Crested Butte Market Reaches 100 Sales Year To Date

 

For Sale: 115 Whiterock Avenue

Local Home and Condo Sales Activity Up 30%

Read The Crested Butte Real Estate Adviser Issue #7

The market for real estate in Crested Butte is self-correcting. In the face of a deep selection of homes and condos listed for sale and a steady stream of bank owned property deals hitting the market, many of our valley’s shoppers are turning into buyers. Year-to-date sales activity from Crested Butte South to Mt. Crested Butte has picked up dramatically and there is no sign of letting up. 101 homes and condos have sold so far this year accounting for over $41 million in volume. And, there are another two dozen properties under contract. This is a 30% improvement over last year.

What has triggered this serious spike in investment? Across most of our market place, prices have plummeted.  Last year at this time, we realized 68 sales with a median sold price of $340,000. This year, the 101 transactions have a median sold price of $280,000.  Price goes down, sales go up. The most basic of economic lessons, right? Maybe. Our market has a “flip-side” where high priced real estate deals are becoming less anomalous and more commonplace.

For example, if you were waiting to buy that special luxury home on Butte Avenue west of Coal Creek, you may have missed the boat. After the sale of 6 Ruth’s Road early this month for $1,320,000, three more luxury homes located in the same neighborhood have gone under contract. These homes are listed between $1.7 million and $2.5 million. Also, a $2.5 million home located nearby at the west end of Teocalli Avenue is also under contract.  In April, a vacant parcel on Butte Avenue sold for $820,000. Wow.

Who Owns North America’s Ski Resorts?

It may be news to you, but Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s owner, CNL Lifestyle Properties is North America’s 800-lb gorilla resort owner. CNL owns 150 properties across the United States and is by far the largest owner of ski areas and resorts in North America, with ownership of 14 ski areas and numerous lodging and retail properties located in or near ski resorts.  With ski related properties making up the majority of the company’s holdings, CNL actively seeks new opportunities for investment within the ski industry and recently purchased many of Intrawest’s “Village” developments. Read about the industry at this recent Mountain Rider Alliance’s blog.

Senate Recommends Ski Resort Bill to Boost Summer Business

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted unanimously to recommend passage of the Ski Area Recreation Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011, which would expand the activities allowed on ski area lands leased from the U.S. Forest Service. The bill would amend the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986. Read more here.

Skier and Snowboarder Participation To Grow 50% in 50 Years?

Recent research done by the U.S. Forest Service and the University of Georgia demonstrates skier and snowboarder traffic at resorts and in the backcountry could increase by 50 percent by 2060. Unfortunately, even as skier populations may increase, snowfall is predicted to get scarcer, and running lifts and lighting condo chimneys at resorts isn’t going to help reverse that trend. …The surge in demand for skiing could have huge implications for Forest Service land managers when they update forest plans. Meeting the new demand could require allocating new parcels of national forest system lands for ski area expansions, or even the development of new areas near communities where such plans are already controversial.
Read more at Summit County Citizen’s Voice

Thanks for reading today! We hope to see you in Crested Butte very soon!

Channing Boucher
Broker Associate
Benson Sotheby’s International Realty