We seem to be settling into a wonderful pattern of storms every few days. Saturday was cold and several inches of snow fell. The mountains are very white with crystal blue sky and the fall colors are at their peak. What a wonderful time of the year to be in the mountains!
In speaking with my friends in the other Rocky Mountain resorts, it appears that resort real estate is definitely not following the national trend. The resorts of Whistler, Jackson Hole, Steamboat Springs, Vail and Aspen are all showing an increase in number of sales, dollar volume, and sold price for this year. Resorts such as Park City, Telluride, and Sun Valley are showing sales volume either even with or very slightly down from last year, but dollar volume is up and sold prices are up. This verifies what we’ve known for quite some time, that the resort real estate market is very different from typical residential real estate. As our mountain towns have a very limited supply of land available for development, the amount of property we have for sale is limited. By supply and demand, if the demand continues to be strong (which it is), and our supply is limited (which it is), then the markets hold strong or continue to increase. While we know that no real estate market is immune to up and down trends, the resort markets seem to be steadier.
Right now we are seeing a flurry of activity as buyers are looking to purchase a rental property for the ski season. All of the property management companies tell me that their bookings are significantly up for this year, and buyers are looking to cash in. This is the perfect time to come out and look for property, before the busy ski season, when you can actually get into all of the units that are for sale, have choices of property to purchase, and find sellers who are more negotiable now than during the height of the income-producing season.
