LITTLE housing inventory and the simple “Supply vs Demand” equation continues to characterize the housing market in Alamosa and the San Luis Valley, Realtor Preston Porter said on the most recent episode of The Valley Pod, a podcast by AlamosaCitizen.com.
“I haven’t seen anything quite like it,” Porter said on the podcast. “It used to be you couldn’t find anything under $100,000 and now that number is $200,000. It’s just really a challenge for folks to have any kind of a choice.”
The topic of housing will be a focus at Alamosa City Hall on Wednesday when the city takes up the subject of short-term rentals at a 6 p.m. work session. Alamosa has been working to figure out ways to control the growing number of short-term rentals as it searches for solutions to Alamosa’s housing needs.
Porter said the COVID-19 pandemic has caused even more of a housing crunch for Colorado and the Valley, “because now we have this pressure from everywhere.” People looking for escapes from the dense urban and suburban centers have been turning up in markets like Alamosa and the surrounding San Luis Valley.
“I think we’ll be surprised when we see some statistics in the next year or two,” Porter said. “We have grown. We’ve grown more than we think. It’s just not evident because of the lagging reporting factor.”
The Valley’s second-home market, particularly in Forbes Park on the east end of the Valley and South Fork on the west end, is also seeing a resurgence and strong demand, Porter said.
Last year was a banner year in real estate sales, Porter said. The average sales price for a single family home in Alamosa was $268,000, up 14.5 percent from 2020. Homes up for sale were on the market an average of 68 days in 2021, from 91 days in 2020.
“Houses are moving quicker and things are moving much faster,” Porter said. “If you’re not ready to go, then you’ll miss it before you can blink.”
Listen to the full conversation with Porter on The Valley Pod. The episode on real estate is HERE.
