What Happened in the Aspen Snowmass Real Estate Market this Summer
Happy Friday! It’s another beautiful day in Aspen. This has been one of the nicest weeks of summer. September is always one of my favorite times of the year in our valley. The colors are starting to change in the high country; they should be peaking in the next two weeks. It’s a great time to be in the mountains. The trails are empty and there’s till lots of fun activities taking place this month. Get ready for Tough Mudder in Snowmass Village this weekend. The weather looks perfect for a fun weekend ahead.
I wanted to take a look at the August real estate numbers in the Upper Roaring Fork Valley and provide you with the latest analysis of what’s happening in our market this summer. Overall we’re ahead of where we were last year at this time. $617,634,902 closed in Aspen through August 31, 2015, compared to $538,477,092 through August 31, 2014, a $79,157,810 increase in total dollar volume. In Snowmass $150,428,400 closed through August 2015, compared to $115,294,217 through August 2014, a $35,134,183 increase. In Basalt sold volume is almost twice as much this year as it was last year, $94,334,895 in 2015 versus $52,034,540 in 2014. Dollar volume is up across the board in the Upper Roaring Fork Valley in 2015!
The number of transactions for all property types increased from 153 through August 2014 in Aspen versus 170 in 2015 for the same time period. In Snowmass the number of transactions were slightly down from 93 in 2014 to 85 in 2015. Basalt was way up with 75 transactions in 2014 versus 120 in 2015 through August 31, 2015. Even with a slight dip in Snowmass Village, the number of transactions is also up in the Upper Roaring Fork Valley in 2015!
Average sold price per sq. ft of all property types in Aspen is up $109 in 2015 from $1,148 to $1,257. In Snowmass price per sq. ft. of all property types increased from $653 to $740 a sq. ft., an $87 a sq. ft. increase. Average sold price per sq. ft. in Basalt of all property types through August 31, 2014 was $332, compared to $305 in 2015, a decrease of $27 a sq. ft. Despite a dip in Basalt’s price per sq. ft. in 2015 average sold price per sq. ft. of all property types in the Upper Roaring Fork Valley is also up in 2015!
Inventory of all property types is pretty flat in Aspen, Snowmass and Basalt. There are currently 360 active listings in Aspen as of August 31, 2015 compared to 354 for the same time period in 2014. There are 258 active listings today versus 240 in Snowmass Village, and 147 today versus 140 in Basalt. Not a big change in terms of inventory in the Upper Valley.
Looking at the pending sales for August there were 42 sales pending in Aspen in August 2015 compared to 77 in August 2014. About the same in Snowmass Village with 18 this year and 17 last year, and 93 today versus 119 in 2014 in Basalt. The difference in dollar volume of pending sales is significantly different and the one negative aspect of my report. There was $246,398,650 pending as of August 31, 2015 compared to $438,609,400 last year in Aspen, Snowmass and Basalt. In Aspen alone $187,350,000 was pending as of August 31 2015 versus $377,986,500 last year at the same time. It’s the same story in Snowmass with $29,860,900 this year and $41,515,000 last year. Basalt is the only segment where pending sales volume is up, $29,187,750 this year versus $19,107,900 last year. What this tells me is that fall closings and the fourth quarter 2015 are going to be way off of last year’s numbers. In 2014 we had a huge fourth quarter of closings; most likely that’s not going to be the case in 2015.
The weather is beautiful this month in our valley with a mostly high-pressure system in the weeks ahead. The weekends are packed in town with Tough Mudder, Ruggerfest, Balloon Festival, Golden Leaf and visitors enjoying the spectacular fall colors. I anticipate lots of weekend showing activity ahead and more contracts the next month, but I don’t’ think it will be enough to close the gap of pending sales volume and finish ahead of last years total sales numbers. I will keep you posted on activity with my weekly blog posts, bi-weekly newsletters, and in-depth quarterly sales reports. Please call or email anytime with questions. I’m here all off-season and ready to help you. Enjoy this magical time of the year.
Chris Klug