{"id":73000,"date":"2017-01-19T01:02:40","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T08:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-housing-prices-rise-sales-slip-in-2016\/"},"modified":"2017-01-19T08:02:40","modified_gmt":"2017-01-19T08:02:40","slug":"montezuma-housing-prices-rise-sales-slip-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-housing-prices-rise-sales-slip-in-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma housing prices rise, sales slip in 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Local
Local real estate sales fell slightly in 2016, and prices increased, according to the Four Corners Board of Realtors.<\/span>Sam Green\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Montezuma County home sales slipped last year, but prices rose about 5 percent because of a decreased inventory of homes, according to the Four Corners Board of Realtors.<\/p>\n

The Cortez-based board\u2019s data showed that 327 houses were sold in the county in 2016, a 1.5 percent decrease from the 332 sold in 2015. The average sale price was $213,843, up 5 percent from the previous year.<\/p>\n

Only 571 new listings were added to the county market in 2016 \u2013 a 2.6 percent decrease from 2015 \u2013 and the average number of active listings available throughout the year was down 8 percent.<\/p>\n

Brenda Bates, president of the Four Corners Board of Realtors, attributed the sales decline in part to a downturn in available jobs, mainly in the oil and gas industry. The decrease in the number of listings, she added, helped to drive prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think people are moving around as much,\u201d Bates said.<\/p>\n

Despite the increase in prices, houses spent less time on the market in 2016. Properties spent an average of 164 days on the market before selling, compared with 186 days in 2015, a decline of 11.8 percent.<\/p>\n

Bates said it\u2019s not unusual for houses to spend a long time on the market in Montezuma County. Montezuma homes, especially those in rural areas, are often custom-built, rather than the \u201ccookie-cutter houses\u201d found in larger cities, which can make them harder to sell, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some properties that are just so unique that it takes a special buyer for them,\u201d Bates said.<\/p>\n

Around the region<\/div>\n

The market showed a range of average selling prices, from a low in Dove Creek to a high in Mancos.<\/p>\n

The cheapest place to move in the region last year was Dove Creek, where the average price of a home was $101,500. The most expensive was Mancos, where the average was $303,078.<\/em>Only Dolores saw an increase in the number of home sales in 2016 \u2013 up 11.9 percent compared with 2015 \u2013 even as average prices increased 11.2 percent.<\/em>And two properties in the area sold for $1 million or more last year, which Bates said is normal.<\/em>Statewide, the market showed similar numbers, according to the Colorado Association of Realtors.<\/p>\n

The average price of a Colorado home in 2016 was $381,298, up 6 percent, as of October. La Plata County saw a 2.9 percent price increase and a 2,8 percent sales increase.<\/em>The number of active listings for single-family homes in Colorado fell by 34.7 percent, and sales fell by 3.6 percent, the state association said.<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s ahead?<\/div>\n

The average price of a Colorado home in 2016 was $381,298, up 6 percent, as of October. La Plata County saw a 2.9 percent price increase and a 2,8 percent sales increase.<\/em>The number of active listings for single-family homes in Colorado fell by 34.7 percent, and sales fell by 3.6 percent, the state association said.<\/em>Local real estate agents remain optimistic about 2017, but opinions about the impact of the 2016 election are mixed.<\/p>\n

Denise Unrein, of the Four Corners Board of Realtors, said she believes President-elect Donald Trump will bring more jobs to the area and increase the demand for housing.<\/p>\n

But Carol Click, of RE\/MAX Mesa Verde Realty, said the decline in sales might continue because of buyers\u2019 uncertainty about the new administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope I\u2019m wrong, but I think \u2026 people are going to adjust. They\u2019re going to see what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d she said. \u201cI think they\u2019re going to be more cautious this year than last.\u201d<\/p>\n

JoAnn Cauley, of Century 21 West Slope Realty, was encouraged by an increasing number of first-time homebuyers in a market known for attracting reitrees.<\/p>\n

But despite the market\u2019s uncertainty and last year\u2019s rising prices, Bates pointed to interest rates, saying that \u201cit\u2019s still a great time to buy\u201d in Montezuma County.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can still get a loan for 4 percent (interest) or less, which is a great deal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Unrein agreed, and added that costs aren\u2019t the only reason people move to Montezuma County.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe climate\u2019s great,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Commercial sales<\/h4>\n

About 23 commercial buildings were sold in 2016, at an average price of $285,691, which is about 33 percent lower than 2015 prices.
\n Sales of multifamily residences went up by about 29 percent.
\n Sales of farm and ranch properties went down by one listing, but the average sale price went up by 41 percent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smaller inventory, fewer sales<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,13,453,614],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-73000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-housing-and-urban-planning","tag-real-estate"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73000"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=73000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}