Year End Real Estate Recap with Dan Korman

Welcome to my favorite video of the year because we get to view the year end market data on a macro level, which helps us draw conclusions on what’s been happening over the last few years. Some major shifts in the market have happened and with CPI data matching predictions today, we should see further increases of inventory and a softening of demand. This is The Real Estate Update. Let’s get into it. It’s January 12th, 2023 and I hope you’re having an amazing year so far. It’s a bit of a surprise that pricing in 2022 continued to push higher and higher even with the increased interest rates. But it seems things are shifting, if ever so slightly, as we begin the new year. The average home in La Plata County in 2022 landed at $910,000, a 16% increase year over year from a previous record of 780K in ’21. The Durango Mountain Area topped the market with an average home price of $1.9 million. Though this stat was only spread over 33 sales last year, which is a 24% increase in price and a 30% decrease in the number of homes sold. The Durango Mountain Area sells more condos and townhome units than anything. So statistics on single family homes over such a small sample doesn’t quite paint the full picture. When looking at condo and townhome sales in North County, the number of units sold was almost equal to the same number sold in 2021. But the average unit price increase of 18% shows that the demand for attached units in our resort market persists throughout last year. One of the most amazing statistical storylines in our area was that of Bayfield. Over the last year, the average sold price of a single family home with a Bayfield address increased 23% to almost $620,000. That is quite the heavy price to pay for an average home in a satellite community. So all eyes are on the construction of new homes to help soften the blow in ’23. Whether you look at La Plata County as a whole or specifically in the markets of Durango or Bayfield, the number of single family home units sold across the border down substantially. This is due in large part to the increase in the 30-year mortgage rate which surpassed 7% at one point last summer, and all but annihilated the refinancing market which put a strain on many mortgage brokers here in town. While high prices and lower sales are not necessarily good news for the market in general, the bright spot is that the active listing supply is slowly recovering. At the height of the pandemic, the month’s supply was less than one month, an unsustainable supply of homes for a healthy and vibrant economy. Through the mechanisms of the Fed policy, we are now seeing a recovery in that supply with the 12-month rolling average in 2022 reaching two months of supply in Durango city limits and 2.6 months supply in the county. That’s almost double what it was at the end of last year in ’21. So my hope is that inflation wanes, interest rates will drop, homes will get built, and in 2023, we will be the year of the balanced market. Only time will tell. So if you have any questions about the statistics in your neighborhood, feel free to reach out via email at dan@alpenglowproperties.com or DM me on any of our social media handles @DurangoBrokers. Thank you for watching and we’ll see you next time.