With much of Colorado and the western United States experiencing record snowfall at year-end 2016 and beyond, the overall housing market in these resort areas have similarly demonstrated growth.
According to a recent report published by LIV Sotheby’s International Realty, it was found that the Vail Valley, Breckenridge, Aspen, Telluride, Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs, Park City, Lake Tahoe, Jackson Hole, Big Sky, Santa Fe and Sun Valley resort markets are performing at a continued-strong pace and are showing little signs slowing down.
This Horizon Pass Townhome #5 in Bachelor Gulch is a 5 bedroom immaculate residence that boasts majestic mountain view to The Gore Range, presently listed for $5,695,000.
Based on their location in desirable, slightly less accessible places than national mainstream markets, resort communities throughout Colorado and around the world are prone to unique, heavily saturated luxury markets. Higher net worth individuals are drawn to these markets based on their exclusivity and proximity to year round recreation. While resort markets tend to have a greater density of luxury offerings, this is matched with less inventory, often driving prices up.
A few highlights from the report within Vail Valley (Vail, Beaver Creek, Edwards, Bachelor Gulch, Cordillera, Avon) include the number of properties sold rising 8 percent from 1,268 in 2015 to 1,368 in 2016. Average price increased slightly from $1,082,725 in 2015 to $1,088,230 in 2016.
“The first half of 2016 started off sluggishly for the luxury real estate market compared to the prior year,” said LIV Sotheby’s International Realty broker, Malia Cox Nobrega. “The second half of 2016 saw a turnaround in the luxury market and there was 1 more transaction in 2016, for sales above 5 million, than the same time period in 2015. By the end of 2016, Eagle County ended its year up nearly 10 percent in all transactions but down around 4 percent in dollar volume demonstrating that we hadn’t completely made up for the first half of 2016 in the luxury side of the market, though we narrowed the gap considerably.”
“By the end of 2016, Eagle County ended its year up nearly 10 percent in all transactions but down around 4 percent in dollar volume demonstrating that we hadn’t completely made up for the first half of 2016 in the luxury side of the market, though we narrowed the gap considerably.”Malia Cox NobregaBroker, LIV Sotheby’s International Realty
KEEP IT COMING
Although the luxury housing market was slightly down in 2016, compared to 2015, the trend upward is apparent and continues in early 2017.
“We are off to a bang January of 2017, already having closed 5 transactions that were at least 5 million dollars or greater (compared to only 1 last year),” continued Nobrega. “Those 6 transactions resulted in over 60 million in dollars in sales volume as compared to the prior period last year that had only 1 transaction for 5 million dollars. That is nearly 12 times the sales volume in January 2017 than in the previous year for the same period.”
In other resort areas across the western United States, increased snowfall and skier visits also led to market growth. In Park City, average price per square foot increased 15.5 percent at $317 over $274 in 2015, and average price increased 10 percent year-over-year from $831,342 in 2015 to $917,067, in 2016. In Lake Tahoe average price increased 26.4 percent year-over-year from $1 million in 2015 to $1.3 million in 2016.
Colorado and the western United States continue to develop as a national leader in commerce, recreation, energy, employment, cultural activities and sporting events. With interest rates, rent and home values all projected to rise throughout next year and into the foreseeable future, real estate throughout Colorado and western United States resort communities will continue to rise.