Durango’s tight rental market isn’t getting any more accommodating for renters.
Some homeowners who rent out their houses are putting them on the market, encouraged by rising real estate prices.
“We have a tight enough pool of rentals, and it’s getting tighter,” said Don Ferris, a real estate agent with Keller Williams.
During the first quarter, in-town Durango homes sold for a median price of $425,000, up 16 percent from a year earlier. With the value of cashing in on the rise, some landlords are doing just that.
A home at 2702 Junction Street was one rental that’s now on the market. Listed at $384,980, the 1,544-square-foot, three-bedroom home was built in 1951. It last sold for $381,000 in 2007, according to La Plata County records.
Also newly listed is 28 Valley Court, for $480,000. The 1,804-square-foot home, built in 1999, last sold for $372,500 in 2006.
In the aftermath of the Great Recession, some homeowners see the rising prices and are deciding to sell.
“A lot of lower-priced homes which were rentals went on the market when the supply of homes for sale under $300,000 went down,” Ferris said. “Now, these price points are moving up.”
Don Ricedorff, a real estate agent with The Wells Group, said it made sense for a small number of homeowners to hold on until values recovered.
“If you bought at the top of the market, and you were trying to sell three years ago, you were upside down,” he said.
Meanwhile, the apartment rental market remains tight, although there may be some vacancies as Fort Lewis College students leave for the summer.
At Hillcrest Apartments, only five of 112 units are not leased, for a vacancy rate of 4.5 percent, said leasing consultant Brad Graves.
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs Division of Housing conducts a statewide multifamily vacancy and rent survey twice per year. During the most recent survey, in the third quarter of 2014, Durango had a 2.7 percent vacancy rate, down from 4.4 percent a year earlier. The median rent was $1,214, up from $995.
On Craigslist, a two-bedroom, two-bath condo was offered for $1,400 a month, while a townhome was offered for $1,650 a month on a yearly lease or $2,150 a month for a seasonal lease.
Two major apartment buildings are under construction that should ease the shortage for workforce housing.
Confluence Park Apartments has broken ground in Three Springs. The complex will have 101 apartments.
Lumien Apartments at 32nd Street and East Animas Drive, a project of the Regional Housing Alliance of La Plata County, will have 50 rent-controlled units.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
