Watch our video on what’s coming this year in the world of real estate!
The 2022 Wells Group Real Estate Forecast is out, and the overall themes center around issues of supply and demand. This is the 22nd consecutive year that John Wells, Owner/Broker of the Wells Group and Bob Allen, owner of Allen & Associates, have sat down together to discuss the current real estate market. The two men bring decades of knowledge and experience to the conversation and we so value their perspectives on the current state of things.
We’ll touch on some highlights here, but first we at Team NorthStar would like to voice our pride at getting to be part of an organization that helps our community understand the inner-workings of our Southwest Colorado real estate market. Real Estate can be a daunting topic to take on, and we believe it’s important to make the subject as accessible as possible.
As we reflect on this year’s forecast, we are noticing that one of the main elements affecting current home prices is also one of our favorite attributes of Durango and Southwest Colorado: the seclusion and natural beauty of the area. We live in a truly exceptional place, and with the increased online and social media exposure over the past few years, more and more people are finding our lovely little corner of the world.
As we welcome more individuals and families into our little community from around the country and beyond, we start to see a natural strain. John and Bob both acknowledged that supply is at the lowest they have ever seen it (down 60% from 2021), while demand is up over 12% from 2021 and would likely be even higher if there was more inventory. As a result of this significant difference, home prices continue to rise higher than previous years.
These issues are not likely to go away in 2022. While both men expressed their appreciation of the efforts our communities are making to prioritize and address our affordable housing issues, we won’t likely see results for another year or two.
On the positive side, 2021 was a record year for the Durango economy. Downtown shops saw record high numbers, as did the airport, Purgatory Resort, and Mesa Verde. There has even been an uptick in income from natural gas interest, which has recently been down.
All in all, as we move out of the first quarter of 2022, we are certainly looking at a challenging year ahead. With that said, there are some exciting projects on the horizon. In the next few years we should start to see some more affordable living spaces become available, which will hopefully offer some stability to our local workforce and ultimately allow the market to stabilize again.
Whatever happens though, we at Team Northstar are here as a resource for you. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the current market, the Real Estate Forecast, and life here in Durango, Colorado.
Checkout the full forecast here: https://www.wellsgroupdurango.com/annual-forecast
