Resort sales on a record pace
Colo. real estate deals may surpass $5.7 billion high
in 2000
Publication: The Denver Post;
Date: 07/04/2004
By Jason Blevins
Real estate sales in Colorado resort
communities this year are on pace to hit records,
experts say.
Brokers in Grand, Summit, Eagle, Routt,
Pitkin and San Miguel counties say 2004 is on track
to meet or beat the buying-and-selling frenzy they
enjoyed in 2000, when $5.7 billion worth of resort
real estate traded hands.
Helping to spur the activity are the
strengthening stock market, baby boomers boasting
more discretionary income, lower interest rates luring
locals out of the rental pool and climbing prices.
Through mid-June, brokers in the above
counties have moved $2.3 billion worth of real estate
in almost 4,000 transactions.
"And the best half of the year is
still ahead of us," said Chuck Leathers, a Realtor
in Summit County, where the first half of the year
ranks second best in number of transactions.
High-end buyers are driving the surge,
especially in Aspen and Pitkin County.
Since 2000, total sales volume and
the number of annual sales in Pitkin County have dropped
every year, from an all-time high of $1.2 billion
in sales in 2000 to $776.2 million in 2003.
This year promises to end that decline.
Through mid-June, the county's brokers
have sold $652.1 million in real estate, which compares
with $620 million through mid-June in the record year
of 2000.
"The market is not only stronger than
it has ever been, but we've never seen such a huge
portion of our potential buyers bled off into time
shares," said Aspen Realtor Bob Ritchie. He noted
that an estimated $400 million in time shares sold
in Aspen and Snowmass so far this year. Time shares
are not included in the monthly sales data in the
county.
"Despite that, we are up," Ritchie
said. "Not just up but at an all-time record. It even
seems to be accelerating."
Eagle County has seen similar activity
at the high end. And, as with their colleagues in
Pitkin, Eagle brokers have moved more real estate
in 2004 than they did in the same months of 2000.
A total of $711.8 million in sales occurred between
January 2000 and May 2000. From January through May
of this year, Eagle has seen $737.2 million in sales.
"The high-end buyer is definitely
back," said Joni White-Taylor, president of Sonnenalp
Real Estate, which is selling Eagle County homes ranging
in price from $2 million to $19 million. "I think
a combination of low interest rates, stock market
values and the rebound of the economy have brought
many buyers to all resort areas in the past nine months."
As the resort communities of Steamboat
Springs, Winter Park, Breckenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek,
Aspen, Snowmass and Telluride mature, they become
more like islands. New homes become more rare. New
land becomes unavailable. Space gets tighter, and
values soar.
"The closer we get to 2010, the less
and less product we will have available. That drives
prices up," said Doug Labor, owner and broker at Buyers
Resource Real Estate of Steamboat. "I think with the
war and the stock market suffering, people lost confidence
in making discretionary purchases. They're coming
back now, and people who lost money in the market
in 2000 have seen their money come back, and they
are looking to diversify out of stocks and such."
Like Pitkin and Eagle, real estate
sales in Routt County - home to Steamboat Springs
- are ahead of sales in the same months of 2000, when
a record $372 million worth of real estate sold.
It's the same story in Telluride and
Mountain Village in southwest Colorado's San Miguel
County. Sales in 2000 reached an all-time high of
$546.2 million and have not come close since. Sales
through mid-June this year in San Miguel have reached
$309.2 million, a 13 percent increase over the same
months in 2000.
"I think it's pretty simple: There
was a surge in the stock market last fall, and now
people are taking advantage of that surge," said Telluride
broker Mike Salamon. "We are definitely on pace to
meet or exceed 2000."
In Grand County, home to Winter Park,
2003 was the record year. And through mid-June this
year, sales in Grand County have surpassed sales in
the same months of last year. Fueling the Grand County
interest is investment by deep-pocketed developers
such as Intrawest, The Cordillera Group and Denver's
Koelbel family.
"We are seeing a lot of people familiar
with Intrawest's momentum," said local broker Jack
Gerstein, noting the British Columbia resort developer's
plans for the Winter Park ski area it operates. "Winter
Park is much more affordable than any other resort
areas, and before some of these developers pull the
trigger, it will remain affordable. People are realizing
that and they are buying now."
Staff writer Jason Blevins can be
reached at 303-820-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com.
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