December 2010 News

2010 - A Retrospective
It’s hard to believe 2010 is behind us already. What a year it was! For the Vail Valley it was a year of profound transformation. Several of our historic buildings, many of which had been here since the first years of Vail Mountain’s operation, were replaced with grand and luxurious new buildings. The Four Seasons, Solaris, The Ritz Carlton, The Penthouses at Manor Vail. All were completed in 2010 and have dramatically changed the Vail skyline. For as long as the original buildings stood, these new edifices are sure to remain standing well beyond our lifetimes. Much the way people see the new-year as a fresh start, Vail has experienced a renaissance that has elevated it to a position no other ski area in the world has attained. With a Village now worthy of the ski area it represents, Vail is truly now more than ever "like nothing on earth."

2010 by the Numbers
Looking back at 2010, it is amazing to see how much better a year it was for real estate sales than 2008 and 2009. Although 2008 was a difficult year for the real estate market in this area, 2009 was much worse and where we most certainly hit "bottom." Now that prices have bottomed-out, sales activity has bounced back vigorously. The most prominent example of our recovery was May of 2010 where we saw a 224% increase in dollar volume of sales and a 215% increase in the number of transactions. This was obviously the point at which buyers began to recognize that sellers had finally priced their homes realistically. As of November, the year to date total dollar volume in 2010 was nearly $1.4 billion, up 71% over the dollar volume in 2009. The number of transactions in 2010 were up 37% year to date over 2009, 1,153 compared to 843.

Overall, although our market has experienced somewhat of a recovery in regards to the number of transactions and dollar volume, it will be a while before prices begin to rise again. We will first need to significantly reduce our tremendous inventory in order to increase demand which will begin to drive prices up. In the meantime, this increased activity is encouraging and we are very hopeful and optimistic that 2011 will be an even better year than 2010.

Time for a Visit
With a snowfall of over 200 inches since winter began and a base of nearly 50 inches, now is a great time to visit Vail and Beaver Creek. Please call our rental specialist, Ted Steers at 970.477.5319 to book your Vail property rental. And don’t forget to "like" us on Facebook to receive regular updates on events and real estate in the Vail Valley and bookmark our mobile site, srevail.com, on your mobile device.

I wish you and your family great health and happiness in 2011!