ASPEN AREA REAL ESTATE
MARKET ACTIVITY REPORTS

These market reports are brought to you as a special courtesy from Peter Kelley
For more information and to
Buy, Sell, or Rent ANY ASPEN AREA PROPERTY,
please call Peter Kelley at (970) 379-4511

February 2008 Market Report

January 2008 Market Report

November 2007 Market Report

View Chart Showing Numbers for August 2007

View Chart Showing Numbers for Years 2003 Through 2006

May 2007
Roaring Fork Real Estate Still Going Strong

Last April we reported the local real estate market much brighter than the national market. Stating the following: “A survey by The National Association of Realtors shows strength for vacation home market. As mentioned in last months article Baby Boomers are middle aged and are propelling the second home market. The survey showed “Boomers believe in diversifying their assets, and most second-home owners see their purchase as being a better investment than stocks. A surprising majority of survey respondents hold multiple properties, and they are interested in purchasing additional homes.” “About 60% of respondents own two or more homes in addition to their primary residence.”“

Some other interesting results from the survey are: half of vacation homes are located in resort or recreational areas, and since 2003, two-thirds purchased through a real estate agent. Eighteen percent purchased directly from owners, and fourteen percent bought directly from builders.”

Today the market is much the same only we are way ahead of where we were last year setting ourselves even further apart from the national trend.

Pitkin County

Pitkin County begins the 2nd quarter 2007 just shy of where we were last year. Dollar volume sees a slight decline, 4% behind April of last year, reporting $199.6 million. However, the number of transactions increased slightly 3.5% with 148 compared to last April which reported 143. Interval transactions of 28 represented a 49 % decrease over last year.

Garfield County

Garfield County real estate is continuing to defy the trends of the rest of the country, reporting a dollar volume increase over last April of 47%. Total dollar volume was at $98.4 million compared to $66.9 million in 2006. Garfield County also showed an increase in number of transactions with a total of 244 over last years 211 a 15.6% increase.

Comparing year-to-date numbers to the previous year we are showing a 35.4% increase in volume, $337 million to $249 million as of April 2006. As well we are at an 18.7% year-to-date increase in transactions with 856 compared to 721 as of this same time last year.

Report from Land Title Guarantee Company
www.ltgc.com

March 2007
Is Inventory Increasing Nationally? Maybe, But Not In This Valley.

According to the Wall Street Journal, and data compiled by ZipRealty Inc., the number of homes for sale in 18 of our major metropolitan areas increased 6.5% in March over the previous month this year. The biggest inventory increases were in the metro areas of Los Angeles (12.8%), San Francisco (12.2%) and Washington, D.C. (9.4%). This 6.5% increase is a much larger jump than the modest average increase of 1.7% we have seen over the last 22 years, according to Credit Suisse Group.

Are homeowners confident that they can sell their homes and are we starting to see the national market turn around? Don’t get too excited. Typically the supply starts to increase slightly in March, the start of spring, when many families seek new homes so they can move during summer vacations. However, it is likely that this early rise is stemming from the realization that it will take much longer to find buyers than it has in the past and homeowners are selling before prices deteriorate.

This rise in inventory has caused prices to level out or even drop slightly which will likely cause the national median existing home price to drop slightly to a predicted $220,300 in 2007. Locally it is a whole different story, inventory is certainly not increasing nor are prices dropping. According to the local MLS the upper Roaring Fork Valley (Aspen to Basalt) has a total of 662 residential units listed as available, 309 of which are listed under $1 million and only 10 of these are single family units.

Down Valley the story is much the same. From Carbondale to Rifle there are only a total of 286 residential units listed available. Only half of which are under ½ million dollars.

Pitkin County, Colorado (including Aspen)

Pitkin County continues 2007 on an upward swing. Dollar volume sees a double digit increase again this month, 36.5%, over March last year, reporting $314 million. However, the number of transactions declined again 37% with 101 compared to last February which reported 162. Interval transactions of 25 represented a 60% decrease over last year.

Garfield County

Garfield County again followed in Pitkin’s footsteps reporting a dollar volume increase over last March of 6%. Total dollar volume was at $93.1 million compared to $87.8 million in 2006. Garfield County unlike Pitkin did show an increase in number of transactions, although slight, with a total of 237 over last years 227.

Kind Regards,

Martha Brooks
Director of Marketing
Land Title Guarantee Company
1317 Grand Avenue, Suite 200
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601

February 2007
Pitkin and Garfield Counties Continue Upward Swing

March should continue the record breaking with the closing and recording of Snowmass Base Village -- we are almost guaranteed dollar volume of more than 230 million for the month, another record. This valley is different.

Pitkin County (Aspen) continues 2007 on an upward swing. Dollar volume hits a double digit increase, 59%, over February last year, reporting $192.6 million. However, the number of transactions declined for the second month in a row by 20% with 91 compared to last February which reported 115. Interval transactions of 23 represented a 62% decrease over last year.

Garfield County (Carbondale, Basalt) again followed in Pitkin’s footsteps reporting a dollar volume increase over last February of 30.3%. Total dollar volume was at $53.8 million compared to $41 million in 2006. Garfield County unlike Pitkin did show an increase in number of transactions as well with a total of 138 over last years 125.

Report from Land Title Guarantee Company
www.ltgc.com

Autumn 2006
Aspen Real Estate Continues 13 Year High

According to the National Association of Realtor’s (NAR) president Thomas Stevens the number of houses on the national market is at a 13 year high. This coupled with an unexpected decline in mortgage interest rates that are hovering at 6.3% for a 30 year fixed rate has created unique opportunities for prospective buyers. While this oversupply is the national trend, here in the Roaring Fork Valley we continue to see an inventory shortage.

Average home prices remain strong in both Pitkin and Garfield Counties, once again going against national trends. Pitkin County continues to see a high average sales price of $1.4 million for September and $1.3 million year-to-date. Garfield County, while not as high as Pitkin, reports an average for the month of September in the low $300’s and Year-to-date average of $339,000, both counties above the national median.

Nationally the average home price fell for the fifth consecutive month to $225,000, according to the National Association of Realtors. This decline in home prices comes as the sales pace begins to pick up for the second month in a row after a three month decline, this probably due to the lower interest rates and perceived value of lower priced homes.

So whether buyers take advantage of these unique set of circumstance and if nationally the market will in fact correct is yet to be seen. In the meantime real estate in the Roaring Fork valley continues down its own path.

Pitkin County

Dollar volume decrease of 26% from $313 million in 2005 to $231 million in 2006 is the first decline we have seen in the last four months. The number of transactions in Pitkin County declined as well for the month of September. Transactions of 163 in 2006 compared to 188 in 2005 represent a 13% decrease. Interval transactions of 45 represent a 10% increase over last Septembers 41 transactions, and dollar volume for intervals was down 23% from $25.6 million in 2005 to $19.7 million in 2006.

Garfield County

Garfield County also saw a slight decrease in the month of September. Dollar volume was down 7% from $98 million in 2005 to $91 million in 2006. Transactions were up by 9% (26 transactions) to 292 compared to 266 in 2005. Year to date dollar volume when compared to 2003 shows a staggering 117% increase. In three years total dollar volume has gone from $333 million in 2003 to $725 million in 2006.

With six months in the books both Pitkin and Garfield counties are looking great! Although the lack of inventory challenges continue, and will continue to be a challenge especially in the upper valley, sales are happening and at a faster pace than last year. This can be attributed to many things, two of which are, the increase in the availability of timeshare properties, and a strong desire to live/vacation in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Not only do people want to live/vacation in the Roaring Fork Valley, but buyers from around the world continue to view the valley as a great place to invest. Additionally, as the national economy remains strong and interest rates rise, the purchasing power of the middle-income buyers may be reduced, however, the market for the affluent buyer will remain strong.

Pitkin County’s bump in the road was just that, a bump! June Dollar Volume increased an incredible 65% over the same period last year, this did include one transaction of $48.5 million but even with that taken out dollar volume would still be up 43% over June last year. Transactions in June of 173 were 10% higher than last June’s 157 transactions.

For the first half of the year Pitkin County dollar volume of $1.25 billion is 17% higher than the same period in 2005 and is more than the entire year of 2003. Transactions of 995 represents more than a 14% increase over the first six months of last year.

Garfield County real estate is still strong! Although Dollar Volume of $89.1 Million represented a slight decrease of less than 1% over the same period in 2005. Transactions of 267 represent a slight increase of 5.53% over June of 2005.

Like Pitkin County, Garfield County has had an incredible first half of the year. Dollar volume of $433 million represents a 21% increase for the first half of last year. Furthermore, dollar volume for the first six months of 2006 is only $5.7 million less than the entire year of 2003. Transactions for the first six months of 1,245 represent an increase of almost 7% over the same period from last year.

Mark Pisani
Director of Marketing
Land Title Guarantee Company
533 E. Hopkins #102
Aspen, CO 81611
Office 970-925-1678
www.ltgc.com

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