The Great Urban Exodus: Colorado Resort Towns Flood with Second Home Buyers, Burst in School Enrollment

Aspen Sothebys real estate broker Tim Estin calls it “The Great Urban Exodus.”

“This event is a trigger for buying. People who have been on the fence are buying. People who have been spending time here for years are moving into bigger properties,” said Estin, noting that the high-end rental market also is exploding as visitors prolong their summer vacation into fall and winter…

The recent surge of activity reminds Estin of that 2007 boom. New listings are coming on the market with exceptionally high prices and buyers are scooping them up. He’s sold some properties to out-of-state buyers who aren’t even visiting the home in person. In the first two weeks of July, 111 homes went under contract in the Aspen area. That compares with 46 in the first two weeks of July 2019, Estin said.

But Estin feels something different about this boom. Buyers aren’t parking money as an investment. They are buying homes they plan to move into — and not just for vacations.

“Everything is going wild right now. People are wanting to get out of the density of the urban environment and they are wanting physical space and safety,” Estin said. “There’s is high uncertainty and insecurity and there is something of a sentiment like, ‘If the whole world crashes and this COVID 19 gets worse and worse, I’d rather be in Aspen than New York City or Chicago or Miami or Dallas or Houston.’”

July 27, 2020 Colorado Sun article