Of course what constitutes a “bargain” is very subjective but one metric is the valuation placed on the property by the County Assessor’s office.  While not perfect, the homeowners desire to keep his taxes low through a challenge generally keeps these valuations in line.  I now have a proprietary algorithm  that compares all properties currently on the market against their tax valuations.  The results can be filtered and sorted to identify the best bargains that meet your specific criteria.  Of the 1,500 residential properties currently on the market in Summit County, about 15% are priced below their assessed values—some as much as 50% below.  Now the methodology is not perfect as assessed values do tend to lag market trends and won’t reflect more recent changes in property conditions but our method can get you off to a good start in narrowing prospective purchases.  Contact me to have a proprietary search performed using your criteria.

For the year, average selling prices slipped in all categories.   Single family home prices dropped to $734,262, down 4.7% from 2011 while the multi-family price dropped 14%  to $367,280.  Vacant land faired the worse with the average price down 26.8% to $246,478.  Contributing to the declines was the decided shift toward the lower end of the market.  For the year, 74.2 % of the residential transactions were for less than $600,000.  Less than 10% were over $1 million.

While the magnitudes and trends varied based on type of property, in general the south end of the county (Breckenridge Blue River et al) held up better than Frisco, Silverthorne and Dillon.

December Summit County real estate transactions

Summit County October Real Estate Statistics

October sales in Summit County followed what has become an all too common pattern – an increase in transaction volume but a decline in dollar sales. For the month, the number of transactions rose 5% year-over-year to 161 and were up slightly from 160 transactions in September. Dollar volume, however, dropped to $67.8 million, a 15% decline from both the $79.8 million of a year ago and similar total for September, 2011. The dichotomy in performance between the numbers and the dollars reflects two factors. First, prices continue to be under pressure as inventory, both real and shadow, is still historically high while buyers remain wary. Of even greater impact is the shift in demand toward the lower end of the market. In October 81.6% of the transactions were for less than $600,000 and only 5.1% exceeded $1 million. For the year-to-date, 74.2% of transactions were below $600,000 and 10% were above $1 million.

In my mind, predicting that values will never go up again is just as naïve as the predictions that they would never fall. Sure there will be variability, but the long term trend has been and is likely to remain upward.

That said, I can’t disagree with the articles point that buying for high personal use is the best deal. That is the case for many of the same reasons that owning rather than renting your primary residence is attractive. First, you build equity. Even without a rising price value you will build equity versus spending on hotels or condo rentals. Second, it’s personal. It’s your furniture, your decorations, your clothes in the closets. No need to lug tons of luggage every time you visit. Third is familiarity and relationships. Sure it is nice to see different places but it sure is convenient to know where everything is and see people you know. Finally, there is the pride of ownership. Owning your own ski retreat has an element of prestige. It also will make you high on your friends and families popularity list.

Bottom line – owning a ski property is great for those that intend to use it frequently and it could turn out to be a rewarding investment as well.