You don't scare me MSN!

The national media is going strong, letting us all know on a daily basis the troubles of  the housing market. "Foreclosure" seems to be the hottest buzzword being splashed on for an instant headline anchor. There is a lot of truth being seasoned with fear and speculation. Five of the states that truly are being hammered with foreclosures are Florida, California, Arizona, Michigan, Ohio. The Midwestern states are reeling from the job losses due to the automobile manufacturing decline. Truth be known, these state may be in a similar circumstance whether there was a housing slow down or not. The coastal extremes have surely set themselves up for a correction due to record breaking appreciation rates. Areas like Arizona were simply overbuilt. This is the position that many areas of the country are in right now.

   So with all of the housing fear and turmoil, where do we really stand when it comes to real estate prices? Have we here in Pagosa Springs found values to have appreciated or depreciated in the past few years?

   According to the data found in CREN (Colorado Real Estate Network) which is the Multiple Listing System that we use here in Pagosa Springs, our overall value remains fairly stable.

    I believe most REALTORS would agree when I say that our market noticed the first signs of volume slowdown for this cycle around the summer of 2006, July to be exact.

  For this article I am just going to look at a few sample market sectors to give you an idea of the overall situation. Looking at year over year median prices our MLS system shows the following:

 Single Family Homes built on a 1/2 acre or less have sold for $244,750 in 2007, up 4% from 2006 with a median sales price of $234,500.

Vacant Land Lots of 1/2 acre or less have sold for $40,000 on average as compared to $50,000 in 2006. This would constitute a 20% loss in value overall.

Vacant Land 35-40 acres commonly known as 35's are seeing a median sales price this year of $325,000 this is up significantly from a median sales price of $229,000 in 2006.

All Residential. This is taking into account every residence in Archuleta county stick framed, manufactured, and condo found on every number of acres-AKA the whole enchilada. Median sold price for 2007 as of this articles publication is $260,000 compared to $259,305 in 2006. If my calculator works that is less than a 1% change (for the better) in real estate value from last year until now.

   What these numbers do not take into account are the days on market or the number of sales per unit type that has taken place. Those figures have most certainly changed and are causing sluggishness in our market. Time will tell how that part of the story ends.

  There are reasons that certain parts of the market hold and appreciate while others may see more fluctuation. I will not go into those here in this article but would be happy to discuss it with you over the phone or a cup of coffee. Give me a call if you would like to talk about these trends or anything else real estate related. Until then, read those headlines with a certain amount of skepticism. So far the picture here in Pagosa Springs looks a little different than MSN might have us believe!