Steamboat Market

Stan Urban, with Land Title, came out with his final numbers for 2012, and they show continued improvement in the Steamboat real estate market.  Gross sales were up 7.4% from 2011. 

December 2012 was the strongest sales month of the year, with $73m in sales; up 56% from those seen in 2011.  This strong showing in December was impacted by the sell-off activity at Trailhead Lodge and Wildhorse Meadows, all categorized as bank sales. 

Land sales continue to show weakness, down 21% for the year.  As existing inventories of single-family homes start to decline, we should see improvement in ...

Gross dollar volumes of real estate sales in Routt County are slightly higher than those seen in 2011.  As of the end of October 2012, total sales are at $377,806,750.  This compares to a YTD gross volume of $362,827,800 seen in 2011.  This represents an increase of 4.13% over last year.

It seems that we are on track to meet similar year-end sales levels that have remained fairly consistent since the market crashed in the last quarter of 2008.

Finally good news on the real estate front!  We are seeing very strong indicators for an improved real estate market here in Steamboat for 2012.  This has been especially evident in sales for properties priced below $400k.   Over 140 properties have either gone under contract or have sold in this price range since the beginning of the year.  This compares to only 63 for this time frame in 2011.  What we’re seeing is a reduction of inventory in this price range, and this has resulted in a shift from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market for ...

Year-end numbers for 2011 show that real estate sales for Steamboat and Routt County were down slightly from 2010.  The year-end gross sales volume was $450m, which shows a decline of 12% from last year.  Overall, residential sales transactions were higher in 2011 with 619 transactions, as compared to 485 in 2010.  Higher priced transactions remain relatively flat in 2011; with 40 transactions over $1.5m in 2011, as compared to 38 transactions in 2010.

Bank sales are still a strong force in the market.  We saw 155 sales of bank-owned property in 2011, as compared to just 72 in ...

October showed an overall decline in both sales volume and the number of transactions here in the Steamboat market.  For 2011, year-to-date sales continue to lag the numbers we saw in 2010, with a 16% reduction in sales volume.  Most of this difference has been seen in the drastic reduction in fractional sales (time-shares).  Residential sales continue to be strong and sales prices are trending higher.  Bank sales seem to be trending down; however, this might be the result of slower processing of foreclosures by large banks.

A recent search of homes priced over $1 million in Steamboat Springs and the surrounding area, shows that 88 homes have sold, or are under contract, in the past twelve month period.   The highest price paid was $5.3m for a 4855 square foot home in Storm Mountain Ranch.  This sale also showed the highest price on a per square foot basis at $1092 p/sf.

High-end buyers have taken advantage of the significant price reductions we have seen over the past few years.  It’s still a buyer’s market with 251 residential properties currently available over $1m.

Routt County's July real estate sales data showed a significant drop in the dollar volume of sales, as well as in the number of transactions.  The dollar sales volume was the lowest in at least eight years.  Many brokers attribute this drop to difficult spring weather conditions (July closings usually go under contract in May and June) and a continuing reluctance of lenders to loan on second homes.  Consequently there is an increasing number of buyers paying cash for homes.

Here are highlights from Land Title’s Steamboat market report.

·         We are half way through 2011, and the market seems to be stabilizing, with an uptick in gross sales volume for the past two months.

·         There were 15 bank-owned sales during the month of June.  This accounts for 7.08% of the overall gross sales volume for June.  On an annual basis, there have been 78 bank-owned sales for 2011, which represents 10.07% of the overall sales volume for 2011.

·         The area around the ski mountain continues to have strong sales, with 31 transactions in June.  The average price ...

Keith Marlow, the Ownership Director at One Steamboat Place, has informed the real estate community that they have successfully completed a several-year restructure of their debt on the remaining residential inventory.  Along with this announcement, OSP has announced new prices for their condos, now starting as low as $677 per square foot for a whole ownership condo.  One Steamboat Place is one of Steamboat's premier ski-in/ski-out developments with high-end finishes and extensive amenities.

As reported by Tom Ross, at the Steamboat Pilot and Today, Bank of America has started foreclosure proceedings on Trailhead Lodge at Wildhorse Meadows, by filing a NED (Notice of Election and Demand).  The developers at Trailhead Lodge owe $41.7m on the project, with 57 unsold condominiums, out of the original 84 units that were offered.  The developers have sold 27 units and one commercial unit.  This debt does not emcumber other phases of the Wildhorse Meadows project, including the Wildhorse Marketplace, First Tracks, The Range, or operation of the gondola that provides access to the ski area from ...