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What does $400k get you in Durango?

Home sales give clues to market’s middle

The median price of a home sold in Durango last year was a tidy $400,000. So what does that get you?

Several homes within the city limits sold for exactly $400,000 during 2014, providing a glimpse into what the market bears out as an average home in Durango:

In the Crestview neighborhood, $400,000 gets you a four-bedroom, one-bathroom home spanning 1,447 square feet. The home at 2119 Eastlawn Ave. was built in 1953. It sold for $400,000 on Aug. 5, according to the La Plata County Assessor’s Office.

In north Durango, $400,000 gets you a 2,574-square-foot home with three bedrooms and 2.75 baths at 14 East Animas Village Lane. This one is newer – built in 2004. The home sold on Jan. 30.

In residential downtown, tucked at the base of the hill that leads to Fort Lewis College, $400,000 gets you a small home at 621 E. Ninth St. The house is only 869 square feet, with two bedrooms and one bathroom. It sold on Nov. 24.

At 541 East Third Ave., $400,000 gets you a 2,157-square-foot house built in 1956. The house has four bedrooms and two bathrooms; it sold on May 22.

Nearby, $400,000 gets you a condo at 355 East Third Ave. that was built in 2005. The condo has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and 1,264 square feet. It sold on Sept. 4.

The condo illustrates gradual price appreciation for in-town real estate. It first sold for $340,000 in 2004, then again in 2011 for $375,000.

Near Junction Creek, $400,000 gets a 1,782-square-foot house at 608 Sunnyside Drive. The house has three bedrooms and 1.75 bathrooms. It was built in 1960 and sold on May 5.

New homes for $400,000 can be found in Durango neighborhoods such as Three Springs and SkyRidge, said Don Ricedorff, a real-estate agent with The Wells Group in Durango.

Existing homes can be had for $400,000 in most Durango neighborhoods. “All over Durango you can find homes in that price range,” Ricedorff said.

For more desirable locations, such as near downtown, getting a home for $400,000 may require trade offs.

“It’s harder when someone wants to be in the historic area at $400,000,” Ricedorff said. “That can either be small and nice or larger and in need of remodeling.”

Jim Wotkyns, president of the Durango Area Association of Realtors, said finding any inventory in a given price range is tricky in the current market.

“Availability of inventory is the key,” he said.

Buyers can get more house the further they look from central Durango, Wotkyns said.

“Your dollar buys you more square footage and more amenities the further you get out of town,” he said.

If you’re curious, the highest-priced transaction for a single-family home in 2014 in La Plata County was $3.35 million for a 5,587-square-foot house at 1361 Celadon Drive east, south of Glacier Club. The house has four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms and was built in 2005.

A couple from Sugar Land, Texas, purchased the home on May 29, according to the county Assessor’s Office.

cslothower@durangoherald.com



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