Homebuyers are seizing the chance to secure Bayfield properties ahead of summertime.

And with interest rates starting to drop, that demand is expected to keep growing.

“Going into the summer, it looks promising,” said Kayden Hyson with Durango Area Association of Realtors.

Since mid-May, home interest rates across the board in the Bayfield area have dropped from about 7.75% to about 7%, he said.

From March 1 through Wednesday, there were 15 in-town homes and 18 country homes sold in Bayfield, according to data from the Durango Area Association of Realtors.

From March 1 through Wednesday, 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.

Between January and February, typically the slow months for the seller’s market, 13 country homes in Bayfield were sold for an average price of $647,876 after spending an average of 143 days on the market. From January through February, two in-town homes were sold for an average sale price of $550,000 after spending an average of 71 days on the market.

Hyson said March and April are typically slow because sellers are waiting for lingering snow to melt and for temperatures to warm up a bit.

Homebuyers are also taking their time in assessing and deciding on certain properties as opposed to merely grabbing hold of a home once it becomes available, he said.

“Things are kind of shifting to being kind of a normalized market,” he said.

As of Wednesday, there were a combined 36 in-town and country homes available in the Bayfield area.

“As the weather gets nicer, the more attractive the real estate market is ... buyer-wise, there’s going to be more options for the buyer as far as inventory goes,” Hyson said. “Typically, people will wait for those warmer months knowing that there will be more options.”

He also said Bayfield’s ongoing housing development projects such as Mustang Crossing will heighten intrigue in the coming months.

“It’s not something we’ve ever really seen in Bayfield before, and I think that’s really something that Bayfield needs,” he said. “I hope that generates some excitement in the future for other developers to come in and work with the town of Bayfield.”

Aside from monitoring interest rates, Hyson said he is keeping an eye on homeowners insurance premium rates because they can impact writing home offers, paired with the fact that homeowners insurance companies are leaving subdivisions with virtually no explanation.

“If you can’t get insurance on a home, or reasonable insurance on a home,” homebuyers could very well pay thousands of dollars more than what they’d typically be paying, Hyson said. That’s why he suggests exploring different homeowners insurance options so they’re not tied to one company.

One possible silver lining for potential buyers is that the inventory could expand more in the future should someone have no choice but to put their home on the market amid rising insurance premiums, Hyson said.

mhollinshead@durangoherald.com