Aspen: The Most Expensive Town in America, WSJ
Defying the national housing slump, Aspen's prices are
rising. Why the glitzy ski enclave is outpacing the Hamptons, Beverly
Hills and Palm Beach...but Aspen hasn't missed the
housing bust altogether: The number of homes sold last year was about
half the level of 2006, and there have been foreclosures and notable
fire sales, according to Mason Morse Aspen broker Tim Estin, who writes a
regular economic analysis called the Estin Report. One house that sold
for $16 million on Feb. 15, for example, was originally listed for $32
million.
ASPEN REAL ESTATE - The lowest-priced single-family home on the market
in Aspen is listed for $559,000. It's located in a trailer park.While
most housing markets in the rest of the country continue to struggle
with anemic demand and foreclosures—and sales at many other luxury ski
resorts are still sluggish—Aspen has forged its own orbit. The average
home price in this mountain town has increased over the past four years,
to $6 million in 2010 from $5.4 million in 2006, according to
multiple-listings data. The median price for single-family homes is now
the highest in the country at $4.6 million, says San Francisco-based
Altos Research, surpassing the Hamptons, Beverly Hills and Palm Beach.
Sales of luxury Aspen estates—the sorts of over-the-top places with
leather walls and outdoor heated infinity pools—have remained remarkably
healthy, thanks in part to foreign buyers. Of the 25 real-estate
transactions recorded by Pitkin County for the week of Jan. 19 to 25,
five were buyers from abroad, including three Australians and people
from Turkey and Hong Kong.
By Nancy Keates, March 4, 2011 WSJ
Link to article
Link to (6) recent Aspen Property Transactions over $14MM
03/04/11 WSJ: Downtown Aspen and Comparison Chart
