Will it Last - Steamboat Springs Home Ownership for Under $100K

Steamboat Springs' 2011 real estate market was dominated by sales of transactions priced under $200,000. Condominiums made up most of these sales, and now that these bargains are off the Steamboat Springs market, there’s not much inventory at the lower price points as compared to last year. Here’s a Steamboat Springs real estate snapshot by the numbers:

• Homes priced below $200,000 comprised 36% of 2011 sales
• 26 condos sold in 2011 for less than $100,000 (of these, 16 were bank owned)
• 45 condos sold for prices between $100,000 and $200,000 in 2011
• 52% of 2011 Steamboat Springs' sales transactions were for less than $300K
• Currently only 9 condos are listed on the market priced less than $100K and only 39 condos on the market reside in the $100K-$200K price range

2011 Steamboat Springs Condo Sales Data

Steamboat Springs’ low end supply has dwindled – but it remains uncertain as to whether that will equate to an increase in the lower end price base. Privately owned homes had to compete with a good percentage of bank owned sales last year and that drove prices down. Steamboat Springs’ shadow inventory, homes that are still in the bank-owned system that haven’t hit the market yet, is an overhanging question mark. If there is significant shadow inventory still remaining, it could keep Steamboat’s prices low as those homes cycle through the banking system and hit the market throughout 2012. Conversely, if the banks have run through their low end inventory and demand starts outpacing the supply of privately owned homes, then Steamboat Springs’ home owners will have more confidence as well as the leverage to ask for (and get) higher prices.

One final note about the entire piece of the Steamboat Springs’ 2011 real estate sales pie, with 52% of 2011 sales being homes less than $300K, the share of sales was taken from the middle range price points, those priced from $300K to $800K. Homes priced from $800K to $3M+ have seen very little change as a percentage of transactions from 2007 to 2011.

Steamboat Springs Market Share by Price Point

Steamboat Springs real estate has always been and will continue to be a great value buy. Whether buyers will continue to have ample options to purchase Steamboat Springs real estate for under $200K remains to be seen. The economic laws of supply and demand would indicate that perhaps the Steamboat Springs real estate market is about to see a lower end price adjustment to where private home owners won’t have their home prices held hostage to bank owned home prices.

---For more information on buying real estate or questions regarding Steamboat Springs real estate in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, feel free to call Charlie at 970-846-6435 or write me an email at: charlie@steamboatsmyhome.com

Thanks,

Charlie

The Bakery Opens in Steamboat Springs

Now open in Steamboat Springs a real home-town bakery, “The Bakery”. For home-made breads, sweets, birthday cakes and more The Bakery is the place to go. It’s about time too – especially for many of us who grew up in a town where visiting the bakery with mom was a big deal. The Bakery will be a great addition to the west end of Steamboat’s downtown business district and is sure to be a favorite among locals and visitors alike.

John F. Russell photo in Steamboat Today

Doug Matthews, The Bakery’s new owner, offers four to five fresh baked breads, a variety of pastries and other baked goods daily. Lunch is available as well, and by March, dinner will be served too. “If it comes out of the oven, we’ll make it,” says Matthews. Nothing like a home-made sandwich on fresh baked bread to warm you up on a chilly Steamboat Springs winter day! Now you can have a home-made muffin for breakfast and a taco at the new taco stand, Taco Del Barco, while shopping in downtown Steamboat Springs.

The Bakery is located at 1117 Lincoln Avenue, downtown Steamboat Springs. So it’s a double win, we have another eating establishment in Steamboat Springs, and also a place to go for fresh baked breads and pastries to complete a home-cooked meal.

---For more information on buying real estate or questions regarding Steamboat Springs real estate in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, feel free to call Charlie at 970-846-6435 or write me an email at: charlie@steamboatsmyhome.com

Thanks,

Charlie

Video Blog: Real Estate is Local and Steamboat Springs is Improving

Being a Realtor here in Steamboat Springs, I read and keep a sharp eye on national and local real estate trends. Just this morning, I noticed that real estate values are booming in Southern California and Silicon Valley. Sure Case Shiller show real estate values dropping within most cities, but that doesn't mean all homes are going down. Prices are up 14% in Beverly Hills.

If jobs are great in an area, or it's a desirable place to live, or you have fresh power to ski, real estate values can and will recover sooner than other markets.

So I thought I'd do a little video blog about how and why it's important to know that real estate is local and what that means to buyers and sellers of Steamboat Springs Real Estate.

Steamboat Springs’ Winter Carnival - Traditional, Fun & Unique

Steamboat Springs’ 99^th annual Winter Carnival will be held February 8^th – 12^th in Steamboat Springs, CO. The 5-day schedule includes a variety of alpine, Nordic, freestyle and snow boarding events as well as downtown Steamboat street events and activities. Two unique attractions set Steamboat Springs’ Winter Carnival apart: the High School Marching Band on Skis and The Lighted Man skiing down Howelsen Hill.

Lighted Man

The Steamboat Springs Marching Band will be marching down Lincoln Avenue on skis during the Winter Carnival Parade like they have for the past 77 years. The Steamboat Springs High School Band was the first band to ever march on skis and they’ve been upholding their Winter Carnival tradition since 1935.

Steamboat High School Band

The Lighted Man made his first appearance in 1939 in an outfit weighing more than 100 pounds. The Lighted Man in this year’s Howelsen Hill Saturday Night Extravaganza will wear a costume weighing about 70 pounds which includes 32 Roman candles and 12 sky rockets. It’ll take 5-6 people to get the outfit on the lighted man who will then ski down Howelsen Hill to the delight of the crowd that gathers below.

The snow that covers Lincoln Avenue for the street events and parade come from the coordination of the Steamboat Springs Public Works Department who see to it that 400 plus tons of snow are in place by 6:00a.m. each day of the downtown events.

Winter Carnival Downtown Race

The Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival is sponsored by the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and produced by numerous volunteers. It is always held the second week in February. Visitors plan their vacations around it and locals look forward to this fun annual event. It’s another example of the Steamboat Springs’ community coming together to continue a tradition and to celebrate the season Ski Town U.S.A. thrives in.

Howelsen Hill, Steamboat-Springs

---For more information on buying real estate or questions regarding Steamboat Springs real estate in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, feel free to call Charlie at 970-846-6435 or write me an email at: charlie@steamboatsmyhome.com

Thanks,

Charlie

Colorado Mountain Resort Real Estate Trends as Dubious as The Snowfall

Steamboat Springs’ real estate market did not earn great marks in the recent Colorado Mountain Resort Real Estate Trends released by Land Title Guarantee Co. As compared to 5 other Colorado ski resort counties, Routt County, home to Steamboat Springs, is the only county that decreased 6% or more on 5 key benchmarks* in 2011 as compared to 2010:

• Gross Sales Volume: -12.01% (Eagle & Grand Counties were down >6% as well)
• Number of Transactions*: -23.06% (All other counties were flat to up)
• Single Family Average Home Prices: -22.73% (Eagle & Garfield Counties were down >6% as well)
• Multi Family Average Home Prices: -33.52% (Eagle, Garfield & Summit Counties were down >6% as well)
• New Development: -52.51% (Eagle, Garfield & Summit Counties were down >6% as well)

*For Routt County specifically, there was a high number of fractional sales transactions in 2010 vs. 2011, so if you net out fractional transactions and compare improved units sales transactions only for 2010 vs 2011, Routt county is actually up almost17%.

Steamboat Springs’ Routt County real estate market historically has been most comparable to Summit County, home to Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper Mountain ski resorts. In 2007’s real estate market peak, Routt County/Steamboat Springs reported $1.58 billion in sales while Summit County earned $1.63 billion in sales. Fast forward to 2011, and there is a much wider gap in real estate performance on key metrics:

2011 Sales Dollar Volume
Routt County, Steamboat Springs = $450.6M (-12.01% versus 2010)
Summit County = $684.2M (-2.03% versus 2010)

2011 Single Family Homes Average Price Per Square Foot
Routt County, Steamboat Springs = $229.35 (-17.77% versus 2010)
Summit County = $252.68 (-6.11% versus 2010)

2011 Single Family Home Average Price
Routt County, Steamboat Springs = $631,224 (-22.73% versus 2010)
Summit County = $734,262 (-4.74% versus 2010)

While these 2011 year end numbers are certainly not good news for Steamboat Springs when compared to short term history, what they do point to is the potential for great improvement in the Steamboat Springs real estate market as we move into 2012. Reasons for optimism include: new jobs in the coal mining industry, lower inventory than we’ve seen in a while and aggressive sales and development plans for some key real estate projects. And for Buyers, Steamboat Springs is an incredible value right now, but inventory is decreasing in some key price segments. It remains to be seen how long it'll be before the supply/demand equation tips the scale to increasing prices in some of the more sought after price segments.

As I’ve stated before, the real estate market is local, and Steamboat Springs is not on the I-70 corridor which captures the majority of Denver visitors, a real estate market that has rebounded already. Steamboat Springs pulls a good portion of its buyers from out-of-state feeder markets many of whom have not had economic rebounds as yet. While poised for growth, the Steamboat Springs real estate market is somewhat more dependent on the national economic recovery and the availability of affordable mortgage financing for second/vacation homes than some of the Colorado ski resort counties we benchmark ourselves against.

---For more information on buying real estate or questions regarding Steamboat Springs real estate in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, feel free to call Charlie at 970-846-6435 or write me an email at: charlie@steamboatsmyhome.com

Thanks,

Charlie