Resort Community 2021 Market Wrap-Up
Resort communities continue to see jaw-dropping pricing driven by continued demand and historically low inventory. Even with incredibly low inventory, resort properties all seem to have a price at which cash buyers can get in. Not surprising, cash sale transactions significantly outnumbered those with loans. The start of 2022 is indicating continued high demand with prices escalating further. From the Land Title side, we continue to see orders despite incredibly low inventory. It will be interesting to watch what happens with world events and global economies in terms of the impact on second home purchases.
A standout for 2021 is the Crested Butte/Gunnison market. Rising prices continue to threaten its status as an affordable resort location to purchase. Gunnison County saw a 24% increase in the number of transactions as compared to 2020 and saw more than $1B in gross sales volume.
Another standout is Eagle County. Eagle County set an all-time record in 2021 with $4,282,364,721 in total dollar volume with 2,795 sales, which surpassed the previous record from 2020 by nearly $800M. The overall average price of real estate reached a staggering $1,551,966 and a median price of $825,000.
Affordable housing continues to be an ongoing issue in every resort community. Local residents and staffing resources have been squeezed out at a much higher rate during the past two years and this trend seems to be continuing into 2022. These residents are either leaving resort areas completely, creating even more pressure on hiring resources, or relocating to a nearby non-resort community, which further exacerbates housing demands plus delivers new commuter challenges. A good example of this is living in Silt and commuting back and forth from Aspen – not an easy commute given that the distance is 60 miles.