Luxury Resorts

Real Estate Bust Hits Aspen

By Jonathan Weber, 10-30-09

It’s no secret that the luxury second-home market in the Mountain West has taken a huge hit since the national housing market went south, and the Wall Street Journal today does a nice job of detailing the carnage at the highest of the high-end hot-spots. A 10,000 square foot house in the prestigious Starwood area of Aspen (6 acres, barn and guest house) is now listed at $9.95 millioin, down from $15.9 million - and it hasn’t sold yet. Sun Valley, Jackson Hole and Park City are all seeing dramatic declines in sale prices and transaction volume.

While there are some signals that the high-end resort market isn’t totally dead - Sam Byrne, the new owner of the Yellowstone Club in Montana, reported surprisingly strong sales activity when he spoke at NewWest.Net’s recent conference - the frenzied building of the 1990s and 2000s has left plenty of inventory of multi-million-dollar mountain homes that will undoubtedly take a while to absorb - even in Aspen.

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Comment By tlm, 10-30-09

Hmmm.. the RE promoter says things are great, while the stats show a big crash. Anyone really surprised? Remember how California Realtors said it was "time to buy" in 2007?

Comment By Mickey Garcia, 10-31-09

I thought boom and bust cycles were a small western town tradition, part of the charm of living in a "small western town" with that "small western town feel". Why is anyone surprised?

Comment By Ed, 10-31-09

I think what's happened is that we're just not as cool as we once were to the rest of the country. Yep, Montana has lost it’s groove. During the 80s and 90s Montana could do no wrong. With Montana filmed movies like “A river runs though it” being released it seems yearly, everyone and I mean EVERYONE wanted a log cabin in the mountains and to drive a big SUV. Obviously now that’s over... people no longer want log homes, furniture or even dog houses, as one of the national home decorator put it “the bonanza ranch meets Paul Bunyan look is dead!” Now people are moving back to the city where they can live in their green neighborhoods and have their city amenities (and JOBS) without bottoming out their hybrid cars or get splinters from their beds. This started to change long before the housing bust. In 2005 home prices in Northwest Montana were already starting to decline and I think would have continued, housing crash or not. Fortunately there will always be the few who buck what’s cool for the sake of what they love (like guys with long hair) and there will always be the special few who still call Montana home. Be proud of it; let your freak flag fly!

Comment By Mike, 10-31-09

Great news. I'd like to see a serious taxes initiatied for those who feel the need to destroy beautiful landscapes with vacation homes.

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