Year in Review – 2009 – Crested Butte Real Estate Market

Happy New Year from Snowy Crested Butte!

In spite of global economic conditions and the highly publicized bankruptcies of western U.S. ski resorts including Tamarack in Idaho, the Yellowstone Club, and Moonlight Basin in Montana, Crested Butte appeared to weather the financial storms of 2009. Christmas ski vacationers poured into town this month, the snow has been good and our real estate market scratched and clawed its way to almost $90 million in total sales.

2009 in our little ski town will be remembered for some high flyer real estate transactions, community-wide turmoil over the National Forest Service’s rejection of CBMR’s plan to expand its resort onto Snodgrass Mountain and today’s announcement in the Crested Butte News that the proposed Foothills Annexation is now off the table, after almost 2 years of planning.

Crazy times indeed but Crested Butte remains Crested Butte. People love this place. We still don’t have a parking meter or any traffic lights in our town. The town-to-resort shuttle service is still free and we even saw new businesses come to town including our newest restaurant: Ryce Asian Bistro.

Here is a snapshot of our community’s 2009 real estate activity:

2009 Residential Sales Breakdown

Over 125 Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte homes, condos and townhomes sold in 2009 totaling about $70 million in sales. 14 residential properties sold for over $1 million.

Crested Butte South had 16 transactions including 9 single family homes.
Crested Butte had 29 transactions including 18 single family homes.
Rural Crested Butte saw 12 transactions including 7 single family homes.
Mt Crested Butte realized 64 transactions including 42 condos.

21 total land transactions totaling $10 million in sales.
3 properties sold for over $1 million including a Prospect lot that sold for $1,000,000.
10 sales in Rural Crested Butte including last week’s sale of a Trappers Crossing South 35-acre parcel that closed for $1,490,000.
6 Crested Butte South parcels sold.
3 Town of Crested Butte parcels sold including a Verzuh parcel that closed for $730,000.

Thanks for reading and good luck in 2010! Channing Boucher Broker Associate Benson Sotheby’s International Realty Local Knowledge Global Reach

Winter Real Estate Guide 2010