Blog Archives: December 2008

There are many similarities to the NY and Aspen real estate markets, particularly their lag-time/lead time response to economic fluctuations. Last to feel effects of recession, first to bounce back, a shorter cycle than the rest of the country. So see today’s article in WSJ predicting further deterioration in these… Read More

For the week of 12/21-12/28/08, (3) Aspen properties went under contract. All three sellers highly motivated and this shows buyers will step up if the sellers are real. Here are the properties, price range $875,000 – $6,995,000 There are a number of extremely motivated Aspen sellers. These properties will… Read More

Overview for the month of November, 2008 (Courtesy of Land Title Guarantee Co.,released 12/24/08) • Dollars totaled $64,790,663, down 39.8% from Nov. ‘07 • Transactions totaled 47, down 51.5% from Nov. ‘07 • Year to date dollars are $1,253,716,254, down 46% from last year, same time period… Read More

(These are my summary notes of the 12/17/08 presentation by Randy Gold, President of Aspen Appraisal Group. The complete presentation, text with charts, is available at:… Read More

(1 sold) and (1 under contract) amongst Aspen, SMV and Woody Creek areas: A little activity in the ‘lower end’, Sold: a small 2 bdrm condo in Airport Business Center sold at 16% discount to ask; Under Contract: a Smuggler Area (Park Ave) 2 bdrm/2ba at… Read More

In today’s Aspen Daily News, the front page article alleges an estimated 50-100 Aspen investors, possibly as many Aspenites as Palm Beachers, have been affected by the Madoff/Wall St investment fraud... Excerpt: With their cash evaporated, some local Madoff victims are expected to sell their Aspen homes… Read More

Notes from Aspen Appraisal Group’s presentation, Year End 2008 Market Review: Aspen Lot Sales Lot sales have dropped off precipitously. Characterized by declining sales since 2006, only (17) total sales since then. –    2008: There have been only (5) vacant land sales out of 80 listings in… Read More

Here are my notes on Aspen commercial real estate from an excellent “State of the Aspen Snowmass Market Year End 2008” presentation by Randy Gold, President, Aspen Appraisal Group at Aspen Board of REALTOR’s luncheon on Wed. 12/17/08. I hope to post my notes on his Aspen Snowmass residential part… Read More

Not entirely unexpected, there’s strong evidence of Aspen – Madoff connections and by this morning, Tues 12/16, two property owners have greatly reduced the prices of their properties because of investment ties to the Wall St fraudster. Unfortunately, I believe there will be a number of Madoff related new listings… Read More

Vail, Colorado. On a December afternoon, skiers zip down the slopes of this high-end Colorado ski resort, blissfully unaware of the country’s woes as they maneuver tricky mogul fields and shush the snowy bowls. Not far away, six massive cranes and dozens of construction workers were… Read More

This is the Real Estate News Feeds Section. The RSS feeds are: WSJ, The Wealth Report by Robert Franks, WSJ Second Homes, NYT Real Estate/Vacation Homes, WSJ Buying & Selling Real Estate, WSJ Developments and WSJ The Intelligent Investor amongst others to be determined. The idea here is to… Read More