Doom and Gloom is all your hear from the real estate pundants. We are fortunate here in Summit County that so far, we have dodged the sub prime mess. Foreclosures are for intents and purposes non existent.

Summit County is the just the opposite. Our market remains strong and is a classic case for supply and demand. In 2007 there were 409 fewer sales, but the total market value of the transactions was over 1.6 billion or .3% off the record sales of 2006.

In fact, the average price increase for all of Summit County was 18.9%. Silverthorne and Keystone had price increases of 24.9% and 34.86% respectively. Breckenridge led the way with an average price of $651,668 (includes residential and land) up 17.9% from 2006, followed by Frisco at %546,429 up a mere 5.9% increase.

Stay tuned for the July 2008 update.

Housing Sales

Overall housing sales for all of 2006 are down a slight 2.3% (2,809 vs. 2,874 sales). The total dollar sales actually rose to $1,274,412,429 - a considerable 12.8% increase. As a result, the average selling price was able to post higher at $453,689. This is a whopping increase 15.4% increase over the average for 2005. The average price of a single family house climbed more that $100,000 to $785,564 - a 16.4% increase.

We have not seen any reduction in demand. Just the opposite. Any reduction in the number of total sales is due to a lack of listings on the market. Total listings are the lowest since the early 1980’s. This is driving prices higher especially in the condominum market.

Lot Sales

Sales of subdivided lots for the year were comparable with last year (459 vs. 455 sales). The average selling price climbed considerably from $267,196 a year ago to $304,085 (up 13.8%) The total sales volume came in at 139.6 million - an increase of 17.9 million or 14.8% The Upper Blue area (Farmers Corner - Hoosier Pass) including Breckenridge accounted for 62.7% of the total sales.

2006 3rd Quarter Stats

HOUSING SALES

The total number of housing sales year to date is down slightly compared to last year ( -2.4%). Even though sales are down, the overall dollar sales volume through the third quarter grew to $907.7m - up $103.2m or 12.8%. That increase pushed ther overall average selling price from $386,425 a year ago to $446,929 - a considerable 15.7% jump. The average selling price of a single family house county-wide is closely approaching $800,000..

LOT SALES

Sales of subdivided lots through the third quarter came in at 382 - up a modest 3.0% over the same time period last year. The dollar sales volume posted a climb of $18.6m (or 19.3%) over September 2005, reaching $115.2m. The average price of a lot changed from $267,196 for all of 2005 sales to $301,542. The Town of Breckenridge recorded the largest number sales with 130 or 35% of the overall County total.

Vail Resorts has just released some preliminary information regarding the development of Peaks 8 and 7.

Real-estate volume climbs to new highs through mid-year

July 30, 2006

SUMMIT COUNTY - The real-estate market may be cooling off nationally, but over the summer months so far here in the High Country, the home buying market is white-hot.

For the second month in a row, transaction volume - or the total dollar amount recorded for residential real estate sales - measured for the month showed a dramatic increase over the same time period last year.

This past June, real-estate volume was nearly $163 million for the month - a more than 45 percent jump over June 2005. In terms of specific June transactions, the 340 recorded were more than an 11 percent boost over the same month last year.

The sharp June numbers follow a record-setting May as well. Volume for May 2006 was more than $137 million for the month, a 31 percent jump over the more than $112 million in volume logged in May 2005.

Breaking down the June numbers town by town, Breckenridge claimed more than 18 percent of all the transactions for the month, at a volume of almost $32 million. The average Breckenridge transaction price? More than $506,000.

Keystone was second in terms of number of transactions, recording 51. Surprisingly, the average transaction price in Keystone was greater than in booming Breck, at nearly $653,000 per real estate swap.

Silverthorne, however, proved no slouch. That town logged the third- highest number of transactions in July, at 40. But the average transaction price for those 40 deals topped both Breck and Keystone, at an average of more than $679,000.

Even as the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at a steady climb through the first six months of the year, cooling off ridiculously hot real estate markets like Florida, California and New York, Summit County is still reporting record numbers year-to-date. For the first six months of 2006, the county saw more than $681 million in transaction volume.

Compared to the more than $554 million over the first six months of 2005, that’s a jump of more than 22 percent.

Real estate numbers are reported every month by the Land Title Guarantee Company in Breckenridge, and are compiled via actual recorded transactions at the county Clerk and Recorder’s Office. Time share information is not included in the numbers.

By Duffy Hayes — Summit Daily News

Lot Sales

The number of subdivided lot sales is running at the same level as last year - 116 in 2006 compared to 109 during first quarter 2005. The total sales volume of $37.7m way surpassed last year’s $23.9m. This resulted in a 31.9% climb in the average selling price from $246,199 a year ago to $324,782.

Home Sales

The total number of housing sales for the first quarter has declined 3.3% compared to record year 2005. Resales of condominiums are up a slight 3.8%. The total dollar volume climbed $16.6m indicating an increase in the overall average price of housing. The average actually posted in at $425,804 - a 12.8% rise over first quarter last year and 8.3% over all of 2005 sales. The average selling price of a single family has surpassed $1m in Breckenridge, Frisco and the Ten Mile area. However, these averages are not as statistically significant as a full year’s worth of data.

The over all market remains extremely active as the summer selling season approaches. Even with the increase in interest rates, inventory remains tight in many price points and prices are continuing to rise.