Steamboat Pilot & Today

Sales hit 5-year low despite condo sales

Steamboat Springs — Real estate dollar volume in Routt County was off 61.5 percent in August at $58.86 million, but even that number was inflated.

Of the total sales, about $16 million could be attributed to a pair of in-house transactions involving the same vacation ownership company based in Washington state.

At the conclusion of construction on new buildings in its Village at Steamboat project, Wyndham Resort Development Corp. sold condominiums valued at $6.22 million to WorldMark the Club, as well as condos valued at $9.88 million to Wyndham Vacation Resorts.

WorldMark by Wyndham is the management company for WorldMark, based in Redmond, Wash.

The last time Routt County's August dollar volume was less than $60 million was in 2003, when it was $53.7 million. The August 2007 dollar volume was $152.6 million.

It's significant to note that the dollar volume of August 2003 was achieved through 243 transactions. August 2007 recorded 270 transactions, and last month saw only 70 transactions close.

Notable sales last month included an 8,444-square-foot home in Agate Creek Preserve, said Bruce Carta, of Land Title Guarantee Co. The purchase price for the six-bedroom, 7 1/2-bath home was $5.25 million.

Of the 41 residential properties that closed last month, three sold at prices of more than $3 million. Seven August sales were valued between $1 million and $1.5 million.

At the other end of the spectrum, 22 residences sold for less than $500,000.

Hayden market still moving in transactions

When the final tallies on the 2008 real estate market are known, Hayden and the surrounding area are likely to rank second among Routt County geographic regions in terms of real estate transaction volume.

Steamboat's mountain and downtown areas are most apt to rank first and second in dollar volume. But Hayden, with 145 transactions through August, is on pace to rank second only to the Steamboat mountain area, where 264 transactions had been recorded.

Downtown Steamboat is about $2 million ahead of Hayden's year-to-date dollar volume of $51.2 million. However the unit volume is less than half of Hayden's, at 60. The next closest competitor is West Steamboat, with 48.

Hayden's transaction volume represents 17.5 percent of the Routt County market, but just 9.15 percent of overall dollar volume of $560 million.