Air date 12/23/15

LInk to radio segment

A variety of numbers show booming business in Aspen, whether it’s hotel reservations, an increase in commercial flights, or the price of renting retail space downtown. Another metric is home sales.

So far 2015 has seen about $1.5 billion in residential real estate deals, 16% higher than 2014. About the same number of homes have sold in 2015 compared to last year. That’s according to broker Tim Estin, who writes a quarterly report, The Estin Report, on the Aspen market.

Estin has been reviewing this year’s numbers and says prices are increasing due to a variety of factors. “There’s a surge in new construction going on,” he said earlier this week. “Developers are coming on board, seeking land to develop projects with. That’s driving land prices up,” and pushing up the price tag for existing homes, too. Estin, who’s with Aspen Snowmass Sotheby’s, says the number of units sold and pricing puts the Aspen market between 2006 and 2007.

Especially popular this year have been homes priced at $15 to $20 million. Snowmass Village homes are still lagging, at prices about half of Aspen’s.

Link to Tim Estin’s “Yodel from the Mountains: A brief Pre-Christmas 2015 YTD Aspen Real Estate Market Summary”