From the Telluride Daily Planet, April 29th, 2012:
By Noya Kohavi
Staff Reporter
The plethora of “for sale” signs on Telluride lawns gives a little glimpse into the state of the local real estate market. There’s inventory — but are there buyers? Brokers say there are — and the volume of sales makes them optimistic that the rest of 2012 will continue to grow.
According to a Telluride Consulting report, the number of units sold in San Miguel County in March is up 26 percent, and volume in millions is up 40 percent over March 2011. The report also showed four consecutive years of annual increases in number of sales, monthly volume and year-to-date volume.
But local real estate brokers say it’s not time for celebrations just yet.
“It’s an incredibly price dependent market,” said Lars Carlson, a real estate broker with Peaks Real Estate Sotheby’s International Realty. “Once a property is priced right, people come out of the woodworks. It’s still a buyer’s market, but it’s trending away from that in Telluride. We have a lot of action in homes in town.”
Carlson said people are also gravitating toward buying built property rather than empty lots that need investment in construction. “For at least two years, land has been slower,” he said. “There were some distressed sales and short sales. People don’t look at land as much because homes are affordable. They would rather buy a house and fix it up a little than go into construction.”
He said that out of nine homes he sold in Mountain Village recently, six were fixer-uppers.
Broker Sally Puff Courtney said her office has been busy. “Since the beginning of the year I’ve closed and contracted around $18 million,” she said. “I did $26 million last year, so it’s been good from that perspective.” The challenge, she said, was to come to terms with 2012 property prices. “If the price is right,” she said, “the property will sell.”
In Telluride, there’s more supply than demand, and so it’s still a buyer’s market. But as houses sell, inventory is growing smaller and prices are expected to go up.
“Most of the great value in town has been absorbed,” Courtney said. “Next year, supply and demand will kick in. Town gets five stars — condos are selling for $900-$1,100 per square foot. Mountain Village is doing better. We’re slowly, slowly coming back. I’m optimistic. The way to success in the real estate market today is pricing, strategy and negotiating.”
Buying property during the off-season might not seem like the best way to spend your vacation, but brokers say it’s good timing. “For the local buyer it’s the prefect time to look for stuff, because there’s not much competition,” Carlson said. “A lot of the second homeowners are contacting us now to make a deal. We have a lot of work.”
Courtney said most of her deals took place in March, but some people come back in April. “Sophisticated buyers would do that,” she said. “But the reality today is that if you wait you may miss out. Most of the people who come to Telluride are sophisticated buyers and get a great deal instead of waiting for the bottom of the bottom. Our recovery is slow, but it’s coming back. I feel like we’re going to have a great summer. So if anyone wants to buy real estate in Telluride, they should do it now.”
For more information on this, contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at 970.728.3111, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com or http://www.telluriderealestatecorp.com/.
According to a Telluride Consulting report, the number of units sold in San Miguel County in March is up 26 percent, and volume in millions is up 40 percent over March 2011. The report also showed four consecutive years of annual increases in number of sales, monthly volume and year-to-date volume.
But local real estate brokers say it’s not time for celebrations just yet.
“It’s an incredibly price dependent market,” said Lars Carlson, a real estate broker with Peaks Real Estate Sotheby’s International Realty. “Once a property is priced right, people come out of the woodworks. It’s still a buyer’s market, but it’s trending away from that in Telluride. We have a lot of action in homes in town.”
Carlson said people are also gravitating toward buying built property rather than empty lots that need investment in construction. “For at least two years, land has been slower,” he said. “There were some distressed sales and short sales. People don’t look at land as much because homes are affordable. They would rather buy a house and fix it up a little than go into construction.”
He said that out of nine homes he sold in Mountain Village recently, six were fixer-uppers.
Broker Sally Puff Courtney said her office has been busy. “Since the beginning of the year I’ve closed and contracted around $18 million,” she said. “I did $26 million last year, so it’s been good from that perspective.” The challenge, she said, was to come to terms with 2012 property prices. “If the price is right,” she said, “the property will sell.”
In Telluride, there’s more supply than demand, and so it’s still a buyer’s market. But as houses sell, inventory is growing smaller and prices are expected to go up.
“Most of the great value in town has been absorbed,” Courtney said. “Next year, supply and demand will kick in. Town gets five stars — condos are selling for $900-$1,100 per square foot. Mountain Village is doing better. We’re slowly, slowly coming back. I’m optimistic. The way to success in the real estate market today is pricing, strategy and negotiating.”
Buying property during the off-season might not seem like the best way to spend your vacation, but brokers say it’s good timing. “For the local buyer it’s the prefect time to look for stuff, because there’s not much competition,” Carlson said. “A lot of the second homeowners are contacting us now to make a deal. We have a lot of work.”
Courtney said most of her deals took place in March, but some people come back in April. “Sophisticated buyers would do that,” she said. “But the reality today is that if you wait you may miss out. Most of the people who come to Telluride are sophisticated buyers and get a great deal instead of waiting for the bottom of the bottom. Our recovery is slow, but it’s coming back. I feel like we’re going to have a great summer. So if anyone wants to buy real estate in Telluride, they should do it now.”
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