Those of us in landlocked areas may not know what a "slack tide" is, but that's how Mark Gordon describes the current real estate market.
Gordon, one of the owners of Vail's Christiania Realty, is also the current chair of the Vail Board of Realtors. Regarding the local market's current state, Gordon said there's a kind of balance in the never-ending push-pull between buyers and sellers, with neither group holding sway.
Gordon said in resort areas, the very wealthy are riding out uncertainty in the nation's financial markets by buying real estate. In Vail and similar markets, that has been a relatively stable investment, Gordon said.
And, he added, in times of economic distress, "If someone needs to sell a Vail property, and they sell it at a perceived value, it sells."
Still, he added, people are adjusting prices, and buyers are becoming "careful." But, reflecting the push-pull of the market, "sellers are not willing to give up their leverage."
While the upper end of the market is one thing, that has an impact beyond the resort areas.
While buyers in resort areas often pay cash, the buyer-seller dynamics are similar both valleywide and nationwide, said Matt Fitzgerald, the Vail Valley market president for Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate.
Fitzgerald said that price is becoming a "key consideration" for buyers, both in resort and downvalley areas. Buyers, he said, are scrutinizing comparable sales data, with price and property condition again being "paramount" in decisions, as opposed to the land-rush days that started in the second quarter of 2020, lasting into 2022.
There's more balance in the market today, Fitzgerald said, and more property to choose from at all price points. But, he added, the days of having 700 to 800 listings in the county's Multiple Listing Service are probably gone forever.
The shortages of buildable land, tight inventory, funding for construction and ever-increasing costs put a degree of difficulty on building that hasn't been there in the past, he said.
Still, you can see buyers becoming a bit more choosy, reflected in the Vail Board of Realtors' days on market data from April. Single-family homes lasted 107 days on the market from listing until sale in April of 2024 compared to 134 days this year. The figure for townhomes and condos was shorter, 60 days in 2024, compared to 79 days this year.
That also reflects the lower median prices for single-family and multi-family units.
Gordon noted that both median and average prices can be affected by relatively few sales in the valley.
For instance, the median single-family sales price in April between 2024 and this year jumped more than 33%.
On the other hand, the year-to-date median sale price for townhomes and condos from January through April of 2024, through the same period this year, has declined by nearly 14%.
Still, sellers are receiving, on average, more than 95% of their asking prices for both single-family and multi-family homes.
With something like a balanced market, Fitzgerald said we're seeing some "normalization" in the marketplace.
"There are some great opportunities for buyers and sellers. If they price correctly, they will sell," Gordon said.
This story was made available via the Colorado News Collaborative. Learn more at: