Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The third quarter may have been the best ever for area real estate sales, said Doug Labor, president-elect of the Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors.

Labor said the third quarter numbers are the best he had ever seen in Routt County.

The Steamboat Springs Multiple Listing Service reported 359 property sales during the quarter, the most ever.

A comparable quarter was the third quarter of 2000, when 350 sales were reported.

Third-quarter sales are typically the highest of any quarter, Labor says, mainly because people like to buy before the holidays and before tax season.

Also, third-quarter numbers do particularly well in mountain communities because people like to see what they are buying, and thus are more likely to buy during late summer and early fall before the snow makes it harder to inspect the entire property.

The numbers are on the rise also because of the slowly improving economy, Labor said. Earlier in the year, more U.S. troops were being deployed and the country was still recovering from the economic slowdown prompted by Sept. 11, 2001.

So far this year, there have been 673 real estate sales in Routt County, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

In 2000, a year of good economic conditions, there were 747 total sales through the third quarter.

However, when comparing the third quarter 2000 numbers to third quarter 2003 numbers, single-family home sales have increased 19 percent, townhome sales have increased 107 percent, and the only drop is in the condominium category with a 21 percent drop in sales.

In 2000, sales totaled 1,034 by the end of the year.

Labor said he doubts 2003 will be able to top that.

There would have to be a record 361 sales in the fourth quarter, and Labor said sales typically are not high after the snow has fallen.

-- To reach Nick Foster call 871-4204 or

e-mail nfoster@steamboatpilot.com