Is Durango a Buyers Market When Sold Prices Have Fallen but Price Per Foot Has Risen? Reading the Mobile Homes, the Seasonal Units and the Renters

How far apart are the Durango price pages, and which page is oldest?

Five price figures are on the table. Redfin's median sale price is $819,645 for the three months ending August 2026. Realtor.com's median sold price is $775,000 and its median listing price is $849,500, both as of May 2026, with charts through April 2026. Zillow's average home value is $761,066, updated 4/30/2026. The Census median owner value is $695,800, with a margin of error of $31,561, or 4.5% of the value, from the five-year survey ending in 2024. The Zillow page is the oldest of the price pages, by a month against Realtor.com's May figures and by four months against Redfin.

Redfin's median is 17.8% above the Census owner-value estimate; Realtor.com's sold median is 11.4% above it and Zillow's modeled value 9.4% above it. These numerical gaps compare different populations and dates, not appreciation of matching houses. Zillow's ZHVI methodology builds a typical-value measure from changing property-level Zestimates, including homes that did not sell. It uses a trimmed middle-third mean and a repeat-Zestimate index. The local page's 'average' label therefore does not mean a simple average of closing prices.

Redfin's sold median is down 1.3% annually; Zillow's modeled value is up 2.7%. Realtor.com's sold median is down 10.40% annually and 1.21% over three years; its listing median is down 5.51% annually and 10.58% over three years. The measures and periods differ. These are not conflicting estimates of the return on the same house, and they do not prove an individual property's appreciation or decline.

Redfin reports $487 per square foot, up 6.8% annually; Realtor.com reports $515, up three percent annually and 10.52% over three years. Realtor.com's research library defines its median listing price per square foot as a listing measure. The 5.7% numerical gap does not make it a closed-home premium. A rising price per foot beside a falling total-price median can be consistent with changing properties, but these pages do not identify that cause. Do not infer a change in size or condition from aggregate direction alone.

Realtor.com's text supplies monthly rent and for-sale changes absent from its table. Its $887 rent median is down 55.65% annually and 48.58% over three years, but comparing it with Census gross rent cannot establish that those changes are false: the populations and periods differ. Its fifty rentals and 185.71% annual change also do not reconstruct an exact previous integer count from rounded published measures. Redfin's text reports 147 sales against 150 and twenty-nine days against twenty-six, while its figure block has slightly different changes. Those inconsistencies are retained as limits, not assigned a guessed cause.

Sources as cited. Earlier values and differences are computed from the published percentages.

How varied is the Durango stock, from mobile homes to apartment buildings?

The stock is mixed. Of 16,568 units, 9,320, or 56.3%, are detached houses and 1,409, or 8.5%, are attached houses such as townhouses. Buildings of two units hold 495, three or four units hold 1,356, five to nine hold 603, ten to nineteen hold 491, twenty to forty-nine hold 868 and fifty or more hold 842. Together, buildings of two or more units hold 4,655 units, or 28.1%. Mobile homes number 1,149, or 6.9%, and 35 units are counted as boats or recreational vehicles.

The stock is of middle age. Of 16,568 units, 1,528 were built before 1940, 293 in the 1940s, 1,084 in the 1950s, 739 in the 1960s and 2,366 in the 1970s, so 6,010, or 36.3%, were built before 1980. The 1980s hold 2,097, the 1990s hold 2,523, the 2000s hold 3,056, the largest decade at 18.4%, the 2010s hold 2,508 and 374 were built in 2020 or later. Homes built in 2000 or later total 5,938, or 35.8%. The median build year is 1991.

Owner homes are mid-sized to large. Of 8,851, 4,346 have three bedrooms, 49.1%, 1,901 have two, 21.5%, 1,767 have four, 20.0%, 394 have one, 359 have five or more and 84 have none. Four or more bedrooms covers 2,126 homes, or 24.0%. Renters live in smaller homes: of 4,792, 2,087 have two bedrooms, 43.6%, 1,276 have one, 900 have three, 249 have none, 167 have four and 113 have five or more.

Among 2,925 vacant units, 327 are for rent, ninety-eight for sale, 143 sold but unoccupied, 1,801 seasonal, recreational or occasional, twenty-six for migrant workers and 530 other vacant. Vacancy is 17.7% of all units; the seasonal group is 61.6% of vacant units, not all homes. Census vacation-home guidance counts current residents staying at least two months from interview as occupied. Shorter stays can be temporarily occupied yet classed vacant. The Bureau does not collect a specific short-term-rental count, so these are not identified Airbnb properties.

The stock includes mobile homes and apartments, but that does not prove that either appears in every publisher's price median or in the same proportion. The survey does not establish your view, lot, updates or condition. Compare closed transactions with the same property type and known terms. A direct purchase may change seller inspection and repair obligations, but the area's median build year does not diagnose a property's condition or establish a repair budget.

Sources as cited. Shares are computed from the Census counts.

How fast do Durango homes sell, and what do sellers get against asking?

Redfin's page, for the three months ending August 2026, shows a median of 29 days on the market against 26 a year before. It shows a sale-to-list ratio of 97.7%, up 0.4 points, with 13.3% of homes sold above list, down 3.4 points. It labels the market somewhat competitive and says some homes get multiple offers, with the average home selling for about 3% below list and going pending in around 48 days.

Realtor.com shows a median of 57 days on the market for May 2026, unchanged on the year, which implies the same 57 a year before, and up 72.73% on three years, which implies about 33. Its hotness label is warm, and its text says homes sold for 2.46% below the asking price on average in May 2026 with a sale-to-list ratio of 98%. Zillow's page says homes go to pending in around 47 days. The three pages put a typical sale or pending status between one and two months out, though Redfin's 29 days is the shortest.

Redfin's 97.7% sale-to-list ratio and Realtor.com's rounded 98% are dated measures, not an expected concession on your house. Redfin's Metrics Definitions averages each closed home's ratio against final list price. That is different from dividing area sold and listing medians or comparing sale with original asking. Its 13.3% above-list share does not identify which homes received strong offers or why. The price-drop share is absent from the local page and is not invented.

Supply is higher on the year and on three years. Realtor.com shows 477 active listings, up 16.91% on the year, which implies about 408 a year before, and up 32.50% on three years, which implies about 360. Against 13,643 occupied homes, 477 listings equal 3.5%. Realtor.com shows 50 rental properties, a small count that swings widely.

Redfin defines days on market around contract acceptance and days to close as a separate interval. Realtor.com's library defines listing time from initial listing to closing or removal. Zillow's local figure concerns pending status. Their twenty-nine, fifty-seven and forty-seven days are not equivalent complete-sale schedules. Keep the dates and definitions attached when comparing them. A needed closing date should be addressed in written terms, not assumed from the shortest published median.

A median gives a midpoint, not the spread or risk of a long wait. The publisher definitions separate listed, pending and closed populations. A statement that some homes receive multiple offers cannot identify the condition or quality of those houses. Ask for matching transactions, their price histories, dates of contract acceptance and dates of closing. Those records are more useful for planning than a claim that all strong homes attract competition or all other homes need a cut.

Sources as cited. Earlier values are computed from the published percentages.

Who owns the homes in Durango, and how heavy is the cost of owning?

The population is 29,774, with a margin of error of 867. Of those, 4,439 are under 18, 14.9%, 3,636 are 18 to 24, 12.2%, 3,555 are 25 to 34, 11.9%, 4,070 are 35 to 44, 13.7%, 7,924 are 45 to 64, 26.6%, and 6,150 are 65 or older, 20.7%. The largest group is 45 to 64. The Census does not say what that means for sales, and the brief draws no conclusion from it.

Of 13,643 occupied homes, 8,851, or 64.9%, are owned and 4,792, or 35.1%, are rented. Owners moved in over a wide span: of 8,851 owner homes, 279 were taken up in 2023 or later, 1,696 in 2020 to 2022, 3,776 in the 2010s, 1,535 in the 2000s, 914 in the 1990s and 651 before 1990. So 22.3% of owner homes were taken up in 2020 or later, and 42.7% in the 2010s. Renters are newer: of 4,792 renter homes, 800 were taken up in 2023 or later, 1,614 in 2020 to 2022, 2,094 in the 2010s, 228 in the 2000s and 56 in the 1990s.

A majority of owners have a mortgage. Of 8,851 owner homes, 4,963, or 56.1%, have one, and 3,888, or 43.9%, have none. Of 4,917 with a mortgage and a computed share, 1,502, or 30.5%, pay 30% or more of income on owner costs and 631, or 12.8%, pay half or more. The largest band is 15% to 19.9%, at 1,142, or 23.2%.

Among 3,797 mortgage-free homes with a computed share, 411, or 10.8%, spend thirty percent or more of income on selected owner costs, and 183, or 4.8%, spend half or more. The Census definition includes applicable taxes, property insurance, utilities and specified housing charges, not a general upkeep allowance. The largest band is under ten percent, with 2,380 homes, or 62.7%; ninety-one have no computed share. Mortgage-free does not mean cost-free.

Renters carry the heavier cost. Of 4,792 renter homes, 222 have no computed rent share, leaving 4,570. Of those, 2,461, or 53.9%, pay 30% or more of income on rent, and 1,194, or 26.1%, pay half or more. The 50% band, at 1,194, is the single largest of the nine bands, larger than the 20% to 24.9% band at 645. The median gross rent is $1,535, plus or minus $103, or 6.7% of the value, and the median household income is $83,943, plus or minus $6,096, or 7.3% of the value. Readers comparing markets can also read the Evergreen brief and the Platt Park brief.

Sources as cited. Shares and ratios are computed from the Census counts; owner homes with no computed share are excluded.

What should a Durango owner ask before choosing a listing or a private sale?

Keep four questions separate: what matching closed sales show, how long marketing and closing might take, what repairs or inspection terms involve, and what commission, closing and carrying costs do to proceeds. Different aggregate prices do not answer those property-specific questions. Use dated comparable transactions and written offers rather than treat the shortest market median as a deadline.

For illustration, one percent of the $695,800 Census owner-value estimate is $6,958, three percent is $20,874 and five percent is $34,790. These are arithmetic examples, not quoted commission rates or a predicted sale price. Actual costs are set by agreement; compare written terms for your property.

Maison Off-Market describes a purchase with no public showings, flexible closing, no commissions or seller closing costs, and no seller inspections or repairs. Those terms may suit some owners, including people who spend part of the year away, but compare the actual written offer with a listing's likely proceeds and timing. Privacy and flexibility do not prove a higher net result.

Maison Off-Market buys luxury homes and estates directly from their owners and speaks only to sellers. An owner who wants to see what a direct purchase would look like, with no public listing and no showings, can use the contact form below and ask for an offer before deciding.

Sources as cited. Fee figures are arithmetic and not quoted rates.

Methodology and limitations

Zillow's local page is updated April 30, 2026, Realtor.com's key indicators report May with charts through April, and Redfin's window ends in August. Zillow is the oldest price page. The modeled index, owner survey and sale medians are distinct. Local text and table inconsistencies are flagged, but neither a rent-population difference nor arithmetic from rounded growth rates establishes a false trend. Publisher definitions were used for price-per-foot, final-list ratios and contract-versus-closing timing.

Census ACS guidance explains that five-year estimates collect sixty months of responses and favor precision over currency for smaller areas. These 2020-2024 postal estimates describe a pooled period, not today's owners or rental listings. Counts and shares were checked with available margins retained. Seasonal vacancy follows current-residence rules, not an assumption that nobody uses the home. The Realtor.com neighborhood rows are not substituted for the postal geography.

The brief makes no claim about any one property, owner, tenant or buyer, and it does not say that a private sale always yields more than a listing.

Conclusion

The record for Durango, as far as the pages allow, is a postal area of detached houses, mobile homes, apartments and a large part-year share, where one page calls the market a buyer's market while sold prices have fallen and price per square foot has risen, homes sell a few points under asking in one to two months, and renters carry a heavy share of income in rent. For an owner, the questions that matter are what comparable homes of the same type sold for and what a listing would cost in time and money.

Maison Off-Market buys luxury homes and estates directly from their owners and speaks only to sellers. An owner who wants a direct offer, with no public listing and no showings, can ask through the contact form.