Channing Boucher

Happy Holiday Season from Crested Butte!

Outside Magazine's November 2009 edition lists Crested Butte as one of America's top ski resort destinations. Local Murray Wais, executive producer for top ski filmmaker Matchstick Productions, put it in perspective for Outside Magazine: "Crested Butte has the steepest untamed skiing in Colorado, a state known for luxury resorts and groomed runs. Here it's steep and cheap-the lodging is mid-level luxury. We aren't on the giant strip mall that is I-70. Look, there's no better place to ski than Vail if you love groomed runs. But if you think grooming sucks and you're a fun-loving powder skier, Crested Butte is the place for you. It's unique because it's a community. We fight malls, sprawl, and waste. No one wears fur here. There is no Prada or Gucci. The only chain stores are the gas stations."

MURRAY'S HOT LOCAL TIP: "Get up early and head to Camp 4 Coffee: the best Americano in the world. I know-I've been making movies for 16 years and have drunk coffee all over the globe. Have a cup and head to the hill."

A Look Back: 2009 - A Jekyll and Hyde Market

As we head into the new ski season in Crested Butte, it's time for a look at this year's real estate sales results and how our current market stacks up to previous years. 2009's market might be remembered for it's Jekyll and Hyde behavior. From January to May our market stalled out. Sales flat lined. Realtors reported lots of shopping activity but buyers sat on fences...and it felt like nobody was buying anything. Sellers were forced to be patient and some reduced their offer prices significantly to get a property sold.

Then, the market pulled a 180 degree turn and from May to the end of September buyers simply jumped back in and started buying. We experienced a good old fashioned rebound and actually beat 2008 sales results for July through September. And, we witnessed a record breaking, $2 million+ sale for a home in the Town of Crested Butte and a spec home in Mt. Crested Butte fetched almost $3 million.

Feel free to download and share the market information below. These documents were prepared by Benson Sotheby's International Realty. They are in a printable PDF format.

Home Sales - 2009 | Condo Sales - 2009 | Multi-Year Analysis - 2005-2009

Thanks for reading today!

Channing Boucher
Benson Sotheby's International Realty
Local Knowledge Global Reach

Hello from cold and sunny Crested Butte Colorado!

As we head into the 2009-2010 ski season in Crested Butte, it's time for a little market recap and "look back" at this year's sales data and how it compares to previous years. The numbers don't lie.

While we have experienced some record breaking sales for homes in our valley this year it is obvious that the real estate market is depressed. Prices went down and the number of transactions across all categories of our real estate is lower than previous years.

Still, demand exists for our offerings and buyers appear to be taking advantage of lower prices and a huge inventories of homes, condos and vacant land. These documents were prepared by Benson Sotheby's International Realty representatives. They are in a printable, downloadble PDF format.

Home Sales - 2009 | Condo Sales - 2009 | Vacant Land Sales - 2009

Multi-Year Market Analysis - 05-09

Go Here for Complete Crested Butte Real Estate Market Information and Commentary

Thanks for reading today,

Channing Boucher
CrestedButteBroker.com

Good day from snowy Crested Butte!

Denver-based BBC Research and Consulting (their website) just finished a Gunnison/Crested Butte housing needs assessment report and if you've lived here since 2000, the results are not surprising. Our population growth is flat, the number of new vacation homes has climbed significantly and our real estate prices are more expensive.

Home ownership in Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte has become particularly challenging and in Gunnison owning a home is no cake walk either. BBC's rep told the Gunnison County Commissioners last week that "a person who moved to the Gunnison Valley and purchased a home in 2000 would need to make nearly $65,000 more annually in 2009 to afford the same home. If they moved farther north to the Crested Butte area, their income in 2009 would have to be about $150,000 higher than it was in 2000 to afford the same home."

BBC's representative revealed that population growth since 2000 has been "modest, especially relative to other resort communities," averaging about 1 percent annually. Since the 2000 census, the county's population has grown by 7.8 percent but the number of housing units has increased 19.6 percent.

"Seasonal homes have driven the new home construction and the price increase. You can see that since 2000, the county has added more than 1,200 new seasonal homes. Price increases have been extreme in Crested Butte. The median home value has gone up by more than $500,000 since 2000", BBC's rep added. What does this mean? Over 40 percent of homes in Gunnison County are now considered "vacant homes" - they sit empty or are utilized on a seasonal basis only.

According to a resident's survey used in BBC's assessment, most people in our valley are satisfied with their current housing situation - 81% actually. But most folks also recognize the barriers to home ownership are high and it doesn't appear to be getting easier to buy a house in this County in spite of the national real estate downturn and local market price reductions.

What's New In Crested Butte:

The 2009-2010 ski season at Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) begins November 25. (their website)

CBMR has remodeled their notorious on-hill bar/restaurant: The Ice Bar. The Ice Bar restaurant remodel doubles the size of the existing space increasing the capacity to 63 in the dining room, 12-15 in the lounge and 20 at the outside bar. They've also improved their Red Lady Tubing Hill amenity by adding a new surface lift to drag folks up to the top of the tubing lanes. And, the base area's new and popular Adventure Park, complete with year-round ice-skating, bungee trampolines and a climbing wall will remain open throughout the winter months.

Thanks for reading today!

Channing Boucher
Benson Sotheby's International Realty
Local Knowledge Global Reach

View September 2009 Newsletter (HTML)

Happy Fall from Crested Butte!

Supplies of Crested Butte homes and land for sale are as high as they've ever been and in spite of improving demand for area homes and condos and a record breaking home sale, buyers are seeking and getting good deals on our real estate. There are 695 homes and condos for sale and 427 listings for land and ranches for sale from Almont north to Mt. Crested Butte.

After a very slow start to 2009, many sellers faced facts and prices began to fall. By mid-summer, it seemed like a "buy button" was pushed, shoppers became purchasers and our market gained momentum. Of the 98 homes and condos sold so far this year, 60 of these deals occurred after July 1. (There are an additional 30 homes and condos currently under contract.)

By comparison, 2009 is outpacing 2008 in terms of actual sales - 98 home sales vs. 83 last year. The market is behind in volume: $55 million vs. $60 million in 2008. It still takes about the same time to sell a home or condo in Crested Butte. Our current days on the market is 315 days vs. 325 days for 2008.

How much have prices adjusted?

Consider this: Year-to-date, the average residential sales price is $562,000 and the median sales price is $385,000. In 2008, the average residential sales price was $742,000 and the median sales price was $508,000.

After adjusting my eyes and looking at my calculator again, it appears our real estate has seen a 25% drop in prices since 2008. It's true that our market has realized decent high-end sales activity. 16 homes and condos have sold for $900,000 or greater. The highest sale came this week: $2.88 million for a new spec home in Mt. Crested Butte. Crested Butte's highest home sale (the record breaker) was just over $2 million.

But, even the top of the market is seeing pricing declines. Much of the property in our market is selling at 75% to 85% of its original asking price - many as low as 50% - 60%! Crested Butte homes are averaging 75% and Mt. Crested Butte homes are selling at 79% of their original asking price. Mt. Crested Butte condos are closing, on average, at 73% of their original asking price.

Perhaps the best value proposition in Crested Butte real estate today is vacant land. Of the 427 active land listings in our local market, only 15 sales have closed in 2009. Last year at this time, 40 land properties had sold by the end of September. Average and median sales prices for land have dropped dramatically as well. Last year's median sales price for raw land was $300,000. Today it's around $210,000. In 2007, the median sales price for land was $468,000. Might be a good time to start shopping our land offerings.

Thanks for reading today!

Channing Boucher
Benson Sotheby's International Realty
Local Knowledge Global Reach

Good day from Crested Butte!

Mid-summer real estate sales activity in Crested Butte picked up enough to give our market a very important "shot in the arm" confidence booster. We limped into the historically busy summer selling season after a dismal end to 2008 and first half of 2009. Our market was down almost 65% and by the end of May things were looking pretty grim for summertime sales.

But, in July and August we experienced some very impressive buying activity particularly for luxury homes at the higher end of our market. Our market rebounded with July 2009 sales numbers actually doubling (over $13 million) that of July 2008 numbers ($6.3 million). The market is now down about 47% year-to-date compared to 2008. This is a moral victory considering where we were just a few months ago.

At the north end of our valley (Almont to Mt Crested Butte), we've seen 68 homes and condos sell in 2009 with 12 of these properties trading for $900,000 or greater. 3 homes sold for more than $2 million dollars! The most important statistic? We still have 38 more residential properties under contract representing another $25 million in pending sales volume. When these sales are finalized our year-to-date market condition will improve again and get us within 15% of 2008's sales performance. Quite a jump to say the least. Stay tuned.

View Benson Sotheby's Year to Date Market Analysis - PDF

Cool Upcoming Events in Crested Butte:

The Crested Butte Farmer's Market continues Sunday's through September. Be sure to check it out.

Back by popular demand, Djangofest returns to Mt Crested Butte on September 5th.

Vinotok 2009 - Crested Butte's Fall celebration that defies description returns on September 16-19.

Thanks for reading today!

Channing Boucher
Benson Sotheby's International Realty
Local Knowledge Global Reach