November/December 2010

September 2010

Summer has come and gone in Crested Butte. While you can still ride a bike on our trails or hike a peak in your tennis shoes, everyone around here is getting ready for winter. Opening day for the 2010-2011 ski season is less than two months away! Up at the ski area, improvements are underway to make the upcoming ski season a special one. The ski company added new snowmaking, cut some new trails, gladed some other terrain, moved the terrain park complex to the Gold Link portion of the resort and improved the Treasury Center facility at the base area. Read this recent article from The Ski Channel to learn more.

Snodgrass News
The discussion of lift-served skiing expansion onto Snodgrass Mountain evolved into a recent, high level meeting between the U.S. Forest Service and Crested Butte Mountain Resort's executive team. It seems the ski resort and the Feds are communicating again, looking for a better approach to expanding skiing and other recreational opportunities onto Snodgrass. Read all about it in last week's Crested Butte News.

Anyone that was in the valley this summer felt it. There was tourism going on all around. It was reported at a recent Town Council meeting that key tax revenue metrics were up. In July, sales tax revenues were up 9.6 percent. Lodging tax revenues saw the biggest jump, at 22 percent, while the retail sector saw a 13 percent increase in tax collections.

Real Estate Sales

In my last newsletter (Aug 31), I reported that homes, particulary luxury properties, were seeing an uptick in sales activity due to price reductions. At that time, we had realized 87 residential sales and about $44 million in sales volume. It is a month later and we have jumped to 116 residential closings and almost $60 million in sales volume. We have 26 additional homes and condos under contract and $21 million more in pending sales.

Notable Sales Activity

Luxury home on 35 acres located on Ridge Road above Crested Butte South sold for $2.9 million. 
Historic single family home on Sopris Avenue in town sold for $787,000.
Three bedroom home located in the Verzuh neighborhood in town sold for just over $1.1 million.
Foreclosed home at Skyland sold for $900,000. (It was on the market for just 40 days).
Three bedroom home at Pitchfork in Mt. Crested Butte sold for $575,000.

Upcoming Events

This upcoming winter is special. We will be celebrating the 50th year of skiing at the resort!
Opening Day for Crested Butte Mountain Resort: November 24.

Thanks for reading today!

Channing Boucher
Broker Associate
Benson Sotheby's International Realty

Contact Channing at 970-596-3228 or via his website.
Channing's Blog: The Crested Butte Real Estate Letter

August 2010

Hello from Crested Butte!

The real estate market in Crested Butte is picking up momentum as we head into September and the "Fall Colors Season". It appears the high-end real estate market is back in vogue as heavily discounted luxury homes, townhomes and condos around the valley are attracting saavy investors. The current deal making is made up of mostly luxury properties.

41 homes and condos have gone under contract in recent days. This represents almost half of ALL the deals we realized from January 1 to date and $31 million in pending sales volume. During the first 8 months of 2010 we sold 87 homes and condos representing $42 million in volume.

Interestingly, the average and median sales price among these current contracts is up dramatically compared to the deal making we experienced during the first 8 months of 2010.
(See graph below)

During the first 8 months of 2009, we realized 76 sales and $44 million in volume. So far in 2010 we've done more deals by comparison and roughly the same sales volume. It appears that the recent sales rush will drive our averages and total sales volume past 2009's performance.

July 2010

Around the state of Colorado and here in Crested Butte, home sales - including luxury homes - are on the rise. In the Denver metro area, luxury home sales reached the highest point in nearly two years this June, demonstrating a steady improvement in the luxury home market. Sixty-seven homes sold for $1 million or more last month, up 3% from June 2010. Among the priciest pads sold last month in the Denver area was a six-bedroom, five-bathroom 9,207 square foot Denver home that sold for $3.95 million. According to the Denver Business Journal, this peak in sales can be attributed to super low mortgage rates and competitively priced homes.

Resort towns in Colorado are experiencing similar luxury market conditions. Towns like Telluride and Vail are reporting a serious uptick in luxury home sales. Telluride's multi-million dollar market has returned. So far this year in Telluride, there have been eight home sales of more than $4 million, including three sales between $8 million and $10.1 million. Vail luxury real estate prices are the lowest since 2004 and buyers have noticed. Year-to-date sales are almost double what they were in 2009.

The Steamboat Springs real estate market saw 29 single-family homes sell in the first quarter of 2010 with an average sale price of $730,000. In Summit County the average home price in the first quarter of this year was $740,000. The average home price in Telluride during this same period was $3.33 million, topping Vail's average sales price of $1.95 million.

In Crested Butte, luxury home prices starting dropping in early 2008. Many would-be buyers have been sitting on the sidelines, watching prices slip and waiting . Their patience appears to be paying off. Investors are entering the market and getting deals on luxury homes in the process.

Year to date, twenty-six Crested Butte-area homes have sold at an average price of $702,000 with 23% of these homes selling between $1.1 and $1.5 million. And, we have six more luxury properties currently under contract ranging in price from $990,000 to almost $4.5 million. The last sale of a Crested Butte luxury home priced over $3 million occurred in June of 2007 and we now have two homes priced at or above $3 million under contract.

Consider this: Back in 2008, forty Crested Butte-area single family homes sold at an average price of $1,085,000 and seventeen properties traded between $1 and $3 million. Twelve of these sold at $1.5 million or higher.

Last year, fifty single family homes sold at an average price of $865,000. Fourteen of these homes closed above $1 million and six properties sold at values above $2 million.

This represents a $365,000 drop in average sales prices over the last two years. For some, it's starting to look like the market has bottomed out.

Upcoming Crested Butte Colorado Events:

Crested Butte Arts Festival - July 31-August 1, 2010 - Learn More

Thanks for reading today!

Channing Boucher
Broker Associate
Benson Sotheby's International Realty

Contact Channing at 970-596-3228 or via his website.
Channing's Blog: The Crested Butte Real Estate Letter

Benson Sotheby's International Realty | 433 Sixth Street | Crested Butte | CO | 81224

June 2010

Happy Independence Day from Crested Butte Colorado!

The summer is in full swing in Crested Butte. Many special events and activities are on the calendar for the 4th of July and the weather has been incredible.

Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) has been busy with improvements. The ski company announced recently they will be renovating the Treasury Building to add more seating and new restrooms. The popular Trailheads Children's Museum has moved across the walkway to the Outpost Building. 

On the ski hill, CBMR is glading different areas to open up some new ski lines and most importantly, the Paradise Warming Hut sewer is being fixed. If you have ever waited in the lift line at Paradise you know what this means! Hooray!

CBMR has also added three new mountain bike trails, a bike skills park and they now offer lessons! Just like skier visits, the resort's goal this summer is to increase it's "rider days" from 3500 to 5000 bikers!

On the ever important airline front, it was recently announced that United Airlines will continue operating daily jet service to Gunnison (from Denver) 2-3 times a day. American Airlines will offer twice daily jet service from Dallas for the upcoming winter ski season and Continental Airlines is expected to offer daily jet service to Gunnison from Houston in mid-December. And, the big rumor flying around town? There will be a direct flight from San Francisco to Gunnison this winter! The official announcement will be made soon.

And, since this is a real estate newsletter, here is some interesting news. 

The Tipple House, located high up on the ski slope in the Prospect neighborhood, is under contract. The home is listed by CBMR for almost $4.5 million. This pending sale represents renewed action in the "above $3 million" segment of the marketplace. The last sale of a Crested Butte luxury home priced above $3 million occurred in June of 2007.

Year-to-date we've realized 62 residential sales (homes and condos) and $28 million in volume. There are an additional 21 homes and condos under contract set to close soon. ($14 million worth of real estate).

Upcoming Crested Butte Colorado Events:

Crested Butte Fourth of July Celebrations - Learn More

Bearfoot Bluegrass Camp for Kids July 6-8, 2010 - Learn More

Bluegrass in Paradise Music Festival - July 9-10, 2010 - Learn More

Crested Butte Wildflower Festival - July 12-18, 2010 - Learn More

Crested Butte Food and Wine Festival - July 22-24, 2010 - Learn More

Crested Butte Arts Festival - July 31-August 1, 2010 - Learn More

Channing Boucher
Broker Associate
Benson Sotheby's International Realty

Contact Channing at 970-596-3228 or via his website.
Channing's Blog: The Crested Butte Real Estate Letter

May 2010

Happy Memorial Day from Colorado!

"We visited Crested Butte for the great skiing. We moved here for the incredible summers!" - every local I know.

Most of us that call this place home agree, summertime in the Butte is very special. Warm nights, blue sky days, bar-b-ques, bike rides, fishing, boating, climbing, wildflower tours, live music in the park - the list goes on.

Take advantage of what we have to offer and get to Crested Butte this summer!

Here is a sampling of incredible Crested Butte summertime events:

Crested Butte Restaurant Week June 11-18, 2010 - Learn More

Wildflower Rush Mountain Bike Races June 19-21, 2010 - Learn More

Fat Tire Bike Week June 22-27, 2010 - Learn More

Crested Butte Fourth of July Celebrations - Learn More

Bearfoot Bluegrass Camp for Kids July 6-8, 2010 - Learn More

Bluegrass in Paradise Music Festival - July 9-10, 2010 - Learn More

Crested Butte Wildflower Festival - July 12-18, 2010 - Learn More

Crested Butte Food and Wine Festival - July 22-24, 2010 - Learn More

Crested Butte Arts Festival - July 31-August 1, 2010 - Learn More

Visit the Crested Butte - Gunnison Calendar of Events for all Summer Events

Crested Butte Real Estate Market Update:

The local real estate market continues to pick up speed in 2010. Saavy real estate buyers are taking advantage of tremendous price reductions and a great selection of available properties in and around Crested Butte. And, they are doing this before the summer selling season kicks into full swing.

Year-to-date we've realized 55 residential transactions (homes and condos) and $24 million in sales.

There are an additional 14 homes and condos under contract set to close soon. ($10 million more in sales). We have more than doubled our sales activity this year vs. 2009.

Visit The Crested Butte Real Estate Letter (blog) to Learn About New Listings and Up-to-Date Market Information

April 2010

Crested Butte real estate sales activity has picked up in 2010. In fact, twice as many homes, condos and townhomes have sold year-to-date compared to the 1st quarter of 2009.

41 properties have closed in 2010 versus 22 sales during the same time frame in 2009.

This represents over $18 million worth of Crested Butte real estate investment in 2010. Additionally, there are 18 properties under contract representing $11 million. Considering where we were last year at this time, these are promising numbers.

What is causing this uptick in deal making? For starters, the high inventory of available properties has forced prices downward. Last year at this time, the average sales price on a home was $506,000. Now, the average residential sales price is hovering around $433,000.

And, mortgage rates remain very attractive. Saavy buyers, some fearful of looming inflation in the U.S., are taking advantage of low interest rate, long term loans and scooping up some very nice real estate. Some of the best deals are located in Mt. Crested Butte right now. In particular, condos in and around the ski resort are selling. (45 sales since July 2009 and 16 so far this year).

In spite of the cheap money available to home buyers, it is interesting to note that of the 41 deals this year, half were "all-cash" transactions. I expect this trend to continue this year.

Last year, the majority of the $108 million in real estate deals we realized occurred in the last 5 months of the year. With the traditionally strong summer and fall selling seasons yet to begin in Crested Butte, the real estate market is on track to beat 2009's performance.

In other Colorado real estate news, Telluride's Sotheby's office just closed what will go down as one of the biggest real estate deals in this state's history. The Boot Jack Ranch in Pagosa Springs was sold this past week for $46.5 million to a Texas billionaire. The figure beats the $43 million paid by New York money manager Lewis A. Sanders for a 10-bedroom contemporary and guest house in Aspen last summer, a deal believed to set the U.S. record last year. Check out the photos from this amazing Colorado ranch property.

The summer music season in Crested Butte is shaping up to be one of the best ever. The Crested Butte Music Festival just announced an awesome line up of summertime events. Follow this link to plan your summer vacation's musical fun. New for this year is Crested Butte's first ever bluegrass festival. The Bluegrass in Paradise Festival goes off July 6-8 and features the likes of musical greats: Drew Emmitt, Blue Highway, Bearfoot, Springcreek Bluegrass, Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys, Billy Nershi and Shannon Whitworth.

Finally, the Town of Crested Butte has put over 300 acres of Slate River valley land under contract. Known as the Kochevar Parcel, the Town of Crested Butte aims to lock up this huge chunk of prime Colorado dirt and manage it as recreational open space. The purchase price is $5.3 million.

The Town teamed up with the Crested Butte Land Trust and GOCO (Great Outdoors Colorado) and the Trust for Public Lands (TPL) - a national organization that is fronting the money for the purchase. Learn more at the Crested Butte News.

Thanks for reading today!

Channing Boucher
Broker Associate
Benson Sotheby's International Realty

March 2010

Seems like all we hear about these days is news of ski resort failures, declining skier visits and global warming killing winter but according to a recent industry report, the U.S. ski industry continues to rack up revenues. Ski resorts in the United States have shown steady increases in revenue over the last five years, according to research firm IbisWorld.  The New York Times ran an article recently about the results of an IbisWorld report on the state of the United States ski resort industry.  Interestingly, in 2009 the U.S. ski resort industry reached $2.6 billion in revenues.  IbisWorld is forecasting a 6% increase for 2010 – or $2.72 billion in revenues. The ski industry’s biggest players - Intrawest and Vail Resorts - now attract 51 percent of the total U.S. ski industry market in terms of revenue.

In what appears to be either a brilliant stroke of luck or a saavy business tactic, the Muellers sale of Crested Butte Mountain Resort a little over a year ago to a very big real estate investment trust (REIT) might go down as their most important move in positioning our ski resort for success when the economy turns around. CNL Lifestyles Property Inc. (CNL) bought out all three ski resorts owned by the Mueller family including Okemo and Mt. Sunapee in Vermont for $132 million just as the U.S. financial markets were tanking.

Crested Butte owner CNL is back in the news with more big time investments.  Their latest round of acquisitions occurred this month. This time, CNL bought four marinas in California from the existing operator for $55 million, expanding the REIT’s marina portfolio to 19 locations. Orlando, Florida-based CNL leased the four marinas, which have a total of 1,984 boat slips, to it's former owner which will continue to operate them under long-term, triple-net leases.

The Muellers operate Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Okemo and Mt. Sunapee in a similar “lease-back” arrangement.  CNL owns it and the Muellers operate it under a long term lease agreement.

Recently, CNL completed more than $23 million worth of improvements at their Cypress Mountain ski resort in Vancouver, B.C., just in time for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Cypress Mountain was the host for six 2010 Olympic events, including three skiing and three snowboarding events. The improvements had been planned for many years and were prioritized when CNL purchased Cypress Mountain in 2006 for $47.5 million.

A REIT is basically a holding company. The IRS sets the following requirements for a company to qualify as a real estate investment trust:

1. Invest at least 75 percent of its total assets in real estate.
2. Get at least 75 percent of its gross income as rents from real property or interest from mortgages on real property.
3. Distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to shareholders annually in the form of dividends.

Thanks for reading today!

Channing Boucher

Research Properties on the Gunnison/Crested Butte MLS

February 2010

In January, I attended a gathering of the Western Mountain Resort Alliance (WMRA) - held right here in little old Crested Butte. The WMRA is a industry organization of real estate people from the Western U.S. resort communities including Grand County (Winter Park), Whistler, Park City, Steamboat Springs, Summit County, Sun Valley, Telluride, Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Lake Tahoe, Crested Butte and McCall Idaho.

The question on everyone's mind? Have we bottomed out? Is it truly the best time to buy real estate again?

After hearing these resort's real estate realities, it could be argued that we are indeed at the bottom and now is the best time in years to buy up that Colorado ski home or resort property.

From 2006 to 2009, western U.S. mountain resorts saw an across-the-board, 65% decline in real estate transactions. This marks an unprecedented decline in sales for vacation homes and ski resort real estate - it's never been this dramatic or devastating to the economies in these resort towns.

Everyone knows the last few years have been tough for real estate. For western U.S. ski resorts, 2009 was the worst year in over two decades.

Stories of blood-bath market conditions were plentiful at the meeting but the bloodiest tale came out of Vail.

The broker from Vail was candid and the numbers were stunning. In 2006, Vail was the epitome of the nationwide real estate boom...uh...I mean...bubble. Real estate sales volume broke $2.3 billion and sky-high construction cranes were popping up everywhere in the Vail Valley. New subdivisions, slopeside developments and major renovations were underway and the real estate was flying off the shelf. By 2007, more sales records were broken and volume reached an incredible $2.94 billion! In 2008, the market was still cranking along hitting $2.2 billion more in sales.

Then the bubble burst in 2009. Real estate sales volume in Vail plunged to $800 million - almost a 70% decline in activity. Doesn't seem all that bad for a ski resort town...after all $800 million is still $800 million.  But, when you've been riding billion dollar waves and the wave becomes a little ripple the coral reef below is going to hurt.

Vail took the worst beating but in Steamboat Springs, the market tanked a year earlier. After realizing almost $1 billion in sales in 2007, sales dropped to just over $268 million in 2009. In Telluride, they reached $500 million in sales in 2006 and again in 2007. The wheels fell off in 2008 and by 2009 sales amounted to less than $170 million. Same story from Jackson Hole: $800 million in sales in 2007 and last year they did $230 million.

With such devastating declines in sales and dramatic drops in prices (read my last newsletter), it sure looks like western U.S. ski resort real estate has hit bottom.

View 2009 WMRA Resort Statistics Here (PDF)

March 2010 Events in Crested Butte:

March 6: Super Tour (22.5K) - Crested Butte Nordic Center
March 6-7: Rippin Chix Steeps Camp with Alison Gannett, Crested Butte Mountain Resort
March 9-10: Aspen Sante Fe Ballet Presented by Crested Butte Center for the Arts
March 12-13: Banff Film Festival, Crested Butte Center for the Arts
March 13: 12-Hour Nordic Race, Crested Butte Nordic Center
March 13: Big Air on Elk, Crested Butte
March 13: 33^rd Annual Red Lady Salvation Ball Presented by High Country Citizen's Alliance
March 18-20: 14^th Annual U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Telemark Championships, CBMR
March 19: 9^th Annual Crested Butte Land Trust Adventure Auction & Dinner, Mt. CB
March 20: Progressive Bonfire Dinner (on Nordic skis or snowshoes), Town Ranch
March 21: Al Johnson Memorial Uphill/Downhill Telemark Ski Race, CBMR
March 25: ArtWalk Evening, Studios & Galleries in Downtown & Mt. Crested Butte
March 26-27: Elk Mountains Grand Traverse, Backcountry Ski Race from CB to Aspen   
March 27: First-Ever Skitown Breakdown Featuring Yonder Mountain String Band, CBMR

January 2010

Will 2010 be remembered as the year of the price wars in Crested Butte real estate? 2009 saw decent real estate activity in our little resort community but that activity came at a price - no pun intended.

Of the 19 single family homes that sold in the town of Crested Butte last year, days on market was 371 and the average sales price was 74% of the original list price. Up in Mt. Crested Butte, 13 single family homes sold at an average of 69% of the original list price and it took an average of 433 days on the market to get those homes sold. There were 45+ condos sold in Mt. Crested Butte in 2009 at an average of 73% of their original list price.

For 2010, it looks like these price wars will continue.  With over 560 homes, condos and townhomes actively listed on the market in Mt Crested Butte, Crested Butte, Skyland and Crested Butte South, competition among sellers is fierce to say the least.

What does this mean for interested buyers? It's time to deal. Read this NY Times article for more insight.

Interest rates on residential loans are still highly attractive, prices on real estate are way down from 2005-2006 highs and let's face it, buying a hard asset like real estate, particulary "lifestyle" real estate like we have in Crested Butte, is a great investment option to the volatile stock and bond markets.

There are many very nice opportunities in our marketplace - in town, up on the ski mountain, out at Skyland and Buckhorn Ranch and down in Crested Butte South. Many of the properties on our market are now being offered for less that it would cost someone to buy the land and build new.

Upcoming Events in Crested Butte:

Race Across the Sky Leadville 100 Bike Race Film at Center for the Arts - Feb. 5, 2010

24th Annual Alley Loop Nordic Ski Marathon - February 6, 2010

Valentine's Ski Clinic with Wendy Fisher, Crested Butte Mountain Resort - Feb. 13-15, 2010

Mardi Gras Parade & Gumbo Cook-Off, Crested Butte/Elk Avenue - February 16, 2010

19^th Annual U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Championships, CBMR - Feb. 17-21, 2010

Crooked Still Concert Center for the Arts - Feb. 25, 2010

ArtWalk Evening, Studios & Galleries in Crested Butte & Mt. Crested Butte - Feb. 25, 2010

Thanks for reading today!

Channing Boucher