We've got an extra hour of light and less than a week from Spring, things are happening! OK, while that means that it may have been more challenging than usual to drag your kid (or significant other.... or yourself) out of bed this week, we're getting there. Even though the last month it's already felt like spring, then winter again, and then most recently spring, and winter again today, right as spring break starts. So what the heck does that mean for real estate? Things are going to start feeling like they're happening fast. This is the month when we typically start seeing the seasonal uptick in new listings, and without a persistent snowpack at the lower and mid elevations, I wouldn't be surprised to see listings hitting the market sooner.

Let's play the what if game: what if we see more listings hit earlier than usual, but whatever reason folks aren't ready to buy: prices, rates, the great egg war, timing, inventory; will we see YTD average days on market increase? And when folks see their properties sit on the market for a minute, are they going to be more inclined to drop their price?  Or will lack of inventory continue to prop up prices? We saw increased inventory hit the market last year, and median sales prices generally remained flat*. Any correlation there? Last month saw the lowest month of sales in Durango since 2011, despite median days on market was half of what it was from the previous February. My initial thought is that means the market is moving well priced, desirable inventory. 
(*even though the city of Durango saw ~3% price appreciation last year, the micro markets and sub categories tell more of a story. While in town TH/Condo sales prices actually went down a little bit, in town stick built homes appreciated 18.6%. To learn more about that, take a look)

Speaking of inventory, looking at the Durango mountain resort market, they're sitting on quite a bit of it with 8 months supply, which is dang near twice as much as last February. There's a combination of a selling exodus up there (probably because of HOA costs going up due to insurance) and endless new construction. Last year saw some of the highest overall months supply of inventory on record in the mountain resort area. But wait, last year not only saw an all time record monthly high sales price, but 3 of the 4 months of all time highest sales prices. Once again, that tells me that well priced, desirable properties will attract a Buyer through whatever market clutter there is.

Do you like having 3 years of data to look at?  I'm thinking I'll go back to 2 years next month to keep things from looking to cluttered.