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Crested Butte Colorado Real Estate Market Momentum for 2012

01-16-12
Channing Boucher

View Channing Boucher's Newsletter Online


Real Estate Market Momentum for 2012

If the real estate market momentum we realized in 2011 is any indication of what we can expect this year, 2012 will be a good year for the Crested Butte real estate market.

Consider the following:

In 2011, the single, highest residential real estate sale we realized in Crested Butte was $3.125 million. This sale marked the first time since June 2007 the $3 million threshold was cracked for a home purchase at this end of the Upper East River Valley.

Also in 2011, we realized over 220 sales of homes and condos from Crested Butte South to Mt. Crested Butte. This is a jump from 143 total sales in 2010. We passed $105 million in total sales volume - the first time we've done that since 2008. And, we hit this mark with mostly all cash investments!

During 2011, the average days on market for sold homes and condos sold went down and average sold prices and average sold prices per square foot went up in all areas including Crested Butte South, Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte. See Advisor Issue #9 for details.

Already in 2012, we have realized a $4 million sale of a Sotheby's listed home in the Prospect ski-in ski-out subdivision. Its been over 6 years since somebody has purchased a house in our market for $4 million or more. (2005 sale: $4.3 million Skyland home). This is momentum!

Teocalli Park and CBMR's New Master Plan

The North Face lift with chairs? Two new ski lifts rising a total of 8000 feet to the top of something called Teocalli Park? CBMR has submitted a new master plan to the US Forest Service and its quite a departure from the Snodgrass Mountain expansion plan that was denied a few years back. Read the article at the Crested Butte News

Did You Know - "The Crested Buttes"

The East River Valley where Crested Butte is located was once used as a summer residence by Ute Native Americans. The Utes were quickly displaced when white explorers - beaver trappers and surveyors - first entered the valley. Captain John Gunnison, Gunnison County's namesake, was one of the first explorers to find the valley. Crested Butte got it's name from a geologist named Ferdinand Hayden who was on 1873 expedition surveying the Elk Mountains. From the top of what is now known as Teocalli Peak, Hayden referred to present day Crested Butte Mountain and Gothic Mountain as “the crested buttes.”

Crested Butte In The Media

The San Francisco Chronicle ran a recent article about our little town. ..."where every view seems to contain a snow-capped peak and ranchers still herd cattle on city streets - the American frontier is alive and well." View Article

2011-2012 Air Service to Gunnison and Crested Butte

View Flight Schedule (PDF)

Thanks for reading today! We hope to see you in Crested Butte very soon!

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

Visit Channing's Featured Listings:
Homes and Condos for Sale | Land for Sale | Ranches for Sale | Commercial for Sale

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2011: A Good Year in Crested Butte

12-06-11
Channing Boucher
View Complete Newsletter Here

Happy Holidays,

This holiday season, folks in Crested Butte have additional reasons to celebrate! 2011 will be remembered as the year real estate investment and tourism came back to life in Crested Butte. Year to date, 199 properties have sold in the Upper East River Valley. We are on track to break $100 million in sales from Crested Butte South to Mt. Crested Butte. This is a threshold we haven't reached in over 3 years.

The Town of Crested Butte reports an overall 7.5% increase in sales, lodging and restaurant tax revenues, reaching the best revenue totals we've seen since 2008! View 2011 sales tax breakdown (PDF). Up in Mt. Crested Butte the news is just as good. This past July, the town of Mt. Crested Butte collected $136K in revenues on more than $2.7 million in taxable sales, which is the biggest collection for the month of July in the history of Mt. Crested Butte and 34 percent above an 11-year average. View recent Crested Butte News article.

Here is a breakdown of 2011 real estate sales action by location:

Town of Crested Butte:
22 homes and condos sold, median sales price: $546,000
Most expensive: $2,875,000 single family home, least expensive: $82,000 condo

Town of Mt. Crested Butte:
102 homes and condo sold, median sales price: $364,000
Most expensive: $2,600,000 single family home, least expensive: $40,500 condo

Rural Crested Butte:
38 homes and condos sold, median sales price: $650,000
Most expensive: $3,125,000 single family home, least expensive: $72,000 condo

Crested Butte In The Media
The popular media continues it's love affair with Crested Butte. Many articles have been published about our little town in recent weeks and it sure is fun to read what other people think about us.

The Chicago Tribune published an article that began with the following: “If long lift lines, copycat resort villages and spiking prices have muted the joy of your recent ski trips, the ski doctor prescribes a few days in Crested Butte to refresh your senses.” View Article

MSN.com published a piece titled the The West’s Top 10 Dream Towns. Crested Butte ranked 3rd. View Article.

SkiMag.com writes:“Crested Butte rubs off on you. The same way you pick up a drawl after spending time with Southerners, you can’t help but take on a CB affect, with endless gratitude and perhaps a dash of smug satisfaction for having been lucky and/or smart enough to land here.” View Article

The Houston Chronicle recently dubbed Crested Butte, “close to perfection". A tidy clump of picturesque Victorian blocks laid out beneath Mount Crested Butte – the 12,000-foot mass of craggy rock and pine that engulfs the horizon – the town is equal parts cushy ski resort and ecofriendly hippie haven.” View Article

2011-2012 Air Service to Gunnison and Crested Butte
View Flight Schedule (PDF)

Thanks for reading today! We hope to see you in Crested Butte very soon!

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

Visit Channing's Featured Listings:
Homes and Condos for Sale | Land for Sale | Ranches for Sale | Commercial for Sale
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Fall Harvest for Home Sellers in Crested Butte Colorado

10-12-11
Channing Boucher

View This Month's Crested Butte Real Estate Adviser Issue #9 Online

Greetings from Crested Butte,

The narrative is changing in Crested Butte. This summer’s tourism season was a record breaker. Sales, lodging and restaurant tax collections were way up and the number of visitors to our valley spiked like the thermometer in Texas and Oklahoma. Custom homes starting popping up out of the ground and one of the first spec homes we’ve seen in years is under contract before it is finished. Sales of existing homes climbed in all categories and certain locations and now folks are talking in terms of a real economic rebound in Crested Butte.

For portions of the Crested Butte real estate market, it is still very much a buyer’s market. Right now, home sites at Buckhorn Ranch (five minute drive to town) are selling for less than $50,000 and you can still buy condos near the ski slopes for less than $100,000. Down in Crested Butte South, vacant land is available at historically low prices. Heavily discounted, bank owned homes are still hitting the market and in most cases they are selling off quickly to happy investors. Overall, inventories of vacant land and condos in our valley are still pretty deep. This fact alone is contributing to the low price opportunities.

But, if you were waiting for the bottom of the market to jump on that special Mt. Crested Butte ski home, the rustic 4 bedroom place in town or even that hot foreclosure deal in Crested Butte South, I believe that day has come and gone.

2011 will be remembered as the year luxury real estate investment came to life again in Crested Butte. Year to date, 31 properties listed between $750,000 and $4,500,000 have sold or are under contract. 19 of these properties have sold at or above $1,000,000. The average sold price for these 31 deals is above $1.6 million and the average sold price per foot is pushing $500/psf.

Year to date we’ve seen 162 residential sales and $77 million in real estate investment from Crested Butte South north to Mt. Crested Butte. Last year at this time we saw 143 residential sales amounting to $73 million in sales.

Consider the following previous year comparisons:

In 2010, 9 homes sold in Crested Butte South with an average sold price per foot of $133. Days on market for these homes: 300 days. This year, the number of Crested Butte South single family homes to sell has almost doubled – currently 17 homes – and the average sold price per foot is $156. Average days on market: 210 days.

In 2010, homes that sold in the town limits of Crested Butte fetched an average price of $801,000 and $411 per square foot. Days on market: 280 days. So far this year, homes in town are selling at an average price of $1.6 million and an average sold price per foot of $481. Days on market: 271 days.

Up in Mt. Crested Butte, only 12 homes sold in 2010. Average sales price was $640,000 and the average price per square foot was $216. This year, 19 homes have sold at an average price of $1,020,000 and an average price per square foot of $300.

The most interesting thing about all of this luxury real estate buying? Interest rates on home mortgages are still very low, yet, most of these luxury home deals are all cash transactions. Of the 162 sales year-to-date, almost 100 were cash transactions. My appraiser and mortgage broker friends are starving at a time while some of our little community’s all time biggest real estate transactions are occurring. In 2010, the majority of real estate purchases were done with conventional mortgages.

Spec Home Goes Under Contract Prior to Completion

It seems like it’s been years since we’ve seen a new spec home going up around the valley. Now, the community’s first under construction spec homes located in the Town of Crested Butte went under contract a few weeks ago. Asking price is just under $1.6 million.

New Master Plan for Snodgrass?
(borrowed from CBMR’s recent newsletter)

This past year, the Forest Service asked CBMR to revise its Master Plan for the resort, including plans on Snodgrass Mountain. At that time, the Forest Service made it very clear that they would consider lower impact skiing on Snodgrass (such as cat skiing). They also believe there to be more development opportunities on the main mountain (such as lift service and new trails within the Teo Bowl drainage). Using this specific information, CBMR has decided to revise their Master Plan to now include projects on both the main mountain and Snodgrass.

Ski Season Starts in Crested Butte November 23!
View CBMR's Website

2011-2012 Air Service to Gunnison and Crested Butte
View Flight Schedule (PDF)

Thanks for reading today! We hope to see you in Crested Butte very soon!

Channing Boucher
Broker Associate
Benson Sotheby's International Realty

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Just Sold by Channing Boucher and Sotheby's International Realty in Crested Butte

09-03-11
Channing Boucher

Just Sold by Channing Boucher in Crested Butte

Benson Sotheby’s International Realty and agent Channing Boucher are pleased to announce another successful real estate transaction in the town of Crested Butte. Channing’s vacant land listing located on Butte Avenue in the prestigious Kapushion Annexation neighborhood fetched a full price, all cash offer of $775,000 yesterday. The parcel sits right on the Crested Butte Land Trust open space and nordic ski track. This sale marks the second vacant land sale on Butte Avenue in 2011. The first sale fetched $820,000 in April.

For more information about the Crested Butte real estate market and other fine properties for sale, contact Channing Boucher here.

For up-to-date Crested Butte real estate market information visit Channing's web site.

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Crested Butte Market Breaks 100 Transactions Year to Date

07-26-11
Channing Boucher

Read Newsletter Online

Local Home and Condo Sales Activity Up 30%

The market for real estate in Crested Butte is self-correcting. In the face of a deep selection of homes and condos listed for sale and a steady stream of bank owned property deals hitting the market, many of our valley's shoppers are turning into buyers. Year-to-date sales activity from Crested Butte South to Mt. Crested Butte has picked up dramatically and there is no sign of letting up. 101 homes and condos have sold so far this year accounting for over $41 million in volume. And, there are another two dozen properties under contract. This is a 30% improvement over last year.

What has triggered this serious spike in investment? Across most of our market place, prices have plummeted. Last year at this time, we realized 68 sales with a median sold price of $340,000. This year, the 101 transactions have a median sold price of $280,000. Price goes down, sales go up. The most basic of economic lessons, right? Maybe. Our market has a "flip-side" where high priced real estate deals are becoming less anomalous and more commonplace.

For example, if you were waiting to buy that special luxury home on Butte Avenue west of Coal Creek, you may have missed the boat. After the sale of 6 Ruth's Road early this month for $1,320,000, three more luxury homes located in the same neighborhood have gone under contract. These homes are listed between $1.7 million and $2.5 million. Also, a $2.5 million home located nearby at the west end of Teocalli Avenue is also under contract. In April, a vacant parcel on Butte Avenue sold for $820,000. Wow.

Who Owns North America's Ski Resorts?

It may be news to you, but Crested Butte Mountain Resort's owner, CNL Lifestyle Properties is North America's 800-lb gorilla resort owner. CNL owns 150 properties across the United States and is by far the largest owner of ski areas and resorts in North America, with ownership of 14 ski areas and numerous lodging and retail properties located in or near ski resorts. With ski related properties making up the majority of the company’s holdings, CNL actively seeks new opportunities for investment within the ski industry and recently purchased many of Intrawest’s “Village” developments. Read about the industry at this recent Mountain Rider Alliance's blog.

Senate Recommends Ski Resort Bill to Boost Summer Business

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted unanimously to recommend passage of the Ski Area Recreation Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011, which would expand the activities allowed on ski area lands leased from the U.S. Forest Service. The bill would amend the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986. Read more here.

Skier and Snowboarder Participation To Grow 50% in 50 Years?

Recent research done by the U.S. Forest Service and the University of Georgia demonstrates skier and snowboarder traffic at resorts and in the backcountry could increase by 50 percent by 2060. Unfortunately, even as skier populations may increase, snowfall is predicted to get scarcer, and running lifts and lighting condo chimneys at resorts isn’t going to help reverse that trend. ...The surge in demand for skiing could have huge implications for Forest Service land managers when they update forest plans. Meeting the new demand could require allocating new parcels of national forest system lands for ski area expansions, or even the development of new areas near communities where such plans are already controversial.
Read more at Summit County Citizen's Voice

Thanks for reading today! We hope to see you in Crested Butte very soon!

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
433 Sixth Street | Crested Butte | CO | 81224
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