The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Western ski resorts = defy the=20 downturn

February, 05, 2008

Starting the week before Christmas, locals say that = the=20 airports in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Aspen, Colo., become so congested = with=20 private jets that they run out of spaces to park them. The jets land, = let off=20 their passengers, and then fly to other nearby airports where they wait = until=20 their owners are done skiing.

Airport congestion is not the only = sign of=20 the popularity of these two areas, long known as enclaves for wealthy = tourists.=20 They share another commonality: red-hot real estate. While property = values in=20 other resort towns, particularly in Florida and Arizona, are being = tugged down=20 by a broad national downturn, brokers say the markets in Aspen and = Jackson Hole=20 have racked up double-digit percentage price gains in the past year.=20

Aspen saw $2.22 billion in vacation home sales in 2007, = according to a=20 report by the Land Title Guarantee, a firm that tracks Colorado real = estate=20 transactions. The average cost of a vacation home in Aspen stands around = $6=20 million, up about 15 percent in the past year, according to brokers.=20

Sales in Jackson Hole are said to be up 13 percent over last = year, and=20 the average price of a home is $1.2 million, according to the brokerage = firm=20 Rare Jackson Hole Properties. In Jackson Hole, easy access to ski lifts = can jack=20 up prices considerably. In Teton Village, a cluster of condos located 10 = minutes=20 from downtown Jackson Hole but within stumbling distance of ski lifts, = prices=20 for condos are up 83 percent over last year.

"Some surrounding = resort=20 communities have been softer, but we're up," said Rick Armstrong, a = professional=20 skier who is also co-owner of Rare Jackson Hole Properties. =

Brokers say=20 different factors are driving prices upwards in both markets. Prices in = Aspen=20 are sustained by continued strong interest from wealthy buyers, = including a=20 small but significant component of foreign buyers. Easy access to the = downtown=20 and ski lifts is important but certainly isn't the only factor. =

In=20 Jackson Hole the dynamics are different. There, a declining amount of = land=20 available for development combined with zoning regulations that cap = building=20 heights at 44 feet, mean that a limited supply of properties are = fetching ever=20 higher prices.

"The County Commission is very anti-growth," said = Mark=20 Winston, a consultant with Jackson Hole Real Estate Company. "The last = new=20 development took nearly 10 years to get approval. There's very little = new=20 development, and so all the commercial buildings are moving targets." = Depending=20 on its location within Jackson Hole, prices range between $600 and = $1,500 per=20 square foot. One of the most popular forms of ownership is time shares, = with=20 prices running between $55,000 for a two-bedroom condo for two weeks in = the=20 summer, to $350,000 for the same property for two weeks around = Christmas.=20

Recently Marriott purchased several adjacent two- and = three-story=20 buildings, where they hope to build one 70,000-square-foot hotel. = However, city=20 regulations presently prevent hotels larger than 35,000 square feet. =

The=20 popularity of Aspen remains undiminished, and a number of properties = have been=20 asking and receiving stratospheric prices. In December, Prince Bandar, = the=20 former Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., sold his home in the Starwood = neighborhood=20 outside Aspen for $36.5 million. The property included a = 14,239-square-foot=20 house on a 66.6 acre lot. Earlier this year Prince Bandar pulled his = other Aspen=20 ranch, called the Hala Ranch, off the market. He was asking $135 million = for=20 that 95-acre property.

"Aspen is now probably the only Colorado = market=20 with a summer season stronger than its winter season," says Michael = Russo,=20 president of Aspen Sotheby's International Realty. Russo credits summer=20 festivals like the Aspen Food & Wine Magazine Classic and the Aspen = Arts=20 Festival with bringing about the seasonal shift and drawing nearly as = many=20 tourists as the ski runs.

"You certainly don't have to be a = skier to=20 enjoy Aspen anymore," said Russo.

Author: Dina Mishev