January 1, 2008

Post Holiday Greetings,         

I trust you had a safe and joyous holiday season. As this is the end of the year, I’m enclosing the annual results compared to the prior year and a recap of the real estate market in 2007.

I could go on and on about the depressed real estate market, but the media has already covered it to the point of exhaustion. So I’ll hit the highlights and give you the results about Pagosa you really want to know.

The town has done a terrific job of squashing new growth. There were only 6 new tap fees paid for the entire year, which was down 90% from their prediction. Building and planning permit fees fell 65%.

From a county standpoint, there were 159 building permits for new,
single family homes and that is down 31%.  

Yes, some of the declines have been a factor of the national real estate
market and economy in general. However…until the town and county
embrace new businesses, and that means new development, our local
economy will remain stagnant. No jobs, no growth. New growth,
whether it be in the residential or commerce sector is needed
to provide a bigger tax base and consequently provide better public
services. Let’s all hear it for better services!

With almost 1700 homes on the market and over 1,000 pieces of land
for sale, we have too much inventory. It will take us several years to
bring this number to a reasonable level even when the market does
get better. We have 55 homes on the market for over $1,000,000.

In the past year, there have been 120 homes sold in the $250,000-
$500,000  range and we have 347 currently active.

In the past year, there have been 30 homes sold in the $501,000-
$750,000  range and we have 80 currently active.

In the past year, there have been 8 homes sold in the $751,000-
$1,000,000  range and we have 43 currently active.

Last year we only sold 5 over $1,000,000.

So what do I see in my crystal ball, you ask?  I don’t see a significant
change in our market for the foreseeable future. I’m talking 2009/2010, not 2008. That may seem like a doomsday approach but I have seen too much gnashing of teeth by respectable economists to buy into anything else.

However, that doesn’t mean everything will come to a standstill. (quickly, turn the page…)

There are buyers who are not only looking for a good deal, but a fair deal. If you’re wanting to sell, put your property on the market. All it takes is 1 person. Listen to your Realtor…that would be me…and price it with education behind that pricing. Any good Realtor loves the opportunity to show and sell a correctly priced commodity. There’s no low-balling, the appraisal is met, the buyer gets a new home and the seller is off on the new adventure. Easy.  Real estate 101. Unless you have hard facts behind your decisions to do otherwise don’t buy into, “the market will get better in the spring”. Trust me. It won’t get better enough. 
 
Buyers have lots of choices, interest rates are low and who cares how long a property is on the market. Homes are on the market longer all over the country. What difference does it make if a home is on the market for 1 day or 500 days? If it’s the right property for the buyer and the price is right, voila! “Stale” listings are not a reasonable term to me in this type of market. With any change, thinking also needs to change to go forward. I’m thrilled to report to buyers that we have lots of choices for them but PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE. And I can back up everything I say with facts.
           
O.K. Enough. On another positive note, I’m happy to say that Galles Properties was once again the leader in sales, by almost twice as much as the next company, with over $70 million in sales for 2007. So see, it’s not that bad! For a relatively small office, we had 4 out of the top 10 agents in the county, with your “favorite” Realtor being 1 of those. 

I hope this coming year will be filled with peace and abundance. If I can help with that in the real estate department, I’d be happy to be of service.

Kindest regards,

JoAnn Laird ABR, CRS, GRI, SRES
Broker Associate
Mobile: 970.  946.9700                     
Toll-free: 888. 202.1222        
Office: 970. 264.1250                        
www.JoAnnLaird.com
e-mail:joann@joannlaird.com

Residential	Closed Listings: Average List Price: Average Selling Price: Average Days on Market:	36% $352,642 10% $331,873 7% 193 18%
Commercial	Closed Listings: Average List Price: Average Selling Price: Average Days on Market:	9% $490,542 5% $430,210 2% 217 4%
Building Sites (all vacant land, regardless of size)	Closed Listings: Average List Price: Average Selling Price: Average Days on Market:	49% $155.950 .01% $142,441 2% 288 5%