Western Mountain Resorts Real Estate

This week I traveled to Whistler B.C. and participated in a conference put on by the Western Mountain Resort Alliance, known as WMRA. The panel was composed of a representative from Vail, CO, Jackson Hole, WY, Whistler B.C., and of course me from Park City, UT. The purpose of the panel was to discuss the current market and what has transpired during the past 12 months. Our secondary purpose was to look around Whistler and see how the preparation for the upcoming winter Olympics is going.

The markets in Vail, Jackson Hole and Park City were remarkably similar this past year. We all saw a dramatic downturn beginning last October 2008 which lasted until sometime between March-May depending on the resort. Park City seems to have been the first resort to emerge from the recession with our market turning around in March 2009. Vail and Jackson Hole did not really experience a turnaround until May 2009. All three resorts did not experience a booming summer in real estate but certainly saw sales increasing. All three resorts reported that while there have been some sales at the high end, the majority of buyers are looking at lower end properties and by lower end we generally mean under $2,000,000.

Whistler, B.C. has seen a slightly different market as a result of the upcoming Olympics winter games this coming February, 2010. Like all of the other resorts, their fourth quarter of 2008 and their first quarter of 2009 were depressing for real estate sales. But the second quarter of 2009 in Whistler, while still slow, was significantly better and their third quarter of 2009 was back to normal. They are expecting this fourth quarter to be equally as strong, but then as a result of the Olympic games the Whistler realtors expect that the 1st quarter of 2010 will again be very slow. Having experienced the Salt Lake Olympics and the affect that it had on Park City’s real estate, I explained to the Whistler realtors that while they really should not expect any real estate activity through the games March will pick up and most importantly real estate business in the subsequent years should be stronger.

When driving around Whistler evidence of the upcoming Olympics is everywhere. Streets are being widened, the finishing touches are going in on all the venues, and the town is alive with excitement. Interestingly, security appears to be even tighter than it was for the Salt Lake games. Last night we could only get within a half a mile of any of the venues. We attempted to go to the sliding track where the bobsled, luge, and skeleton events will be held but were turned away by security. The same was true for the cross country venue. As we saw in Park City in October 2001, the village center has an Olympic store and posters/ banners are everywhere welcoming guests to the 2010 Olympics. I learned recently that when the resort of Whistler was first proposed in the early 1970’s it was conceived with the intent of hosting the winter Olympics during the 1980’s. This did not occur, however the village was designed and built with idea of hosting an Olympics so it is very pedestrian friendly and beautifully laid out.

If you have ever thought of going to a winter Olympics the Vancouver/Whistler B.C. Olympics this upcoming February would be a great one to attend. Canada is very easy and friendly to U.S. visitors and the drive from Vancouver to Whistler is one of the most beautiful drives anywhere in the world.