Monthly Aspen Snowmass Real Estate Report: Lack of Big Ticket Sales, ABJ

As of May, real estate was lagging in 2012 due to lack of big ticket, $10M plus, property sales

Many real estate agents say the large volume of high-end sales in the first half of 2011 is one of the main reasons for the discrepancy. In the greater Aspen/Snowmass area, a total of four single-family homes sold for more than $10 million from January through May 2012, compared to 12 during the same time period in 2011, according to Coldwell Banker Mason Morse broker Tim Estin. And in both cases, most of the homes sold were built after 2005, Estin wrote in his monthly report. “Proof of new-built developer inventory being depleted,” he wrote. “New, at the new normal, sells.” According to Estin’s statistics, year-to-date dollar volume is down even further in the greater Aspen/Snowmass area (which includes Woody Creek and Old Snowmass)—25 percent—than in Pitkin County as a whole. Drilling down even further, things are best in Snowmass Village, which is less down, at 13 percent, in dollar volume than the other communities. In 2011, real estate sales were all over the map, although in general the numbers surged in the first half of the year and then gradually tapered off during the last six months.

By Catherine Lutz, July 5, 2012 ABJ

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ABJ Monthly Aspen Snowmass Real Estate Report: As of May, real estate lagging due to lack of big ticket sales

ASPEN REAL ESTATE — Although May was the second strongest month so far in 2012 in terms of both dollar volume and number of real estate transactions, both measures are still down year to date compared to same period in 2011, according to Land Title’s May Market Analysis for Pitkin County.

More than $100 million worth of real estate changed hands in Pitkin County in May, a decrease of 21 percent from May 2011, according to Land Title’s report. There were 57 real estate sales throughout the county, which was an increase of nearly 6 percent over May 2011 and the first month this year that the number of sales was up.

Dollar volume was down compared to 2011 in three of the first five months of this year, and overall is lagging behind by 17 percent. The number of transactions is doing marginally better, down 16 percent overall.

Many real estate agents say the large volume of high-end sales in the first half of 2011 is one of the main reasons for the discrepancy. In the greater Aspen/Snowmass area, a total of four single-family homes sold for more than $10 million from January through May 2012, compared to 12 during the same time period in 2011, according to Coldwell Banker Mason Morse broker Tim Estin.

And in both cases, most of the homes sold were built after 2005, Estin wrote in his monthly report. “Proof of new-built developer inventory being depleted,” he wrote. “New, at the new normal, sells.”

According to Estin’s statistics, year-to-date dollar volume is down even further in the greater Aspen/Snowmass area (which includes Woody Creek and Old Snowmass)—25 percent—than in Pitkin County as a whole. Drilling down even further, things are best in Snowmass Village, which is less down, at 13 percent, in dollar volume than the other communities.

In 2011, real estate sales were all over the map, although in general the numbers surged in the first half of the year and then gradually tapered off during the last six months. In Pitkin County, 2011 ended flat, although brokers reported noticeable improvements in some sectors.

In the last six years, May was closest to May 2008 in terms of dollar volume, and closest to May 2011 in terms of number of sales in Pitkin County, according to Land Title.

At $3.8 million, the average single-family home sold price was down 7 percent in Pitkin County as a whole, but varied widely among different valley communities: down 12 percent in both Aspen and Snowmass Village, up 39 percent in Old Snowmass, and down 43 percent in Basalt (likely due to the still large number of bank and short sales in the midvalley).

The median single-family home sold price, which is generally considered a more accurate measure, was up 17 percent over 2011—up 8 percent in Aspen, 38 percent in Snowmass, and 32 percent in Woody Creek—for a Pitkin County median of $2.8 million.

Aspen still makes up the lion’s share of the transactions, with 34 of the 57 May sales, a rise over the previous month in both dollar volume and number of sales. The average sales price in Aspen was $2.4 million, which was also up from April. Twelve fractional units changed hands in May, and there were two sales over $10 million that month.

A mid-June report by BJ Adams and Company broker Andrew Ernemann pointed to the following bright spots in the local market: “Snowmass Village has finally turned the corner,” with sales price and price per square foot up over 2011; a surge in properties under contract in Aspen (35 percent more than 2011) and Snowmass Village (71 percent more); and the stabilization of inventory in the upper Roaring Fork Valley, with the exception of vacant land listings.

May 2012 transactions at a glance
(Source: Land Title Guarantee Company)

PITKIN COUNTY

May dollar volume: $100,619,347
May number of transactions: 57
Decrease from May 2011 (dollar volume): -21%
Increase over May 2011 (transaction volume) 5.6%
Year-to-date dollar volume: $446,503,211 (-17% decrease)
Year-to-date transactions: 270 (-16% decrease)
Bank sales: 3, $1 million
Average single-family home price: $3,803,995 million (down 7% from 2011)
Median single-family home price: $3,275,000 million (up 17%)
May fractional sales: 12 (20% decrease from May 2011)
May fractional dollar volume: $8,157,000 million (21% increase over May 2011)

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