Teddy Errico's Telluride Tales

The local real estate market was dealt a devastating blow as the nation’s recession-era economic woes translated to stagnant sales in Telluride, Mountain Village and throughout the rest of San Miguel County during the second half of 2008 and throughout 2009. At a certain point, it seemed like things couldn’t get worse. The numbers on the county’s foreclosure rolls peaked at an all-time high, as people found themselves stuck with mortgage payments they could no longer afford, and with precious few buyers to bail them out.

Where real estate was concerned, late 2008 and 2009 seemed to be the end of the world. At least that’s how the period looked when viewed in isolation.

But take a long-range view of the local market, like the one illustrated in real-estate analyst Judi Kiernan’s latest report entitled “A 25-Year Market Analysis of Real Estate in the Telluride Region 1985-2009” published by her company Telluride Consulting, and the situation appears decidedly less grim. For example, although 2009 saw the number of sales throughout all of San Miguel County hit a 25-year low, in terms of dollar volume, those sales still easily outpaced sales in the first 14 years of the1985-2009 report period.

Take condominium sales within Telluride. Sure, the 25 sales in that category during 2009 were a record low, but with an average cost just shy of $923,000 per condo, those condos that did sell cost more on average than any others sold in the town during the 25 years Kiernan has been tracking the market.

Outpacing every year between 1985 and 2004 for dollar volume, the 11 single-family homes that sold in Telluride last year cost an average of slightly over $1.7 million each. Or looked at in a slightly different way, 1995 was the last time just 11 single-family homes sold within the town boundaries. Except that back then, they cost an average of about $736,000 each – very nearly $1 million less per home than they did last year.

And while 2007 saw nearly $757 million in sales throughout the county, setting the highest dollar volume in history, the average price of a Mountain Village condominium in 2009 cost about $25,000 more than it did in 2007.

The 161 sales totaling $194.3 million that sold throughout the county in the first half of 2010 far exceeded the same period during 2009, when just 111 properties sold for $102.8 million.

Although the most recent numbers fall just short of the first half of 2008, when hindsight tells us the region was finally coming down from its heady 2004-2007 real estate boom and 181 properties sold for a combined total of $202.1 million, it is somewhat reassuring to note that the average 2010 price of $1.2 million per sale outpaced the average 2008 price per sale of $1.17 million.

The Telluride School District recently announced it is “Accredited with Distinction” by the state of Colorado. This represents the highest level the state ranks schools. This accreditation is based on Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) testing, ACT scores, preparation of students for post-secondary success, school safety measures, attendance and drop-out rates, and is determined by the Colorado Department of Education.

Parents or interested community members can access Telluride’s data on student achievement and other accreditation information on the state’s website: www.schoolview.org.

The Telluride Association of Realtors also supports Telluride High School students with an annual scholarship award.

Well, August is not yet over, but high in the Peaks surrounding Telluride and Mountain Village, we saw our first snowfall last night.

I am sure it will disappear in a few days, but serves as a reminder to make your reservations, get some new ski or snowboard gear, check up on Telluride Real Estate and the values, and think about riding in some deep snow this winter at the Telluride Ski Resort.

Recently the Telluride Association of Realtors gave $10,000 to the Telluride Airline Guarantee Program, helping to ensure larger capacity flights and more options to the Telluride community, currently through the Montrose Airport, for the winter season. Flights come through Newark, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and Southern California. As the current President of the Telluride Association of Realtors, I am very proud of this donation, and overall local Realtors have given over $200,000 to this necessary program that ensures a healthy air schedule and successful resort economy.

The hotel project at the entrance to Mountain Village has been declared dead. A developer who hoped to build a hotel and affordable housing development near the gate to Mountain Village at the intersection of Arizona Street and Mountain Village Boulevard recently announced the plan would go no further, but that he hopes to build a hotel elsewhere in the Village in the future.

Randy Edwards, a well-known developer in Telluride’s Mountain Village and partner in Monarch Development Partners, had held meetings with the town council to discuss the options for a five-acre site. Early size numbers: A 100-unit hotel and 80 to 100 affordable housing units spread over what could be three-story clusters. The plan met opposition in its proximity to residences due to the land being zoned residential. However, it did collect praise for its ambition to build a true hotel, meaning all the rooms are for-rent and not owned by individuals. Most hotels in The Telluride region contain a real estate sales aspect and convey deeded real estate to Buyers in the form of penthouses, hotel rooms and suites, fractional ownership and single family units.