Ski In Ski Out Breckenridge Vacation Homes

A-Basin, considered a  Breckenridge Home mountain, has announced plans for it’s new high speed quad chairlift.  Long considered a favorite of those who live here and invest in Breckenridge Real Estate, Arapahoe Basin is going to name the new chair the name that was suggested by one of it’s snow making employees, Black Mountain Express.  The Black Mountain Express will replace the current (and slow) Exhibition Chair lift.  The chair will not ascent Black Mountain, but will have views of the expert back-country terrain.  Black Mountain contains some steep and challenging chutes.

The new chair will be about twice as fast as the current Exhibition lift, which is inherently slow because it is a fixed chair.  The total time it will take to rise the almost 3000 vertical feet will be about 2 minutes and 50 seconds.  The chair will be erected at the end of the 2010 spring season, in June 2010.  Now if they would only install a detachable Quad in Montezuma bowl, we could take full advantage of everything A-Basin has to offer without the long lift lines that bottle neck in the amazing terrain of that bowl.

Contact Summit Mountain Home for more information on Mountain Town happenings or investment in Summit County Real Estate.

Summit Mountain Home for Breckenridge Homes

A Breckenridge Home is going to be sold at an auction that will be conducted on a national level and possibly even internationally, as it is possible to bid on this home through the internet.  The Breckenridge Home, located at the Breckenridge Golf Club (near the Highlands Subdivision) area of Summit County Real Estate, is being auctioned by Sheldon Good and Company.  The actual address of the home is 65 The North Road.  The opening bid suggested for this home is $150,000.00 and it is located on the 2nd hole of the Breckenridge Golf Course and located in the Stonehaven Subdivision.  A certified check or cashiers check in the amount of $24,000 is required to bid.  You can inspect this home every Tuesday and Saturday from 2pm – 5pm.  The home has 2,259 square feet.  The Breckenridge Home is one of seven residences that will be auctioned off.  The residences are spread throughout the United States.  The auction will take place on March 19.  This one day auction will have no restrictions on pricing and will be sold absolute.  With a sale absolute, the transaction takes place even if the price is below market value.  This is part of a Chapter 7 liquidation that we came upon when searching for Breckenridge Foreclosures. We are Summit Mountain Home are continually looking for Investment Opportunities in the Breckenridge Real Estate Market.  The other homes that are being auctioned off are located in Vacation Communities in Florida, New York and California.  Prices originally paid for the properties will range from 700k to over one million.  The physical address and time of the auction will be Denver Marriot City Center at 1701 California Street in Downtown Denver, Colorado.  The bidding will take place at 1pm MST.  In addition, you may bid on the internet through Proxibid.  For more information in this investment opportunity you can contact Summit Mountain Home.

Breakdown of Breckenridge Home Sales in Summit County and Surrounding Counties

The Breckenridge Homes and Summit County Real Estate Market took a hit in 2009.  That hit was similar to the surrounding counties in the high country of Colorado.  However, a few very large transactions took a bit of bite out of the blow that saw transactions decrease by 32 percent over 2008.  The transaction that carried the Breckenridge Real Estate Market was the record 8.3 million dollar home that sold recently.  Another large transaction that carried the over numbers in Summit County was the 107 million dollar sale of Copper Mountain.

As far as large transactions go, they were down in Summit County for 2009.  When comparing recent years for transactions that were over one million dollars, 2009, 2008 and 2007 saw the following totals: 136, 177 and 208 respectively.  However, there were more very big transactions.  In 2009, the county had eight transactions over 3 million dollars, which is more than the two preceding years put together.

Despite the number of transactions being down for the year, the large transactions raised the bar with regards to average home price.  The average home price of a single family home sold in Summit County during 2009 was just over 900K, compared to just over 830k in 2008.

The surrounding high country ski counties, of Eagle and Garfield, had a much tougher time in 2009 than Summit County did.  Eagle County, home of Vail and Beaver Creek Ski Resorts, was down 60 percent volume wise when compared to 2008.  And in addition, 2009 was the first time in 14 years that the total volume of real estate transactions fell below one billion dollars.  Garfield County was down almost 70 percent in total dollars volume sold and 60 percent in number of transactions.

Pitkin County, home of the famed Aspen Ski Resort and Snowmass, was not as affected as Summit, Garfield and Eagle.  Pitkin was only down 21 percent.  However, Pitkin was hit harder in previous years, so they were starting from a lower base starting point for the year.

Finally, let’s take a look at the median transaction.  The median transaction for the counties of Pitkin, Eagle, Summit and Garfield were as follows:  $714,000, 503,000, 396,000 and 299,000 respectively.

A trend to note in Summit County Real Estate is the abundance of cash transactions.  Investors in Breckenridge Real Estate that have been sitting on the sidelines have been using their cash to leverage lower purchase prices.

For more information on investing in Breckenridge Real Estate, contact Summit Mountain Home, your local specialist in Breckenridge Foreclosures.  You can contact us at 970-409-9145 or click here.

Lithuania Champion of Breckenridge Snow Sculpture Contest.

The 20th Annual Breckenridge International Snow Sculpture Championships have been completed.  Breckenridge Home Owners and those investing in Breckenridge Real  Estate have been enjoying this annual display of frozen artistry for the past two decades.  The contest is know internationally as a prestigious event.  And the Champion of this prestigious International Competition is Lithuania, who took the Gold Medal for their sculpture which depicted the Victory signal and was supposed to have spoken as to the fragile nature of victory and how fleeting that moment can be.

The Silver Medal was won by Team Canada.  The Canadian Team, which hailed from Ontario had an elaborate sculpture known as “Memories from My Youth”.  One side of the sculpture was of a beautiful Japanese woman.  The other side was a depiction of her memories

of her childhood which included a bridge over a brook, pagoda and magnificent gardens.

The third place team was Team Mexico.  They were awarded the Bronze Medal for a sculpture that detailed Quetzalcoati.  Quetzalcoati is the Mexican depiction of the God of Life and Death.

The images of the second and third place sculptures are shown below.

2nd Place Sculpture in Breckenridge Home area

For more information on Artistic Events in Breckenridge or Breckenridge Real Estate, contact Summit Mountain Home, the local leader in information on Breckenridge Foreclosures.  You can contact us at 970-409-9145 or click here.   Contact us for all of your Breckenridge and Summit County Real Estate needs.

Mardi Gras Breckenridge

Mardi Gras in the Mountains will take place in Breckenridge starting on Saturday February 13, 2010 and going until Fat Tuesday.  Those of us who own a Breckenridge Home are familiar with the world-renowned party atmosphere of Breckenridge.  That is one of the reasons we decided to buy Breckenridge Real Estate in the first place.  The following schedule of events has been given to you by Summit Mountain Home.  You can call us at 970-409-9145.

Saturday at the Beaver Run Resort from 6 to 10 PM is the Bacchus Ball featuring live music with Tiny Barge and the Big Chill.  Dress is Summit County formal which basically means anything from your formal best to your snowboard clothes.  It is up to you.  Cost is $40 per person or $75 per couple.  There will be the crowing of the King and Queen and masks and beads will be available for purchase.  The cost of admission includes a cajun style buffet and cash bar.

Monday at the Riverwalk Center will be at concert with the Inner City All Starts at 4:30pm.  Tickets for the Old School Funk and New Orleans Jazz Band are $5 at the door.  A portion of the tickets sales will benefit Wounded Warriors Family Ski Weekend in April.

Fat Tuesday will feature the Main Street Breckenridge Mardi Gras Parade.  It will take place at 4:30 pm.  ( I am surprised that the town did not decide to have it start at 4:20, which would be most appropriate for this little Amsterdam-like Hamlet.)  The parade starts at the south end of Main Street and heads north.

Mountain Complex as Breckenridge Home

The question on the mind of those who invest and own in Breckenridge Homes is has this Breckenridge Real Estate Market bottomed out yet?  The past two years have seen major price corrections in the form of dropping prices and diminishing levels of transactions.  There are mixed feelings amongst local experts as to whether we have hit bottom yet or not.  Some feel that we have seen the bottom while others feel that we are close but not quite there yet.  It seems that in general, the homes that are selling are the ones that have seen a big decrease in price.

We at Summit Mountain Home are here to help the investor in the Breckenridge Real Estate Market.  We do not feel it necessary to try and time the exact bottom of the price curve.  There is the chance that prices might drop slightly, but the majority of the corrections have already taken place.  It is similar to buying stock.  You can’t try to time the exact bottom.  Instead, you look at the long term value of a stock and if major corrections have taken place, then you buy, even if further slight downward corrections are possible.  You buy with a view to the long term and a belief in the underlying value of that stock over the long term.

The same goes for an investment in Breckenridge Real Estate.  You buy on the downward curve so you don’t miss it.  It is a better opportunity than buying on the upswing.  If you would like information on investing in Breckenridge Real Estate, contact Summit Mountain Home at 970-409-9145.

One trend that we are seeing is those with large sums of available cash coming into Breckenridge and using cash as leverage to lower prices.

The Town of Breckenridge is looking forward to real estates sales picking back up.  Breckenridge charges a 1% Real Estate Transfer Tax and that has dropped significantly over the past three years, leaving the town with less revenue.  The Breckenridge Real Estate Transfer Taxes collected are as follows: 2009 $2,860,000 2008: $3,730,000 2007: $5,680,000.

Activity is down as well as far as transactions in Summit County Real Estate go.  2005 and 2006 were right around 2500 transactions.  2007 dropped to 2100 transactions.  2008 was about half of 2007.  2009 saw under 1000 transactions.  These transaction figures cover all residential real estate in Summit County and do not include time shares, for sale by owner or commercial property.

Finally, let’s look at prices in Breckenridge Real Estate.  Prices are back down to approximately August of 2006 levels.  In our eyes, that makes this a good time to buy.  A lot of potential buyers have been sitting on the side lines and waiting this out.  Once they feel the bottom has happened there is going to be some fast and furious forward momentum that will drive activity and prices back up.

This record sale of a single Breckenridge Home breaks the previous record of around 5 million dollars.  That is an increase in the record of 2.7 million dollars.  Both were ski-in, ski-out homes in the same Breckenridge neighborhood.  The neighborhood is the Timber Trail subdivision, which is located off of Trygve’s Run on the Breckenridge Ski slopes.

The record-setting home is just over 6500 square feet and has 7 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, a great room, library, media room, 3 garages, 4 fireplaces, thousand of square feet of heated patios, hot tub and built-in grill.  With views of the Breckenridge Ski Area, it is an awesome home for entertaining friends and family.  The home also comes with access to the pool and fitness center near by.

The home was purchased for cash at a cost of almost 1300 per square foot.  The owners, Ty and Kimberly Pennington bought the 8.28 million dollar home with cash.

The market for homes in the over 2 million dollar range is expanding.  In 2009, the number of Breckenridge  real estate sales that closed for over $2 million increased  from 21 to 23 homes over 2008. And surprisingly, most of these high price tag homes sold for prices close to the retail price.  Most of them were within 10 percent of the asking price.

In summary, the Breckenridge Real Estate market is still strong, at least in this price range.  Two factors that lead to the sale of Breckenridge Homes are continued interest in having a home in a ski town and the realization that the current stock market is shaky at best, so an investment in Breckenridge Real Estate is much more stable.

]]> http://www.summitmountainhome.com/realestateblog/2010/01/30/breckenridge-home-sets-record-high-for-breckenridge-real-estate-sales-price/feed/ 0 http://www.summitmountainhome.com/realestateblog/2010/01/14/why-own-breckenridge-real-estate-because-it-is-one-of-the-top-places-in-the-world-to-visit/ http://www.summitmountainhome.com/realestateblog/2010/01/14/why-own-breckenridge-real-estate-because-it-is-one-of-the-top-places-in-the-world-to-visit/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:11:05 +0000 Editor http://www.summitmountainhome.com/realestateblog/?p=843

Breckenridge Home Owners honor ULLR in hopes of new snow!

Why should you own Breckenridge Real Estate (click to search MLS for free) ?  Well as if there were not enough good reasons already to have a Breckenridge Home, the New York Times recently announced that Breckenridge was one of the top 30 places to visit in the WORLD.  Now all of us locals figured out what the NY Times had just announced, that Breckenridge is a premier destination and not just for skiing and riding.  Breckenridge has become a true four seasons resort.  The summers here are amazing and offer world class fly fishing, golf, art festivals, music festivals, hiking, wildflowers and more.  Those of us who make this place home, knew all along that we are lucky to live in such a special hamlet.  However, for the NY Times to name us to their exclusive list of the Top 31 places to visit in the World in 2010 is something that we did not see coming.

The NY Times named the top 3 places to visit in the world as Sri Lanka, Patagonia and Seoul.  Breckenridge came in at a pretty amazing number 23, right after the Republic of South Africa, who are the hosts of the World Cup soccer tournament this summer.  The article then went on to say that Breckenridge is the ski and party capital of Colorado and now we are known as the Copenhagen of the United States.  That comment was brought on by recent legislation that decriminalized small amounts of marijuana.  Take note though!  Breckenridge was the ONLY ski destination to make the list.  Of all the ski areas in the world, we were the only one chosen for the list of the best places to visit in the world!

Today is the Ullr festival parade.  Let’s hope that Ullr is watching and listening and graces us with some new snow.

For more information on Breckenridge Events or Breckenridge Real Estate, You can contact us at 970-409-9145 or click here.  Contact us for all of you Breckenridge and Summit County Real Estate needs.  Summit Mountain Home is also the market leader in Breckenridge Foreclosures.