A little Powda for the Skier's Soul

I thought I'd share a small taste of today’s skiing in 8" of new pow with all of you. This is my brother in-law TJ, it was fun to get out and make some turns with him. The video doesn’t do the snow justice but it's not bad. There were some hard spots in the bumps I wasn't ready for but the right spots in the trees were sweet. I hope that you can all make it out soon and you find plenty of fresh powder under your skis. Thanks to Ron for the idea for this title.

A little catchup

I am in the process of catching up from a busy holiday season right now so you will see several posts this week. Look back some so you don't miss anything. We had a great holiday with family and friends in addition to a very full schedule business wise and something had to give.

Thank you,
Jon

Steamboat Real Estate Market hits $1.12B in 2006

A very strong fall that kept on growing during the normally dormant months of November and December pushed our local real estate market to a new high in 2006, a 25% growth in dollar terms from $885M in 2005 on a 110% growth in units. December grew 74% which was on pace with the recent months. The ski area sale wasn't announced until mid-December so any sales driven by that news will show up in 2007 due to typical escrow timing. I would add that we are even more supply constrained than in 2005 which clearly limited the overall sales growth.

The anticipation of a sale definitely didn't hurt but there is much more going on in our market than that sale. We have several big improvements coming online over the next few years that have historically driven values in other ski areas including:

• a URA making upgrades to the base area including a promenade linking the base area together.
  
• several new projects at the base kicking off this year that will begin to make the base more of a destination and upgrade the overall experience year round.
• 5 new mixed use residential and commercial projects going in downtown will preserve the good parts of downtown, remove some eyesores and add significant life to downtown.
  
• The capacity of YVR Airport in Hayden doubling along with a strong program to fund new direct flights and the arrival of Frontier Airlines.
• Scarcity of development land
• The expected sale of the Ski Area to Intrawest and upgrades they are expected to make to the mountain experience.
  

I can't predict exactly what will happen but I expect that the discount that Real Estate in Steamboat sells for relative to other top ski areas will narrow more rapidly in the next few years. I also expect pricing of the new projects to pull up existing quality properties at a rate faster than the market as a whole.

We are also seeing the impacts of the increasing number of people looking for a second home or to move here with their kids as the baby boomers are starting to make plans to retire or are now free to work from nearly anywhere and want a great place for their kids to grow up.

Drop me a line if you would like a copy of some more detailed Real Estate stats to look over or for more detailed insights into what is happening and how different parts of the market are faring. My number is 970-819-6930 or email me at jon@mybrokers.com. See the Steamboat Springs blog main page for more.

Marabou Ranch Updates

I have posted a couple of updates on Marabou Ranch over on that blog recently so you might want to check them out. After a very strong reception since they were introduced last spring sue to the new level of quality and experience that Jeff Temple and his team are bringing to Steamboat Springs. They have recently pulled the lots off the market until February. At that point they will be re-introduce the development with a series of events they are calling Winterfest 2007 from Saturday February 10th until the 17th.

If you have any interest in Marabou I highly recommend checking them out along with a visit to Marabou Ranch itself. This group knows how to put on an event and show people a good time. More importantly you will get a taste of the quality and level of experience they have put together for Marabou Ranch that is hard to adequately describe but easy to appreciate when you experience the property and see it for yourself.

Contact me at 970-819-6930 if you would like me to arrange a visit for these events and a tour of the Ranch. Back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page for more.

Happy New Years!!!

As I look back on the last year here in Steamboat I feel very lucky to have the wonderful set of family, friends, clients and a true community spirit that we have here in Steamboat Springs, around the world and often both." I am amazed nearly everyday by the things Alden and Neve do and by how lucky I am to be able to be an active part of their lives.

It is hard to take stock of the good fortune that has come my way in 2006. I am committed to never take it for granted and do everything I can to spend more time with my family and friends in 2007 because that is what really counts.

Living in small town with the wonderful people that live and visit Steamboat is just about perfect for us. Thank you to all of you that have shared good times with us in 2006 and we will look forward to seeing more of you in 2007. For those of you we didn't get to see you are in our thoughts and we hope to see you soon. Back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page for more.