Bayfield’s home sale market is expected to start cooling off in the coming weeks, but there’s a chance that lower prices and lower interest rates could reignite demand for some properties.
Home sale prices in Bayfield, which are gradually decreasing, are expected to start leveling off in September and October. Still, that doesn’t necessarily mean demand will level off.
“With the (interest) rates coming down, and then with more inventory options, we’re expecting demand to increase,” said Jarrod Nixon, a La Plata County real estate agent with Coldwell Banker.
He said increasing inventory and competition on the market will pressure home sellers to bring prices down. And yet, increasing demand from people looking to capitalize on lower interest rates would potentially shrink inventory and force home sellers to raise prices, he added.
“If you’re paying 5%, it goes down to your payment. If the interest rate is lower, your payment’s going to be lower,” he said.
Nixon said some key factors in the Bayfield market include more first-time homebuyers and more “payment-conscious” workforce housing options. As a result, he expects there could be additional sales volume from that specific clientele.
He is also noted that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to announce an interest-rate cut in mid-September, which could get some people “off the sidelines.”
“Speaking to a couple of the local lenders, they’re thinking we’re going to see rates in the high fives (percent range),” Nixon said.
The area interest rate is trending down from nearly 7% in July to around 6% for qualified buyers as of Wednesday, he said.
From March 1 to May 29, there were 15 in-town homes and 18 country homes sold in Bayfield, according to data from the Durango Area Association of Realtors.
In that same timeline, in-town homes spent an average of 81 days on the market and were sold for an average price for $528,906. Country homes spent an average of 138 days on the market and were sold for an average price of $658,055 during that same time span.
In June and July, in-town single family homes spent an average of 108 and 67 days, respectively, on the market and were sold for average prices of $445,500 and $564,625, respectively, according to data from the Colorado Association of Realtors.
During that same time span, in-town town houses spent an average of 216 and 104, days, respectively, on the market and were sold for average prices of $390,000 and $326,667, respectively.
In June and July, single-family rural homes spent an average of 130 and 59 days, respectively, on the market and were sold for average prices of $1,361,357 and $431,571, respectively.
Nixon said that June average sales figure on single-family rural homes mainly stems from a couple unusually high sales involving properties worth millions of dollars, noting the median sale price of $550,000 for that month.
“There happened to be a couple of big sales in June that skewed those numbers. They were outliers,” he said, adding the June median sale price is a more accurate reflection.
He also said that people spent the summer “getting more aggressive” trying to sell their properties before winter.
“You’re not having to contend with snow and everything else. The homes show better in the summer than they do in the winter months,” he said, adding that people tend to take their homes off the market in November.
mhollinshead@durangoherald.com
