Telluride Makes Yahoo Travel's Top 10 List of Places to Make a Late Summer Visit

(Excerpted from) 10 great places for a last blast of summer

By Jenny Adams | Yahoo! Travel – Wed, Aug 15, 2012 3:25 PM EDT

 

Summer. Of all four seasons, she’s got the most personality and the brightest enthusiasm. She throws wicked parties and sports a stellar wardrobe. It’s no wonder that in late August, many of us feel the need to send her off with a worthy, last hurrah. Pack the cooler, grab a leash for Fido and don’t forget your sunglasses – Yahoo Travel has rounded up best spots to soak up the last drops of that dip-in-the-pool, sand-in-your-hair, charcoal-on-the-grill goodness that is an American summer.  .

(Photo: Ryan Bonneau/Telluride Tourism Board)

Telluride, Colo.

This mountain town will take your breath away. Literally. Perched at nearly 9,000 feet in elevation, there’s one road in and one road out. Yet, the opportunities for outdoor adventure stretch beyond town center in a thousand different directions. Once your eyes take in the sheer beauty of Bridal Veil Falls cascading in the distance, the verdant green leaves rippling on the Aspen trees, and the charm of the tiny, historic gingerbread homes, you’ll need a day planner just to schedule the insane amount of outdoor adventure.
There’s trail riding, mountain biking, hiking, swimming, rock climbing, kayaking, river rafting, jeep tours and balloon rides. And, while the town’s population might only hover around 3,000 people, the spot is legendary when it comes to hosting festivals that make international headlines annually. There’s Blues & Brews, the Bluegrass Festival, the yearly Jazz Celebration, and Labor Day salutes the men and women of the silver screen with the acclaimed Telluride Film Festival.

HINT: Tom Cruise owns a house here, so keep your iPhone camera at the ready.

For more information on summer trips, or Telluride area homes, condos and land, please contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at 970.728.3111, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com or visit www.telluriderealestatecorp.com. 

MSN.com Story - Big Snow Winter Ahead

By Ron Scherer Staff Writer

Christian Science Monitor

updated 8/15/2012 7:49:02 PM ET 2012-08-15T23:49:02

 

Last winter, big cities like New York and Philadelphia saved a lot of money because the Northeast had a snow drought. Not so this winter.

Yes, even while air conditioners are still running, meteorologists are beginning to focus on the long-term winter weather forecast. And, it looks as if the I-95-corridor cities from Washington to Boston will need to make sure the plows are gassed up and rock salt plentiful.

“I think the East Coast is going to have some battles with some big storms,” says Paul Pastelok, Accu-Weather’s lead long-term forecaster in State College, Pa.

However, Mr. Pastelok predicts the battles won’t start until January and then will extend into February. “November in the Northeast could be above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation, and December could be a transition month,” he says. “By January and February it’s going to get pretty cold.”

The cold will collide with moisture flowing up the East Coast, he says, resulting in some big snowstorms that could create travel problems, close school systems and create challenges for retailers.

“The good news is that the winter will be good for hats, gloves, scarves, rock salt, and the plowing industry,” says Scott Bernhardt, president of Planalytics, Inc. a business weather intelligence service in Berwyn, Pa. “It’s bad for store traffic, because other than urban areas it’s hard to get around, and restaurants also take a hit because people just don’t go out.”

Last winter no indicator
Mr. Bernhardt says the possibility of a severe winter has yet to hit some of the businesses he talks to. “It’s crazy how many businesses plan off last year,” he says. “And, it’s a no-brainer that it’s not going to be as nice as last year.”

Last year, the worst snowstorm in the Northeast occurred in late October, when some areas got as much as twelve inches of snow. The precipitation came at a time when the trees in most areas still had their leaves. As a result, the snow toppled trees and branches onto power lines, causing massive power outages that lasted as long as two weeks for some homeowners.

The difference this year is that a powerful current that runs along the coast of South America is in the process of shifting from a La Nina, with colder water temperatures, to an El Nino, which results in warmer seawater temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific. “It changes the weather patterns,” says Pastelok.

Using this summer’s weather as a template, Pastelok looked for what happened in the winter in other years when a weak to moderate El Nino formed. He found a similar pattern in 2002/2003 and 1953/1954.

In those years, storms early in the season drenched the Southeast and then headed out to sea. But, then later in the winter, the snows came.

Experts: Could history repeat itself?
According to the National Weather Service office in Boston, the winter of 2002/2003 featured below-normal temperatures and above-normal snowfall in many locations. “It was the coldest winter in nine years since 1993-1994,” wrote the Weather Service, noting that it was a “stark contrast” to the prior winter, which was the mildest on record. In 2002/2003, the temperature was 10 degrees colder than 2001/2002.

Pastelok thinks the Southeast could actually get the worst of it this winter. He can envision flooding in the late fall followed by snow and ice this winter all the way down to the Gulf Coast. “Tallahassee could have some snow and ice issues this winter,” he forecasts.

He says the middle of the country is harder to forecast. In general, he anticipates the Central Plains will get drier again. That area has been suffering from a drought but has recently had some precipitation. “We will know better in October,” he says. The weather forecasters will issue a more detailed winter forecast at that point.

Here's to a great winter in Telluride!  For more information on this, or Telluride area luxury real estate (homes, condos and land), please contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at 970-728-3111, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com or visit www.telluriderealestatecorp.com.

The Telluride Daily Planet Reports a Strong Summer for Telluride Tourism

By Heather Sackett
Associate Editor

Published: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 6:08 AM CDT

The summer tourism season is shaping up to be better than recent years, according to local officials and business owners.

Although July sales tax numbers have yet to be figured, both the towns of Telluride and Mountain Village report June numbers were up over 2011. According to Mountain Village Finance Director Kevin Swain, sales tax revenue for June was up about 2.8 percent over June 2011 and 2010. Sales tax revenue for June 2012 was about $148,000, compared with roughly $144,000 during the previous two years, he said.

“I think the state of the tourism economy in Mountain Village has improved over last year,” Swain said. “We are meeting expectations and meeting our budget, so all is well. The summer is off to a good start.”

Swain said the town is starting to bridge the gap from the winter season, when sales tax revenues were down about 8 percent.

“We are making up for it a little bit,” he said.

The Town of Telluride is up 3.3 percent over last year, with $462,412 in sales tax for the month of June, the most for the month since the nation-wide recession began in 2008. The town collected $447,651 in June 2011 and $426,144 in June 2010.

According to the Mountain Travel Research Program (MTRiP), a service the Telluride Tourism Board uses to track performance, occupancy was up one point in June and 6.9 points in July, compared with 2011. MTRiP polls 16 major lodging properties to come up with their numbers, said TTB President Michael Martelon.

Martelon said based on reservations, the rest of the summer and fall look strong as well. August 2012 is pacing almost 20 percent stronger than last August, and September is one point ahead. Although it’s still early, October is also up by one point, he said.

“Summer is looking strong, very strong,” Martelon said in an email.

Local business owners are also reporting that summer sales are up over last year.

Meghann McCormick, owner of local coffee shop The Steaming Bean, said she has seen a definite increase in business over last year.

“It’s been a good summer so far,” she said. “Hopefully, it just stays the way it’s been going. I think summer’s got a long way to go before it slows down.”

McCormick said she has been seeing a lot of repeat visitors to Telluride and said people seem to be staying longer as well.

“People extend their vacations,” she said. “They don’t just come for the festivals and leave.”

Martelon attributes the uptick in business not to an improving economy, but to the TTB’s new approach to marketing Telluride and Mountain Village using data analytics. The technique breaks up the demographics of Telluride visitors into 71 different categories, allowing the TTB to target exactly which ones they want — mostly through digital media. Except for an ad the TTB ran in Terminal B of Denver International Airport, nearly its entire marketing program this year has been digital, Martelon said.

“We know who comes here, and we know what their media habits are so we know how to target them,” he said. “Other than the Colorado Tourism Office Visitors Guide, the only thing we’ve done offline is the airport in June.”

Will Thompson, owner of the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art and president of the Telluride Merchants Association, said although it’s not a return to the boom days of the last decade — business for him was up in July.

“It ain’t 2007, but we are definitely up,” he said. “Overall, for this year, it’s improving.”

But Thompson isn’t totally sold on marketing using data analytics — yet.

“The jury’s out,” he said. “It sounds very targeted and pretty focused and very scientific. We will see what happens. That’s my take on it. I think it’s a good effort, and we really hope that it works.”

But others say they are seeing evidence that the marketing approach is already working. Jerry Greene, owner of Baked in Telluride, said his July business was up significantly over last year. Part of that he attributes to finally having his bakery up and running for a year after a fire shut it down for most of 2010 and half of 2011. But Greene said what he hears from visitors is indicative of successful marketing. Tourists tell him they included a visit to Telluride on their way to and from other well-known Colorado destinations like Mesa Verde and Aspen.

“Those kind of things suggest we are reaching the tourists and they are inclined to find Telluride a necessary stop on their tour,” Greene said.

For more information on this or Telluride area real estate, please contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at 970-728-3111, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com, or visit www.telluriderealestatecorp.com.

From The Wall Street Journal - $47 Million Home Sale In Florida Heralds A Potential Resurgence In The High-End Real Estate Market

By CANDACE JACKSON

A Florida home has sold for $47 million, a record for a single-family house in Miami-Dade County, as the high-end real-estate market shows signs of a resurgence.
The home was originally listed for $60 million and had been on the market since early 2011, when construction was still being completed. The asking price for the Indian Creek Village home was reduced to $52 million this year.

A 10-bedroom estate on a private island off Florida's Biscayne Bay that originally listed for $60 million has sold for $47 million, potentially a record for a single-family home in Miami-Dale County. Candace Jackson has details on The News Hub.

The identity of the buyer, a Russian who bought the home in the name of a U.S.-based limited-liability company, couldn't be learned.

The home is on a small gated island.

The high-end market in South Florida has picked up in recent months, with a number of sales well above the $10 million mark. The previous county record was broken in March, when another home in Indian Creek sold for nearly $40 million to hedge-fund manager Edward S. Lampert. In May, a South Beach penthouse owned by the family that controls the Birkenstock shoe company sold for $25 million, a record price for an apartment, according to local brokers.
"The market has changed dramatically for the super high end," said Jill Eber of Coldwell Banker's "The Jills," one of the property's Miami-area listing brokers. "These are prices that we've never, ever seen before."

It was constructed in a style described as 'conceptual.'

The Indian Creek estate is on a small gated island, with a private golf course, that is home to a number of celebrity residents, including Julio Iglesias. The 30,000-square-foot home has glass walls overlooking Biscayne Bay and was designed to feel like a private resort. It was constructed across a series of limestone pavilions divided by waterways with koi ponds, in a style that architect Rene Gonzalez described as "conceptual."
There is a central courtyard with landscaped walls, as well as a beach with several tons of sand imported from the Bahamas, chosen over local sand for its pinkish color.
The home also has a hidden art vault, a projection 3-D movie theater and a wine cellar accessed with fingerprint identification. The furnishings were custom-designed for the space.
The sellers of the 10-bedroom estate are developers and longtime friends, Shlomi Alexander and Felix Cohen, who built the home on speculation, expressly to sell. Construction began in May 2008, when South Florida's real-estate market was soft, said Mr. Alexander. Oren Alexander, one of the developer's sons and a co-listing broker, said the sale had been in the works for more than six months and was done in cash. "Whoever has the product is going to be king because no one else has been building," he said.
Although the home sold for more than 20% less than its initial asking price, the elder Mr. Alexander said he credits his decision to put a $60 million price tag on the home with attracting the kind of attention that led to a sale. "I created the hype," he said.
The father and son said they planned to break ground in the next couple of months on their next project, which they described as a contemporary-style home similar to the Indian Creek property. They will market the home, located in Bal Harbour, Fla., for $25 million.
For more information on this or Telluride luxury real estate, please contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at 970.728.3111, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com or www.telluriderealestatecorp.com.

From the WSJ - Home Prices on the Rise

By NICK TIMIRAOS

Home prices rose by their largest percentage in at least seven years during the second quarter, propelled by low inventories of properties for sale and high demand for bargain-priced foreclosures, according to two reports Tuesday.

WSJ's Nick Timiraos stops by Mean Street to discuss Fannie Mae's second-quarter profit, another indication of an improving U.S. housing recovery.

Prices rose by 2.5% in June from a year ago, and by 6% from the previous quarter, said CoreLogic Inc., a Santa Ana, Calif., data firm. The quarterly jump was the largest since 2005.

Separately, Freddie Mac, which uses a different methodology, said home prices during the second quarter jumped by 4.8% from the previous quarter. That was the largest jump since 2004.

Rising home values helped lift Freddie to a $3 billion profit, its best showing since the mortgage-finance company was taken over by the U.S. government four years ago. Freddie's larger sibling, Fannie Mae, which hasn't yet reported second-quarter earnings, posted a $2.7 billion gain for the first quarter.

The main force behind the home-price gains appears to be a shortage of homes for sale. The number of properties on the market is down sharply from a year ago. Meanwhile, demand is up, as mortgage rates have dropped to their lowest levels in at least 60 years.

Prices are rising because "there's not enough supply, given higher levels of demand," said Ivy Zelman, chief executive of Zelman & Associates, a research firm. Last week, Ms. Zelman revised her 2012 price forecast to a 5% gain. At the beginning of the year, she predicted a 1% decline. "With every passing month, distressed homes are being absorbed at better and better prices," she wrote recently.

Inventories are low for a handful of reasons. Investors who are scooping up homes have been converting them into rentals rather than flipping them, keeping the properties off the market. Banks have slowed their foreclosure processes in the past two years after they were found to be rushing through incomplete paperwork to repossess homes.

New-home construction has been at depressed levels for years, as builders have had to fend off competition from bank-owned foreclosures. That lack of new construction "has set the foundation for a snapback in pricing," said Michael Sklarz, president of Collateral Analytics, a Honolulu-based research firm.
Many traditional sellers are sitting on the sidelines because they are unable or unwilling to sell.

More than 11 million homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, meaning they are likely to sell only if they have to move. Others who have equity could be holding out for higher prices down the road.

In hard-hit markets, "only a little bit of the market is tradable because you have so much negative equity," said Stan Humphries, chief economist at real-estate firm Zillow Inc. "You have very few people willing to sell homes, and a big uptick in demand can create some real price appreciation."

Meanwhile, as inventories have shrunk, demand has picked up. "Everything is going to multiple offers," said Anthony Lamacchia, who owns a real-estate firm in Waltham, Mass. One of his agents has written 15 offers for four different buyers this summer, failing to land a property each time.

Lou Barnes, a mortgage banker in Boulder, Colo., said demand for mortgages to buy homes is even outpacing the levels seen during 2009 and 2010, when federal home-buyer tax credits spurred a burst of sales. "Main Street morale has brightened a great deal here," he said. "Sellers have lost their fear of giving away a house. Buyers have lost their fear of doing something dumb."

The Federal Reserve said Monday demand for mortgages to purchase homes jumped during the second quarter by the largest amount in at least three years, according to a survey of bank lending officers.
Investor buying in many markets also could help change the psychology for traditional buyers, creating momentum that becomes self-reinforcing. "People say, 'If there are good deals here, why are we letting investors take advantage?' " Mr. Sklarz said. "Investors are forcing everyone else to think about this logically."

For now, price increases appear to be broad-based. CoreLogic said 71 of the nation's top 100 metropolitan areas saw prices rise on a year-over-year basis in May, compared with just 19 markets in December. That was the largest number of rising metro areas since November 2006, when home prices began to tumble.

The jump in home prices is particularly notable at the low end of the market, fueled by investors making all-cash offers for foreclosures that can be rented out. Such rising prices allowed Freddie Mac to set aside less cash in reserve for loan losses. The company lost 38 cents for every $1 of debt that went through foreclosure during the second quarter, an improvement from 40 cents at the end of March and 42 cents a year ago.

That dynamic was evident in hard-hit markets such as Phoenix that this year have notched price gains. In Arizona, Freddie lost 40 cents for every $1 that it foreclosed on, compared with 51 cents a year ago.
Housing markets still face challenges. Many aspiring homeowners can't qualify for a mortgage because lending standards have tightened, with banks scrutinizing borrowers' income and assets or potential snags that might later require them to buy the loan back from Fannie or Freddie, were the borrower to default. Others simply have too much debt to take on a home purchase.

Another serious concern is the "shadow supply" of more than three million properties with mortgages in some stage of foreclosure or serious delinquency that haven't been taken back by lenders.
Freddie Mac, for example, said it still had $118 billion in delinquent mortgages, just below its peak of six months ago. "All the metrics are getting better, but the nonperforming inventory is still very large," said Jim Vogel, an analyst at FTN Financial. As a result, he added, "we wouldn't tell anybody that the corner has been turned yet."

The U.S. finally has moved beyond attention-grabbing predictions from housing "experts" that housing is bottoming. The numbers are now convincing, writes David Wessel.

Meanwhile, home sales are falling in some hard-hit markets where stocks of foreclosed properties are nearly empty. In Nevada, for example, a state law revamping the foreclosure process and imposing penalties for noncompliance brought bank repossessions to a halt. Sales of foreclosed homes in Las Vegas hit a 4½ year low in June, according to DataQuick, prompting home sales to fall by 16% from one year ago, the first decline in one year.

At the same time, some buyers "aren't happy with what's on the market, and they're staying on the sidelines," said Jon Mirmelli, a real-estate broker and investor in Phoenix. "It's a frustrating market right now."

Price gains also are likely to ease later in the year, when home sales traditionally slow. June prices rose by 1.3% from May, compared with monthly gains of 2.3% in May and in April, CoreLogic said in its report Tuesday. Freddie said its forecast calls for several more months of weak home prices.

But the biggest worry is still whether the economy can add enough jobs to keep sales strong. "At some point the global economy has to creep into people's thinking. I worry about that all the time," said Glenn Kelman, chief executive of Redfin Corp., a real-estate brokerage with offices in 14 states.

For more information on this or Telluride luxury homes, condos or land, please contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at 970-728-3111, 970-728-6655, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com or www.telluriderealestatecorp.com.

From the Telluride Daily Planet - Telluride's Airport to Receive $4 Million in FAA Grants

Telluride airport gets $4 million for improvements

FAA grant to help improve runway, fix facilities

By Collin McRann
Staff Reporter

Published: Thursday, August 2, 2012 6:09 AM CDT

A $4 million Federal Aviation Administration grant has been awarded to the Telluride Regional Airport for erosion control improvements and other infrastructure work.

The grant is part of the FAA Reauthorization Bill, which was approved Feb 6. The bill authorized more than $3 billion per year to be used for airport improvements nationwide, through a national program called the Airport Improvement Plan. The funds at the Telluride airport will be spent in the coming years on a variety of projects aimed at improving its infrastructure.

“The passage of the FAA reauthorization bill will help with our long term planning by providing financial funding for multi-year projects,” Rich Nutall, manager of Telluride Regional Airport, said in a release. “This will enable us to serve our customers better. We still need to complete some finishing touches on our runway project. We also hope to replace our taxiway and de-icing pad with the funds this bill will authorize.”

The funds are distributed on a basis of need. According to the FAA, demand for airport improvement funds exceeds what’s available, and distribution is based on national priorities. Funds typically are first given out to projects dealing with cargo and general aviation. The rest of the funds are distributed to “set-aside projects.” Things such as airport noise and the military airport programs get first choice from these funds. The remainder are called “true discretionary funds” and are distributed according to a national prioritization formula.

According to U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet [D-Colo.], who actively supported the reauthorization bill, it is long overdue. Bennet said in a statement that the bill puts an end to partisan delays and clears the way for critical construction projects, allowing for long-term plans by reducing delays for travelers, improving safety and air travel access in Colorado’s airports.

“This grant is an important tool for the airport and for the Telluride community,” Bennet said in a statement. “It will allow for much needed improvements that will help keep the airport safe and reliable, which is essential to supporting economic development in the community.”

The FAA bill passed the senate by a vote of 75-20 and was signed into law by President Barack Obama Feb. 14.

The bill did draw some controversy due to its provisions for licensing drones in U.S. airspace.

For more information on this or Telluride area real estate, please contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at 970-728-3111, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com or www.telluriderealestatecorp.com.

 

From the Wall Street Journal - Strengthening Home Prices

BY NICK TIMIRAOS

Home prices in the second quarter rose from the year-ago period for the first time since 2007, according to a closely watched index, the latest indication the housing market is starting to recover.
The report, which is scheduled to be released Tuesday by real-estate firm Zillow Inc., found that for the quarter ending in June, home values were up 0.2% from the same period in 2011.
While other indicators have shown home prices turning up since the spring, most examined short-term changes from one month to the next. Other indexes reported gains in median sales prices, which can be skewed ...

Full article here: 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443295404577545200776537294.html

 

For more information on this or Telluride area real estate, please contact Telluride Real Estate Corp. at 970.728.3111, info@telluriderealestatecorp.com, or http://www.telluriderealestatecorp.com/.