And here we go…summer in Aspen Snowmass! Food and Wine weekend is about to kick off the packed summer lineup, town is already buzzing and it seems like another busy real estate summer is already on its way.

It feels to me like we are on the cusp of a shift in the local real estate market, and in fairness I don’t know exactly what the “shift” will translate to but here are my latest observations…

Offseason in Aspen Snowmass (if there is such a thing anymore) always brings a good time to reflect, rejuvinate and gear up for the summer season ahead. I find this to be a great time of year to see how the local real estate market is shaping up, with four months behind us there’s usually just enough “data” to get a sense how this year compares to last year (and prior years).

The Aspen Snowmass real estate market is on the move…although not everything continues to trend upward, most notably the pace of sales has started to show the first signs of slowing since July 2020. Read on for a few observations from the front lines through the end of the first quarter this year.

How long can this last? That’s the question I’m hearing more often these days regarding the Aspen Snowmass real estate market. What’s interesting to me is that simple question can be interpreted to apply to several aspects of the current real estate environment.

March is traditionally a busy month in Aspen Snowmass for tourism, skiing and real estate. This year appears to be on track for a great month of skiing and perhaps a crucial time for determining how the rest of the year plays out for the local real estate market.

The Aspen Snowmass real estate market continues to experience a tug and pull of limited inventory paired with strong buyer demand. While it’s not sustainable over a long period of time to have price increases of 20%+/- per year that is the current reality. I am starting to see some signs of a shift in the market but it’s too early to know if price increases will taper in the near future.

Winter is on its way
I took the photo above from the top of Buttermilk on October 14th — it was a cool perspective to see the snow guns blowing snow on Golden Horn and Thunderbowl at Aspen Highlands. I took the photo below exactly 24 hours later (yesterday morning)… same view with an entirely different perspective.

What Have We Learned So Far This Year?

It’s been well documented in Aspen (and all over the U.S.) that many real estate markets have experienced a significant decline in listing inventory over the past 12-15 months.

Rapid Resets Aren’t Unusual in Aspen (Lately)

Now that a second full summer of real estate sales in Aspen Snowmass after the COVID “reset” is wrapping up I’ve been thinking about where the market has been and of course where it is heading.