Are you still sitting on the fence? – Montrose Tri-County Area MLS Sold Stats and Analysis
Year-end 2008 in the Montrose market was a happy surprise for me and my office. With the current state of the economy and the holiday season, I was expecting us to be quiet (that’s a euphemism for “dead”). But activity picked up, and the good news, is it has continued into the new year. It’s hard to pinpoint just what has caused the increased activity, but I can only surmise that, in part, buyers are finally realizing it truly is a great time to buy with interest rates at all-time lows. Probably the elections behind us and renewed public confidence and hope are contributing factors, as well. I’m also hearing that other markets, which have historically been our “feeder markets” in Californai, Arizona, Florida, etc., are picking up. In between all that good news, however, are the continued reports of bail-outs, job losses, more credit tightening, war worries, political corruption, presidential admonitions of there being no easy, quick fix, that just add to the ups-and-downs and uncertainty of our economy, nationally and globally. So, go figure.
Forutnately for us in Montrose, although our real estate market unquestionably has felt the effects, it has not suffered to the degree of other markets, as the 2007-2008 Comparable sold stats from our local MLS reveal. Click on the links below to see these stats for Montrose County and Ouray County,
Below are the comparative MLS sold stats for residential properties in Delta County.
| DELTA RESIDENTIAL 2007-2008 YEAR-TO-YEAR COMPARISON REPORT |
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As you’ll note for all 3 counties, although the volume (number of units sold) is definitely down from a year ago, the median price of all properties sold is remaining fairly steady. One exception concerns the residential units sold in Ouray County, where the median sold price decreased by almost $100,000. Of course, median/average prices in Ouray County have always been significantly higher than Montrose and Delta Counties, and Ouray County has a greater number of seasonal residents or people who own second or vacation homes in Ouray County (those that bought from our feeder markets). So, it’s no surprise that this sector of the market has been hit harder.
I believe it would be a great time right now for anyone that can afford to do so (read “financially” “physcially” and “emotionally”) to invest in Ouray County (which includes the Town of Ridgway where I live) as a long-term investment, since Ouray County is one of those very desireable, resort-like, vacation areas that in recent years had enjoyed significant growth and appreciation in real estate values due to high demand and low supply, until this recent bust in the real estate market. I predict that within 5 years, maybe less, those real estate values will, again, take another significant swing upward, as the economy improves across the nation. I doubt one will see another buying opportunity like this in Ouray County for quite some time, if ever, with these depreciated, lower values combined with some of the lowest interest rates in history. And if you’ve seen the photos on my blog, you can tell what an incredibly beautiful place Ouray County is.
Of course, Montrose and Delta Counties offer some enticing investment opportunities, as well, with much more affordable inventory and a greater pool of potential renters for an investment property that is more likely to cash flow than in Ouray County. During the hey-days of 2003-2006, we did see appreciation in the double digits, which is not likely to return any time soon, but at least enough to surpass a conservative investment portfolio of mutual funds and stock–and we’re all scared of those right now, anyway, right?
Kidding aside, I’ve now gone from hoping to expecting the market to continue its way upward as we approach springtime and through the fall season. Obviously, investing in real estate may not make sense to everyone in light of the uncertainty of today’s economy, but if you’re still sitting on the fence, you may end up falling off on the wrong side.
~Ninah
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