i Welcome to beautiful Summit County. With pictures like this, we don't really need to discuss why anyone would want to live here. 7 world class ski resorts, paddling, 14,000 foot mountains, great hiking, biking, jeeping, nightlife and sunrises that look like this make that decision for us. The question then becomes not why we would want to live in Summit County but whether it is a good investment or not; the answer is that all indicators point to it being a fantastic investment and, depending on what affordable is to you, cheap to get into, for now. Here is a graph that shows where Summit County has been in terms of Average residential housing over the last 18 years 
I admit, this may not be the easiest to read (I'm working on it). Basically, there have been very few "blips" in our index (9/11 was one). Our housing market is strong and appears to dodge a lot of the crests and troughs that the rest of Colorado or even the country goes through. Colorado is the fifth most requested destination for U.S. travellers, and there are literally millions of Coloradans in Denver alone who would love to live near their favorite ski resorts. This next chart shows the Summit County market sales over the last three years: 
Again, a little hard to read, but the darkest lines are 2004, the medium ones are 2005 and the white lines are this year. Notice the slump that the market withstood in July and August. There is some debate over the reason for this; most analysts site a lack of inventory because the houses kept appreciating. We just had less of them on the market. For whatever reason, the drop has vindicated itself for September. Our home buyer is smart and is comparing us to other resorts, so this is how we stack up- Average Housing Costs Apsen $1,359,481 Vail $891,494 Steamboat $399,999 Telluride $1,232,622 Summit County $359,826 It sort of makes us look like a bargain and, in fact, we are just getting warmed up. Where we are headed: Summit County ski resorts are predicting their biggest season ever (not super shocking, they do every year) but this year they just may do it. Last year was banner as the state saw more than 12 million skier visits. This pre-season, reservations are already at record levels. Here are some reasons why: Breckenridge is building a gondola (BreckConnect - from the town parking lots to Peak 8) and is opening new terrain (Lake Chutes- 150 acres). It installed the highest lift in North America last year. Arapahoe Basin was the first to open this year, is building a mid-mountain lodge (Black Mountain Lodge - 8000 sq ft) and is opening a backside next year (Montezuma Bowl - 400 acres). Keystone is opening the top of Independence bowl (278 acres). Vail is ranked #1 by SKI Magazine, Beaver Creek is opening new terrain. Copper is hosting the US Freeskiing Open (Jan 17-21), has a new restaurant at the base, and has already started making the Main Vein Superpipe (first superpipe to open in North America last year). Oh, and did I mention that we are coming off the best snow season in 23 years? That helps. Tourism drives our county. The statistic is that for every dollar the state of Colorado puts into tourism, it gets $360 in return. Next year, Colorado has set aside an unprecedented 19 million for tourism advertising. If we are the 5th more requested destination in America, we are, in fact, only the 18th most visited place. The State dollars should close this gap. As the figures show, Summit County is on the rise. These figures are from many sources - Land Title Company, the Rocky Mountain Resort Alliance, the Summit Daily Paper, etc., and many figures are from the local MLS; some figures exclude time shares. But by all accounts the figures are close to similar, and all point toward continued appreciation.  ________________________________________________________________ Want to buy or sell a SnowHome in Summit County? Please visit our website. All the property listings are there. When you live or visit here, you will know "Snow Place Like Home". |
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