Crested Butte Real Estate Market Reports - 2009

May 2009

Trulia's view of our local market:

Crested Butte Homes For Sale	Gunnison Homes For Sale
Crested Butte Real Estate - Trulia	Crested Butte Real Estate - Trulia

March 2009

By definition it may be easy to pin the buyer's market distinction on Crested Butte real estate. Days-on-market is high, inventories are flush with offerings, the number of transactions is low and now we are seeing asking prices drop. But, is all of this translating into real estate bargains?

If you are shopping ski area condos or vacant land you are going to get a deal. No doubt, it is a buyer's market. With big inventory levels and flat demand great deals are happening. In some cases, we've returned to pre-Mueller era pricing for Mt. Crested Butte condos and on home site parcels in places like Crested Butte South, Buckhorn Ranch and today a parcel on the 12th hole at the Crested Butte Country Club was lowered to $250,000!

But there may be reason to put an asterisk next to our buyer's market distinction. Single family homes, an important anchor segment of any real estate market, appear to be holding their value and demand is shifting for more expensive properties. Just last week, a 1721 sq. ft., single family home in the town of Crested Butte, sold for $900,000 (that's $523/sft)! And, if you review the last 4 years of home sales, some interesting facts stand out. A key metric, the median sales price for single family homes in Crested Butte, Mt Crested Butte and Crested Butte South reached a 48-month high by the end of 2008.

The median sales price is the middle price point where 50% of homes sold are above this mark and the other 50% sold fall below. This is a better metric to determine a market's overall condition versus the average sales price metric where a few multi-million home sales can skew the data.

The graph below demonstrates that in spite of decreasing transaction levels from 2005 to 2008, and increasing days on market, the median sales price of single family homes in our market rose almost $250,000 per sale!

February 2009

Active listings in Mt. Crested Butte hit 272 condos and townhomes for sale. Combine that with 70 single family homes for sale and ski area buyers have some serious choices.  Down the mountain in the town of Crested Butte, there are 50 single family homes and 30 condos and townhomes on the market! Buyers are responding to the market conditions and scoring some very nice deals. Here is some sales data:

Recent Notable Transactions:
703 Sopris Ave. - 3 Bed Crested Butte Townhome - SOLD at $569,000
714 Teocalli Ave. - Crested Butte Triplex Unit - SOLD at $425,000
319 Mountaineer Square - Mt CB - 2 Bed Condo - SOLD at $885,000
731 Maroon Ave. - Older Crested Butte Home - SOLD at $685,000

Notable Under Contract Activity:
8 Teocalli Avenue - Smaller Crested Butte Home - List Price: $1,095,000
12 Alpine Court - 3 Bedroom Skyland Duplex - List Price: $459,000
522 Shavano - Crested Butte South Home - List Price: $635,900

January 2009

2009 has begun with new deal making and some incredible opportunities to purchase premier Crested Butte real estate at seriously discounted prices. Buyers are enjoying strong inventories and competitive price reductions across all categories. The lower end of the market has come alive and we have 14 properties currently under contract including 9 townhomes and condos and 2 single family homes.  Buyers are also taking advantage of the cheap money offered by lenders for residential purchases. Borrowers are realizing sub-6% and in some cases sub-5% rates on 30-year fixed residential loans.

Last Week's Closing Activity:
337 Cement Creek - Crested Butte South Townhome - SOLD at $390,000
401 Black Bear Lodge - Condo in Mt Crested Butte - SOLD at $950,000
103 Mountain Sunrise - Condo in Mt Crested Butte - SOLD at $244,000

Under Contract Activity:
7 homes and condos priced between $200,000 and $2.2 million in Mt Crested Butte
4 homes and condos priced between $190,000 and $735,000 in the Town of Crested Butte
1 home (asking $635,000) and 1 condo (asking $159,000) in Crested Butte South

In other news, CNL, the real estate investment trust that acquired Crested Butte Mountain Resort recently, appears to have a lot of cash to spend. They just acquired another resort in Massachusetts under a similar "sale, lease-back" deal bringing their ownership total to 14 North American ski resorts.
Learn more in my real estate blog.

December 2008

Crested Butte Real Estate 2008 Year In Review - The Highlights

Crested Butte still doesn't have any parking meters or traffic lights! - HOORAY!

The 2008-2009 ski season kicked off with 120+ inches of snow by Christmas!

In the face of the national economic turmoil and the credit crisis, Crested Butte Mountain Resort scored big with CNL Lifestyles. CNL – a Florida-based Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) purchased CBMR in a $132 million deal that included the Mueller's other ski resorts in Vermont. The Muellers will continue to operate all three ski resorts under a "lease-back" agreement. The lease term is 40 years. CNL will help to capitalize Crested Butte Mountain Resort operations and its resort and real estate expansion. Learn more at my Blog

$50+ Million School Bond Passed (3A) – Capital improvements are about to begin at 6 of our community’s public schools including the top-rated Crested Butte Community School.

High profile publicity for Crested Butte came in the form of great PR and numerous articles in the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal and Outside Magazine and Sunset Magazine put Crested Butte in the Top 10 Best Places to live in the United States!

2008 real estate sales in Crested Butte were down from recent years but well over $100 million worth of homes, condos, vacant land and ranch parcels traded during the year. Approximately 45% of the deals were ‘all-cash’ transactions signaling continued demand from saavy investors and an on-going appeal for the real estate in our community. Days on market came in high but this is typical of our resort community. Inventories are still very high - in all categories - giving buyers an advantage, especially for vacant land and condos in Mt Crested Butte. The market area includes properties sold from Almont, Colorado north to Crested Butte and Mt Crested Butte. The figures below are from the Gunnison Country MLS system only.