heavy winter, and the monsoons played their part. For the most part, green was the color of the day, sprinkled with lots of wildflowers. The monsoons stopped earlier than normal this year, which means things dried out substantially. The positive was if you were playing in the woods, you didn’t get wet. The downside is the grasses are browning up and the fire danger is still of some concern. Another side effect of the drier than normal vegetation is our fall colors will probably peak earlier than normal, so say the weathermen. Fall colors will probably start in mid-September.
Fortunately, I was able to take advantage of the dry weather when I went on a pack trip with my brothers, my son, and my son-in-law, as we rode our horses on top of the Continental Divide. We ended up at Archuleta Lake. The fishing for Brookies was fabulous. No big fish, but lots of them. Very good eating. I want to thank Mike Ray and his crew at Lobo Outfitters for all they did for us in creating memories that we will cherish for a lifetime.
My next trip is coming up soon. My wife Laurie and I are headed to the Mount Rushmore area in South Dakota to try RVing for the first time. If any of my readers are familiar with that part of the world and can give me some suggestions on where to go fishing or what we should see, I would love to hear from you. Give me a call – my cell number is 970-946-3856.
Around town, we have come to the unofficial end of summer. School started this week. My favorite festival of the year has already happened. The 24th Annual Four Corners Folk Festival was Labor Day weekend. This three-day party was started by Dan Appenzeller many moons ago. He and his wife, Crista Munro, deserve a huge thank you from the community for all their hard work over the years. They have just passed the baton to KSUT radio station in Ignacio. If you love folk and bluegrass music, make sure you head up to Reservoir Hill for the festival next year. This is our version of Woodstock.
Now for the latest real estate news. August of 2019 almost mirrored August of 2018. There were a similar numbers of closed transactions. There are a few more pending deals in the hopper. Overall sales for the year are still down 7%, an improvement over last month when we were down 8%. Home sales are almost exactly the same as last year. There are two areas dragging down the market The first is condo sales, which are down 28% due to lack of inventory under $200,000. The second is land sales, which are down 7% due to a slump in sales between 6 and 50 acres, which are down almost 50%. There have been 20 sales this year compared to 39 in 2018.
Interest rates are still very low at 3.5% for a 30-year fixed mortgage and 3.0% for a 15-year fixed. Building permits for new homes in Archuleta County are down slightly with 87 permits issued so far this year compared to 101 at this time last year.
I’ve got a couple more thank-yous to put out there. Sue Passant at the Pagosa Lakes Property Owner’s Association is retiring after 21 years on the job. And Sherrie Vick will soon leave the County Building & Planning office after a long tenure there. The good news is that Sherrie is taking Sue’s spot at the PLPOA. Both of these ladies are superstars.
We are very fortunate to live in such a great part of the country. It’s important to go out and smell the roses.
GRI, CRS
2011 & 2014 Realtor of the Year
Phone (970) 731-4065
Fax (970) 731-4068
Cell (970) 946-3856
Email: [email protected]
