{"id":225234,"date":"2025-06-29T23:57:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T23:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/225234\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T23:57:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T23:57:14","slug":"colorado-mountain-town-real-estate-markets-see-surge-of-new-listings-price-drops-but-is-it-a-buyers-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/225234\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado mountain town real estate markets see surge of new listings, price drops \u2014 but is it a buyer\u2019s market?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\"\"Townhomes are pictured in Silverthorne on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. Real estate markets in some Western Colorado mountain towns are seeing an influx of homes on the market.<\/strong>
Robert Tann\/Summit Daily News<\/p>\n

Popular real estate sites like Zillow and Redfin are booming with listings for users in Colorado \u2014 but will buyers show up?<\/p>\n

Real estate markets in some Western Colorado mountain towns are seeing an influx of homes on the market, giving buyers more choices for discounted prices than they\u2019ve seen since the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of homes we have right now on the market is definitely up \u2014 I mean, way up compared to what we\u2019ve seen in the last couple of years,\u201d said Dana Cottrell, a Realtor with Summit Resort Group and president of the Colorado Association of Realtors. \u201cIt\u2019s not a Summit County-specific thing that\u2019s happening. The increase of listings is happening all over the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some areas, this means homes are sitting on the market for longer as people take their time to weigh their options. Though most Realtors agree that the Western Slope has not yet reached a buyer\u2019s market, some are getting close to that threshold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m seeing is, days on the market are a little bit longer, more seller concessions, more price drops,\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cEvery day when I see the new listings, at least half of them are price drops.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n


\nSupport Local JournalismDonate \n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Spring surge: A return to pre\u2011COVID levels<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"A \u201cfor sale\u201d sign is posted outside a real estate office in Frisco on March 25, 2020. Properties are being listed on the market longer, prompting price drops and more seller concessions in Summit County, Summit Resort Group Realtor Dana Cottrell said.
\nLiz Copan\/Summit Daily News archive<\/p>\n

It\u2019s normal for mountain towns to see new listings at the start of the spring \u2014 driven by the end of the ski season and the start of summer tourism<\/a> \u2014 though this most recent influx could signal a return to a pre-COVID market.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore these last couple years, listings were very low because everything sold in COVID, and now they\u2019re starting to come back,\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re almost to the point of pre-COVID for the number of listings, (but) we\u2019re still not at the same amount.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were 1,119 active residential listings across Summit County this May \u2014 roughly 68% more than the 763 listings in May of last year, Cottrell said.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s numbers are much closer to what the market looked like before 2020. In May 2019, Altitude Realtors \u2014 which serves Summit, Park, Jackson, Routt and Lake counties \u2014 reported 1,077 residential listings for Summit County \u2014 fewer than what they now have in 2025.<\/p>\n

Not every part of the Western Slope has reached pre-COVID listings, however.<\/p>\n

Mark Lewis, a real estate broker at Aspen Snowmass Sotheby\u2019s International Realty, said there were 70 new single-family home listings from January to the end of May 2025, compared to 47 for the same period in 2024. The same can\u2019t be said for condominiums and townhomes which saw a 30% decrease in listings. Combined, the number of new listings decreases a slight 1.5% compared to the same four-month period last year.<\/p>\n

Neighboring Snowmass Village has had 14 single-family homes on the market since January, which is \u201cincredibly low for Snowmass.\u201d Meanwhile, prices per square foot have gone up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a few more homes come on the market, so inventory is now starting to pick up. We\u2019re coming out of an all-time low inventory period,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cWe\u2019re still way lower on inventory than we were in 2019, and 2019 was a very good market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Routt County, for example, saw record lows of between 80-160 units of inventory during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Jon Wade, owner of The Steamboat Group<\/a>. Since late 2023, the market has inched toward balance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is technically a seller\u2019s market because it\u2019s still low inventory, but what\u2019s made it more balanced is buyers feel that there\u2019s more, even though it\u2019s still historically very low,\u201d Wade said.<\/p>\n

The 381 units actively listed in Routt County during June are a big step up from the 270 units available in June 2024, though still a step down from the county\u2019s normal inventory of 600 units.<\/p>\n

For Realtors in both Summit and Routt counties, a common denominator has been the arrival of more sellers around the same time.<\/p>\n

Some of the sellers emerging from mountain towns are those who bought homes during the very start of the pandemic and no longer see the benefits of resort town life that quarantine requirements once offered them, and they are instead deciding to cash in the investment they made. Others have expressed family-related motivations such as wanting to be closer to grandchildren or wanting to move to smaller homes in the same area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe home I was just at, for instance, they want to spend more time with their grandkids. I think I have six or seven sellers like that right now,\u201d Wade said. \u201cSome are selling and leaving entirely, but over half of them are buying or selling and buying a smaller place here because they love Steamboat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where have all the buyers gone?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Construction workers moved about the site of the 9097\u2032 Flats in Frisco on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. The project consists of 36 units, four of which are deed restricted.Ryan Spencer\/Summit Daily News<\/p>\n

An increase in homes on the market is much less productive without an increase in buyers to accompany them. Sold listings, contrary to new listings, have not improved at the same pace despite some boasting lower prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Year-to-date, Altitude MLS recorded fewer sales in both condos and single-family homes across Summit and Lake counties than last year. For Summit County as a whole, homes that used to sit on the market for an average of 66 days before a sale last year are now sitting still for more than 88, Cottrell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say I\u2019m seeing at least half of the new listings peppered with price reductions,\u201d she said. \u201cI just lowered the price $250,000 on a house, and it generated one showing. That\u2019s not exciting when you see something like that. That tells you there\u2019s not many buyers out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cottrell said sold listings for Summit and Park counties have been mostly flat since October 2023, with slight increases depending on the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole thing that matters is that if you\u2019re on an upswing on the number of listings, you want to see an upswing of the number of buyers, otherwise it starts to shift toward a buyer\u2019s market,\u201d Cottrell said.<\/p>\n

A four- to six-month inventory is considered a balanced market, and Summit is right at the six-month mark \u2014 the closest the region has gotten to a buyer\u2019s market since before 2017<\/a>. Although the number indicates a leaning toward a buyer\u2019s market, Cottrell said it\u2019s too early to make the call.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor most Realtors that I talked to, we\u2019re all like \u2026 \u2018Where have all the buyers gone?’\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got the listings now, but whether it\u2019s worry over whatever\u2019s going on in the government, whether it\u2019s worry on the interest rates because they\u2019re just not moving \u2026 that uncertainty is hurting the amount of buyers that are willing to come out.\u201d<\/p>\n

For other parts of the Western Slope, it\u2019s not even close to a buyer\u2019s market.<\/p>\n

With Aspen\u2019s higher prices, Lewis said buyers are showing some hesitation, which has resulted in some healthy price reductions for some properties. Still, there was a 15% increase in the number of sold listings as of May this year compared to last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a few more properties for buyers to choose from, so what happens there remains to be seen,\u201d he said, adding that Aspen is still a seller\u2019s market for the time being. \u201cBoth markets are still strong seller markets, and I don\u2019t necessarily see that changing, although with the increased inventory \u2026 I think that will definitely help the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wade said about a third of Routt County\u2019s listings are overpriced by 10% to 20%, which is as high as most buyers will tolerate in a balanced market. While buyers have been more hesitant than usual this spring, he said \u201cthey\u2019ve been waking up\u201d since summer started.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe market is still good. I tell sellers, \u2018Hey, it\u2019s worth more than last year,\u2019 but we can\u2019t add 10% or 20% like we were doing during COVID,\u201d Wade said.<\/p>\n

Luxury market bucks the trend<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"AndrewThis home in Breckenridge uses the Mile High Training oxygen system to conentrate oxygen in the living spaces, allowing residents to avoid complications caused by thinner air at high elevations.Andrew Maciejewski\/Summit Daily News<\/p>\n

Fewer buyers overall doesn\u2019t mean there\u2019s less money to spend. Aspen saw its first $100 million sale last year, according to Lewis. Routt County\u2019s market has also had two record sales: a $17.1 million home in March and $19.6 million home in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing more people from other more expensive markets in Colorado,\u201d Wade said. \u201cThey come here and they\u2019re like, \u2018Wow, this is nice. I can\u2019t even get that kind of property in Vail, and I can get it for $5 million here.’\u201d<\/p>\n

In Summit County, while residential listings continue to fall behind in sales, the region\u2019s luxury market is overperforming last year\u2019s sales.<\/p>\n

Rolling 12-month sales for single-family homes in the $5 million to $10 million range are exceeding growth in any other price bracket with an increase of 76% from May 2024 (25 sold listings) to May 2025 (44 sold listings), according to Cottrell.<\/p>\n

\u201cHigh-end buyers didn\u2019t take a spring break. Half of all May closings were over $1 million, and 36% of transactions were cash \u2014 not quite snowballing, but still strong enough to suggest deep pockets aren\u2019t seasonal,\u201d Cottrell wrote in her monthly newsletter.<\/p>\n

Year-round, roughly 50% of sales in both Summit and Routt counties are cash purchases, which Wade said have grown steadily in the last 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the buyers I\u2019m working with are just being very discerning on how aggressively the place is priced, and the condition, and what their criteria are,\u201d Cottrell said. \u201cSo now they\u2019re sitting back a little bit going, \u2018Okay, buyers really aren\u2019t showing up. We\u2019re in the driver\u2019s seat now. We don\u2019t have to make a decision yesterday in order to get a house up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

With July and August historically the busiest months, even a modest uptick in summer buyers could swing the market back into sellers\u2019 territory \u2014 something to watch as mountain\u2011town traffic picks up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we get past the Fourth of July, if those buyers don\u2019t show up it\u2019ll be totally a buyer\u2019s market,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Townhomes are pictured in Silverthorne on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. Real estate markets in some Western Colorado mountain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3091],"tags":[51,2441,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-225234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-markets","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-markets","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114769366172388983","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}