The median price of a home in Mesa County climbed 11.5 percent to $195,000 for the year ended Dec. 31 from $174,900 in the same period of 2005, according to data compiled and released by Stewart Title in Grand Junction.

That marked the second consecutive year the median price of a home in Mesa County was up at least $20,000. The median is the point where half of the homes sell for more and half for less.

Even more telling, the median home price has increased $72,000 during the last five years or nearly 60 percent. At the same time, the number of real estate sales in Mesa County skyrocketed to 7,241 in 2006 from 5,149 in 2001. Of those sales last year, which included raw land, a total of 95 were for $1 million or higher.

The total value of those sales was $1.73 billion in 2006, or 17 percent more than the $1.47 billion recorded in 2005. Of note, there were a total of 7,199 real estate transactions in 2005.

Bob Reece, district manager of the Western Slope for Stewart Title, said the increase in housing prices is a direct result of rising land costs and steady population gains brought on by a hardy economy.

“The population is growing faster than we can build houses,” he said, “and we can’t build them any faster because we don’t have enough lots (zoned).”

Reece said a single-family housing lot that sold for about $45,000 in 2002 or 2003 is “now going for $80,000,” depending on its location and size.

Even with the lofty increases in land prices, there seem to be no shortage of buyers and developers for just about any piece of available property. And they seem to be willing to plunk down large sums of money at a moment’s notice, evidenced by some recent deals.

Mark Abbott, a broker associate with Colorado Properties of Grand Junction, said he recently closed a deal for a five-acre parcel along the 3100 block of F Road for $595,000.

The land, which is zoned for single-family homes, was sold in 19 days. And that was after Abbot raised the price at the request of the sellers.

“I looked at the (comparable prices) in the multiple-listing service that led me to price it at $425,000,” Abbott said.

“But the owner told me that they wanted to list it at $595,000. I thought, ‘OK, let’s see what happens.’”

Abbott wasn’t so fortunate on a couple other deals, in which he said he was “beat out twice.” One of those deals was for a two-bedroom, two-bath condominium in Orchard Mesa that was listed for $112,000.

Abbott said he offered $1,200 more than the listing price, but the condo was quickly sold for about $127,000.

“If a property is fresh, listed within a week,” he said, “I tell a buyer they had better be prepared to offer at least $3,000 to $4,000 more than the list price, or they won’t get it. The market is insane right now, and it’s not even summer.”

Abbott added, “Anything under $200,000, if it’s in halfway decent shape, it’s gone.”

Other real estate agents and brokers agreed with his assessment of that market.

“In the $100,000 to $200,000 market, there is just very little inventory,” said Jay Fellhauer, owner of RE/MAX Two Rivers Realty Inc. in Grand Junction.

“And there is a lot of pressure on that market because there are a lot of people looking at that market,” he said.

“Those prices are going up very quickly.”

In turn, Fellhauer said, demand is spilling over into the next bracket of homes: those priced in the $200,000 to $300,000 range.

Fellhauer said recent data he gleaned from the region’s multiple listing service, which is largely regarded in real estate circles as the best way to monitor homes listed and sold, found there are 213 active listings for the $200,000 to $300,000 market.

And another 154 are “under contract,” he said, or in the process of being sold.

Fellhauer said beyond that point, the Mesa County housing market slows a bit, although homes priced in the $300,000 to $600,000 range are growing.

“We feel that is more of a normal market,” he said.

“We are continuing to see modest growth there. That market is pretty healthy.”

While 2006 proved to be a banner year for the real estate industry, there is a good chance 2007 could be stronger.

Reece said demand should remain high as the population continues to grow and sectors of the economy, such as energy or natural resources, expand.

He foresees the median price of a home in Mesa County easily exceeding last year’s record-setting figure.

“It’s hard to argue it’s not going up 11 or 12 percent,” Reece said.

“There is nothing out there that’s going to stop it at this point.”

That would suggest the median price of a home in the region would be about $215,000 at end of 2007. Furthermore, Reece believes total real estate transactions should be near the 7,000 mark, unless interest rates go way up.

Last year, the national average for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage moved from 6.18 percent in January to a high of 6.8 percent in July, before settling at 6.21 percent in December, mortgage company Freddie Mac reported.

And Freddie Mac’s chief economist, Frank Nothaft, suggested earlier this year the 30-year rate should average between 6.3 percent and 6.5 percent — another good sign for the local real estate market in 2007.

“I think the key will be people moving into the community,” Reece said.

Wyatt Haupt Jr. can be reached via e-mail at whaupt@gjds.com.