The median price for an in-town Durango home is pushing ever closer to the $1 million mark, according to Durango Area Association of Realtors’ third quarter statistics.
In-town homes experienced a 17.8% increase in median price during the third quarter, rising to $932,000, despite an 8.6% decrease in total number of homes sold. According to a news release from DAAR, the price surge was primarily driven by a single high-value sale of an in-town home exceeding $3 million.
But in-town homes have been inching closer to the $1 million median price over the course of 2024. Since the first quarter of 2024, median prices are up 17.2%.
John Wells, real estate broker at The Wells Group, said about a third of the homes purchased in Durango were over $1 million, driving up the median price during the third quarter. He said it is a reflection of limited inventory.
With affordable homes becoming more scarce in Durango, many homebuyers are turning to other markets. Meanwhile, the few making offers in Durango tend to be those with the means to purchase million dollar properties.
With interest rates hovering between 6% and 7%, obtaining a loan is less affordable for many homebuyers, favoring wealthier cash buyers in the region.
DAAR President Kayden Hyson said the development of more expensive homes near SkyRidge and Three Springs subdivisions have also driven up median prices.
In the third quarter of 2024, La Plata County’s real estate market reflected mixed trends across property types. The county’s median home price rose to $670,000, a 2% increase from the previous year, while the number of homes sold declined by 3.1% to 626.
Hyson said most of the area’s median price increases have been modest and he does not anticipate a surge in prices in the near future.
“Things right now are fairly expensive, but we're seeing several price reductions in listings because they are sitting on the market,” Hyson said.
In the Durango Mountain Area, the condo and townhome market experienced a sharp 34.4% increase in median price, reaching $689,000, despite a 30.5% decrease in number of units sold.
Wells said condos typically fluctuate in median home price based on the type of units being sold.
“There’s some newer condos and townhomes in Glacier, and those are all a million and a half to $3 million, so that skews it some,” he said.
He said the market generally favors sellers when homes are on the market for 150 days or fewer.
Local real estate brokers said the market is balancing.
“When you get closer to six months (on the market) it gets to what we would typically call a balanced market,” Wells said.
Hyson said homes are still staying on the market longer but expects the market to reach a strong balance in 2025. While election years typically don’t have a great impact on real estate in Durango, Hyson said the recent economy has made buyers and sellers hesitant.
He said there will likely be more homebuying activity in the spring when buyers have a better idea of what the economy is going to look like under President-elect Donald Trump.
“When it’s in a presidential election, they certainly tend to hold off on any big money moves,” Hyson said.
However, the market is also shifting back toward pre-pandemic trends, which has caused buyers and sellers to have a distorted view of current market prices.
“We’ve seen plenty of price reductions where people are shooting toward a $900,000 number and then those homes are selling closer to $800,000,” he said.
However, the longer homes remain on the market, the more likely housing prices are to decrease, a trend Hyson views as favorable for prospective buyers.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
