Prices went through the roof

“Real estate values went through the roof”

This is a quote from an article entitled 'Summit County Buildout Looms' written by Kim Marquis for the Summit Daily News, April, 2004.

Following is a summary of that article.

In the quote above, Kim was citing what a county planner said happened to Aspen, Colorado once that town reached buildout. Buildout is achieved when all of the land zoned for development has been developed.

A buildout analysis by Summit County’s planning department projects, based on current growth rates, the county will reach residential buildout in less than 10 years. Summit County is currently 68.7 percent builtout for residential development. Based on building capacity absorption over the past 10 years, development will consume another 25 percent by the year 2011, and reach total buildout by 2013. In Summit County, buildout doesn’t mean “crowded”, since 70 percent of the county is national forest.

A local RE/MAX broker said that what happened in Aspen might occur here. This broker said “Property values have already been going up all through the 1990s, and redevelopment (when older homes are torn down and replaced with new ones) is happening already where the value of the land exceeds the value of the structure.”

Even if the growth rate slows, the county is likely to reach buildout in the next 20 years. In the 1970s, Summit County was the fastest growing county in the nation, growing at a rate of 232 percent. In the following decade, growth slowed to 45.6 percent, but in the 1990s, growth picked up to 99.5 percent, again one of the fastest growth rates in the country. At the current growth rate of 3.7 percent between 2000 and 2003 – a trend expected to continue – this decade will experience a growth rate of 26.3 percent.

Even though the permanent population is not expected to grow that fast, it is important to note that more than 60 percent of Summit County homes are owned as second homes for non-permanent residents – absentee owners – who intend eventually to retire to this pristine mountain community. Many of these owners purchase a property and make it available for short-term rentals to help defray some of the ownership costs until they are ready to retire. And even if they don’t ultimately retire here, property appreciation and possible tax advantages will make for a sound investment. A win-win situation!

New second home purchases may mirror or exceed the national growth rate – 5 percent per year – for such buying. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are six million second homes in the U. S. and Americans are currently spending 19 million dollars annually on them.

Given this information, if you have an investment horizon extending out 7, 10, 15 years,
NOW may very well be the time to think about investing in Summit County and Breckenridge. Susan Gunnin is an expert in resort real estate investment analysis. She can help you determine if investing in Summit County makes sense for you. Like most investments, the longer you wait, the more you may have to pay and the less will be your return. To take advantage of a unique opportunity, give Susan a call at 800-289-7005, or Email here, or visit her website. For more information about Breckenridge and Summit County, visit Susan's auxillary website.