As the median home price in Durango crept above $500,000 in 2019, Bayfield, with its more moderate prices, witnessed an almost 49% bump in its number of sales.
The increased sales activity in Bayfield also drove up the median price of homes in Bayfield to $334,000, a 4.4% increase from the $320,000 price in 2018, according to 2019 year-end statistics released this week by the Durango Area Association of Realtors.
“Bayfield is a market to watch, with an increase in all categories, except land,” said Christine Serwe, a broker with The Wells Group and president of DAAR’s board of directors.
The number of homes sold in Bayfield jumped from 41 in 2018 to 61 in 2019, as more projects came online. In 2017, Bayfield had 66 homes sales.
“Bayfield affordability may be attracting some buyers from Durango,” Serwe said.
Country homes in Bayfield saw their median price increase to $347,000 in 2019, up 8.6% from $319,500 in 2018. The number of country homes sold in the Bayfield area increased slightly to 139 in 2019, up from 133 in 2018.
The number of homes sold in unincorporated La Plata County, the biggest category tracked by DAAR, increased slightly to 1,136 in 2019 compared with 1,127 in 2018. The median price for La Plata County homes dipped slightly to $387,750 in 2019, a 0.6% decrease from the median price of $390,000 in 2018.
In Durango, 166 homes sold in 2019, an 8.3% decrease from the 181 sales in 2018. The median Durango in-town price of $506,625 for 2019 was a 4% increase from the $487,000 median price in 2018.
In Durango, the median price for condominiums and townhomes dropped slightly to $324,500 in 2019, a 0.2% decline from the 2018 median price of $325,000. Total sales dropped to 218 in 2019, down from 233 sales in 2018.
Homes in the north Animas Valley, called Durango Mountain Homes by DAAR, saw their median price drop 7.1% to $747,437 in 2019, down from 2018’s median price of 804,500. The number of Durango Mountain Homes sold dropped to 20 in 2019 compared with 26 in 2018.
Heather Erb, managing broker at Coldwell Banker Heritage House Realtors, in her quarterly commentary on the home market said, “In 2019, the median price was steady depending on location. While the market was stable, each year was fantastically different from the other. 2018 was a year of record drought and a fire which closed major businesses for summer months, while 2019 had record snowpack and a sluggish economy because of the weather.”
She said total number of all home sales tracked by DAAR was up 4.7%, likely because of a bigger selection of homes compared with 2018.
In addition, she said interest rates, which fell in the second half of 2019, helped bump sales numbers in the second half of the year.
The current year, she said, looks promising.
“The market so far in January is one of the busiest in several years. Rates are extremely low, and qualified buyers are actively looking for homes,” she said.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
