As hot as the Aspen-area real estate market was in 2014, it wasn’t the hottest among top Colorado mountain resorts, according to a new report.
Land Title Guarantee Co. examined Pitkin, Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Summit, Routt and San Miguel counties as part of its annual review of ski-country real estate performance. It found that only one area topped Pitkin County in terms of gross sales volume. However, four of the six other resort counties topped Pitkin County in percentage gain in gross sales volume from 2013 to 2014.
Pitkin County — which reflects sales in the Aspen and Snowmass Village areas — was up 22.57 percent in gross sales to $1.52 billion, according to the report.
Sales in Eagle County, which includes Vail and Beaver Creek, hit $1.78 billion, or a growth of 26.86 percent, from 2013, the report said.
Garfield County vaulted 28.82 percent while Grand County, which includes the Winter Park area, was up 29.69 percent. Telluride and other portions of San Miguel County roared back to life last year with an increase in gross sales volume of nearly 50 percent. However, Garfield, Grand and San Miguel counties were far behind Pitkin County in dollar volume, according to Land Title Guarantee Co.’s report. Garfield County sales hit $493.39 million and Grand County was at $377.26 million. San Miguel County sales hit $508.19 million.
Summit County nearly topped $1 billion in sales but its growth was only 8.3 percent from 2013, the report showed. Total sales in Summit County, which includes Breckenridge, Dillon and Frisco, were $962.57 million.
Steamboat Springs and other areas of Routt County saw sales climb 19 percent in 2014 to $598.39 million.
The seven mountain resort counties combined for $6.22 billion in sales. That was up 23.6 percent from $5.05 billion in 2013. Last year’s sales also were the highest amount since 2008, when the level was at $8.88 billion.
However, sales still lag well behind prerecession records: Total sales in the seven counties peaked at $11.22 billion in 2007.
Most other markets had more real estate transactions in 2014, but Pitkin County’s average sales prices were significantly higher. Summit County had 2,042 transactions and Eagle County had 1,802. Pitkin County had 747. That includes all sales, from McMansions to affordable housing. Only San Miguel County had fewer transactions at 526, according to Land Title Guarantee Co.’s report.
Pitkin County’s real estate market featured fewer sales at much higher prices. The average single-family-home price was just more than $4 million in Pitkin County. San Miguel County was a distant second at $1.73 million. Eagle County’s average single-family home price was at $1.24 million.
The price per square foot for single- and multi-family residences was nearly $882 in Pitkin County last year, according to Land Title Guarantee Co. It was followed by San Miguel County at $542 and Eagle County at $328.
The median price for all residential transactions was highest in Pitkin County at $1.29 million. San Miguel County was again second highest at $827,500.
Pitkin County lagged behind the other mountain resorts for the number of new residences. There were 71 sales of residences by developers in Eagle County in 2014 accounting for $206.72 million, according to Land Title Guarantee Co. There were only 13 residences developed in Pitkin County, the report showed, but they accounted for $115.38 million in sales. That was higher than any county except Eagle.
By Scott Condon
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