Rick Lorenz CRS, ABR, CLHMS, CyberStar, CNE

Durango Colorado Home Adjoining Golf Course

Enjoy the freedom of a low maintenance lifestyle adjacent to the golf course while taking in the views of the LaPlata Mountains!! The Villas at Hillcrest is a detached townhome community that was built in 2007 using high-efficiency green construction while maintaining the look of an Italian Villa. As you enter the home, you will immediately experience an “Italian country” feel with the warm color pallet, textured walls and ceilings, wood and turned-iron staircase railing, oversized tile entry, oak flooring and other distinctive architectural details. There is even a turned iron arched top door under the stairs that leads to a perfect spot for the grandkids to play. The open floor plan is perfect for entertaining. You can kibitz with the guests sitting at the kitchen bar while preparing your gourmet delights in this wonderful kitchen. Want more formal? There is plenty of seating in a separate, but open dining area.

Enjoy outdoor entertaining on the back covered patio with access from both the living area and the dining area. From there, you will want to share many of your golfing stories while BBQ’ing on the built-in gas grill. Located overlooking Hillcrest Golf Course’s number 4 green and number 5 tee, it's hard to not just relax while taking in the view of the LaPlatas. The back yard is fenced with heavy duty steel, painted black to compliment the exterior of the home. Tastefully landscaped with rocks and stones for low maintenance living. Great kitchen to cook in with plenty of counter space and equipped with SS Bosch dishwasher, Jenn-Air SS oven with grill, Jenn-Air SS double refrigerator with front ice & water dispenser. Granite countertops throughout the kitchen with bar seating from the kitchen to the dining area. Enjoy the gas log fireplace with a flip of a switch which is located between the dining and living area for enjoyment throughout the main floor. Audio is available with built in speakers on the main floor living, dining, kitchen, and even on the back deck. SECOND FLOOR: Walking up the steps, you will enter a large space for an office, sitting, or area that could be used for your exercise equipment with two skylights for great natural lighting. Your guest would enjoy either of the two bedrooms with the views of the LaPlatas! A large full bathroom lies between the two bedrooms for convenience to both,with tiled countertops, brushed copper fixtures, and iron towel racks that keeps the flow of the Villa style.

Priced at $490,000, this is an especially good value for the Durango Colorado real estate market. For more information and to see additional photos, plat, etc, please click on the following link: Durango Colorado Home Adjoining Golf Course

Durango 5 Year Residential Sales Statistics

I recently compiled the Durango 5 year residential sales statistics on a month by month basis. This shows how many residential units (condos and homes) closed from 2007 through January of 2012. The chart below is the result of the analysis of the Durango real estate market. Please understand that these statistics cover all of La Plata County so that would include Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio. Both in town and out of town homes were used in this analysis. It also would include condominiums located at the ski area.

As you can see 2007 was a very good year and we have not had another year come back up to those levels yet. Number of units sold declined all the way through 2009 in the last two years has seen a slow but steady increase. November of 2011 was only the second time in that five-year timeframe that the number of units sold per month actually was greater than the corresponding month in 2007. In December of 2011 the units sold was only two units off of December 2006. It's pretty clear that 2010 was the year the market started to turn around.

Analyzing and then interpreting Durango real estate sales statistics is something that is so very important in order to give advice to our buyer and seller clients. Everybody… literally everybody… asks me: "How is the market?". This type of statistical analysis, along with my quarterly analysis broken down by $200,000 price brackets, is certainly a huge help in getting a good pulse on the Durango real estate market. If you would like to see that quarterly analysis click the following link: 2011-2010 Durango Real Estate Residential Analysis

Durango Colorado Real Estate Statistics 2010-2011

Tracking Durango Colorado real estate sales statistics is certainly an important aspect of my job as the Team Leader for Team Lorenz. Those of you that follow me regularly, know that every three months I do a careful year-to-year comparison of the Durango residential sales comparing the current year to the same time period the year before. In addition the analysis is broken down by $200,000 increments so that a buyer or seller can pretty carefully review what's going on in their particular price range. Not only do I study where did they buy (Durango in town, Durango rural, Bayfield in town, Bayfield rural and or resort condos/SFH) we also analyze days on the market, sales to list price percentage, number of units sold, number of units available, absorption rate and the number of cash sales. This is done for every price range and compares 2011 results to the 2010 Durango residential real estate sales results.

The entire analysis set up in a fairly easy-to-read Excel spreadsheet form is located on my website and you can look at it at the following link:

Durango Colorado Residential Real Estate Statistics 2010-2011

I will mention several of the highlights here, but please take a look at the above analysis so that you can get a thorough understanding of our market. Also, I would be happy to discuss with you any of the figures and where I think we are trending, so please feel free to give me a call.

Highlights: Total La Plata County (including Durango, Bayfield, Ignacio) residential sales increased by 10.7% in 2011. The median days on the market dropped slightly from 155 days in 2010 to 137 days in 2011. The list to sales price percentage stayed the same and 92.9%. The biggest change was in the number of units available for sale. At the end of 2010 there were 900 units available for sale but on January 3 there were only 694 units available, a significant decline. That means that inventory is being gobbled up in the price range that saw the biggest decline in inventory was the $200,000-$400,000 price range where it went from 400 units available at the end of 2010 down to only 276 the end of 2011. The area with the most sales happens to be Durango in town , where 107 units sold in 2010 then it jumped to 156 units in 2011.

if you are a Realtor reading this blog, you should be preparing an analysis similar to this for all of your clients. This is such a useful tool that I laminate them every three months and they go on the wall by each of my team members for quick reference. If you are a buyer or a seller, then your Realtor ought to be sharing something like this with you.

Durango Residential Real Estate Sales since November 1

I thought I would take a quick snapshot of the Durango residential real estate sales since November 1 of this year and share that information with you. I actually searched all of La Plata County which would include Bayfield and Ignacio of course but would not include Mancos or Silverton.

During that timeframe 103 homes have sold with 9 sales of $775,000 or more. The average sales price was $429,962 while the median sales price was $269,300. That big discrepancy between the average and median was caused by three sales of $2.2 million or greater. The largest sale was a beautiful Animas Valley estate type home located on the river which sold for $5.79 million. The uptick in the higher-end sales is certainly encouraging because that market had been particularly flat. The average days-on-the-market was 292 while the median was 167 days. Looking at all 103 sales, the average sales to list price was just under 91%. Since this is a weighted average, the fact that the multimillion dollar homes sold at 80%, 73%, 76% and 92% of their asking price, you can see why this last time periods percentages so low. In addition, I think that as the fall turned into winter many sellers decided they would rather get their house sold before the heavy snows so they negotiated even further in price. By way of comparison, the cumulative sales to list price percentage from January through October was 93.35%.

Bayfield seemed to do pretty well because 20 of those 103 sales had a Bayfield mailing address. Nine of the sales were considered "resort" which means they were located at Tamarron and points north of Tamarron. There were two sales at Vallecito Lake and 3 with an Ignacio mailing address. All the rest were Durango sales. It was a pretty even mix with 33 Durango in town sales and 36 Durango rural sales.

Financing methods used varied a bit. 26 people paid all cash (including that $5 million sale), 54 people obtained conventional financing, 9 people financed with FHA, 4 with the VA and the others were miscellaneous lee financed. Financing rates today are exceptional. I talked to a banker yesterday who told me you just closed on a loan last week with a 30 year fixed-rate at 3.9% interest rate!

If this kind of information is helpful to you, I would encourage you to take a look on my website under the "area information" button, you will come to a drop-down menu that will direct you to real estate sales stats, then you get to pick what year and timeframe you're interested in. Here is a link to take you to the January through November comparative statistics for Durango real estate:

Durango Real Estate Sales Statistics

If you're looking for Durango residential real estate, I would certainly love to help you or have someone on my team do that. Please give us a call. We are here to serve.

Durango Subdivisions near Lake Nighthorse

After many years of battles between proponents and opponents of the Animas La Plata project, Lake Nighthorse has been completed and was officially filled to capacity this summer. They're still working on the recreation plan for the lake and the land around the lake. At the recent Ignacio economic summit, one of the breakout sessions was about the recreation facilities for Lake Nighthorse. It appears that approximately 50% to 55% of the lake will be considered wakeless. There will be hiking trails around the lake and there will be provisions for camping and picnicking.

The Bureau of Reclamation doesn't have funds set aside to build those improvements, but the city of Durango has said they have some interest in it. There are still public hearings going on so this may take a little while yet. All of the land around Lake Nighthorse is publicly owned so it will not be possible to buy a property "on the water". There are two entrances to Lake Nighthorse. One is on Wildcat Canyon Road about a quarter-mile from the entrance to Shenandoah or the Rafter J/King mountain subdivisions. The road is paved. The other entrance is in town and is right by the Centennial Shopping Center where Office Depot is located.

There are several subdivisions that are very close to the lake and some that overlook it as well. Trappers Crossing would be the closest and some of the lots are up high above the lake looking down on it. This is a very nice higher-end subdivision with lots of varying in size from 7 acres to 35 acres. Certain parts of the development are quite hilly, while other parts are flatter. Part of the original ranch was actually purchased by the Bureau of Reclamation to build the Lake, so this is the closest subdivision to Lake Nighthorse. This subdivision is approximately 12 min. from downtown Durango. I have written a more complete description of the entire subdivision in my "Durango neighborhoods" section on my website. Here is a link to that and it even includes a virtual tour, plat and links to homes and land available within that subdivision. Durango Neighborhood-Trappers Crossing

Directly across the street from Trappers Crossing is the community called Shenandoah. This is made up of various phases: Shenandoah Highlands, Shenandoah Vista, Shenandoah Estates… you get the idea. The subdivision has paved roads and would certainly be considered one of Durango's nicest neighborhoods. Lots sizes range from 3 acres up to 35 acres. Many of the lots in this development have views of Lake Nighthorse while other lots look east towards Wolf Creek Pass or north to the La Plata Mountains. Depending on where you are in the Shenandoah subdivision, you could have tall Ponderosa pine trees or rolling hills with grass and a few Piñon and Juniper trees. This subdivision is approximately 10 min. from downtown Durango. Like Trappers Crossing, I have written a more complete description of the entire subdivision in my "Durango neighborhoods" section on my website. Here is a link to that and it even includes a virtual tour, plat and links to homes and land available within that subdivision. Durango Neighborhood-Shenandoah

The first subdivision you come to on Wildcat Canyon Road when you're coming out from Durango would be the Rafter J/King Mountain Estates. Properties in here are much more moderately priced than the first two subdivisions I discussed. Parts of the subdivision have central water while some properties are on their own water wells. There are numerous Ponderosa pine trees and many of the lots have views of the snowcapped La Plata mountains. I don't believe it would be possible to see Lake Nighthorse from any of these properties, but the proximity to the lake is very convenient. Like the other two subdivisions, I have written a fairly detailed description with virtual tour and a link to available properties for the Rafter J/King Mountain Estates. Durango Neighborhood-Rafter J/King Mountain Estates

As all of the locals anxiously await the opening of Lake Nighthorse, now may be an especially good time to take a look at homes or land near Lake Nighthorse. Please give Team Lorenz a call and we'll certainly be happy to assist you.