Summit Residential Sales Prices Off To A Strong Start This Winter

As the days in the High Country get longer and the snow on our peaks gets slushier, it's hard to believe Spring Break is winding down and the end of the ski season is on the horizon. The end of winter, however, brings with it the beginnings of ‘selling season’ as we like to call it. As listing and buying interest ticks up among our clients, it feels like a perfect time to take a look back at what the real estate market’s been doing over the last couple of months. 

It might surprise some, but in the first two months of 2024, the Summit market has been clicking right along. The number of sales is up significantly from last winter, and closed volume (the total sales price of all residential properties that have sold) is $35.28M more than last January/February. Both the average and the median sales price is also up year to date in all residential categories. While the data for March is not yet finalized, the average sales price this month is on track to beat March of 2023 by a whopping 30%. Here’s a graphic from our local Title Company of the Rockies with the sales data further broken down for single family homes vs. condos/townhomes/duplexes. 

I don’t have an appealing graphic for it yet, but Northern Park County is also trending up from last year's numbers. Average sales price in Park is up 12.5% this year so far. Sales volume for January and February is up by $12.4M, or 24%, and the average list price to sold price ratio jumped by a very robust 3.6%. Over these two months, there was one more new listing than last year, and four more closings. 

Now, many of you will remember last winter was a bit of a volatile time for the real estate market. Between reworked short-term rental regulations, spiking mortgage rates, and recession fears, uncertainty was swirling at the start of 2023. A year later, consumers have settled into our new normal, and they’ve decided the benefits to purchasing a mountain property continue to outweigh drawbacks like high interest rates or rental restrictions. The general outlook was much less unsettled this winter, so one could argue it’s not hugely telling that the market’s stats are much improved. However, in conversations with our team’s buyers, I’m hearing a lot of creative thinking, willingness to compromise on their original vision, and renewed motivation. Mindsets like that, paired with the low inventory we now consider standard, indicate to me that we’re gearing up for another solid summer in the Summit Area. And if we ever catch those three rate drops the Fed has been dangling like a carrot in front of us, I think we’ll all be off to the races. 

Do you see things differently? Do you like pouring over the data as much as me? If you do, I’d love to hear from you, so message me below or find me hiking Peak 8 or Peak 10 this week at Breck!