Welcome to our September 2010 Newsletter.

Summer seems to be fading away as we enter into the changing colors of fall. The mornings are cooler and there is just more of a 'chilled' vibe around town. While the impression might be that all of our summer visitors have left and there is nothing to do around town, the reality is there is still quite a few people around and there is a plethora of events, shows and festivals to happen before the snow starts to stick. Now is definitely a great time to visit, especially if you haven't seen the aspens change from their green leaves of summer to their vibrant fall colors of yellow and gold.

View all the upcoming events to the right in the sidebar or click at the bottom for a complete guide to everything that is going on in September provided by the tourism association.

Business is Picking Up

Due to longer lending times and out of town buyers not really arriving until July to view our inventory - the summer selling season has been pushed back into August and beyond. A reflection of this is that there has been $41 million worth of closing up till the end of August but there is $31 million currently under contract with the majority of that expected to close in the next couple of months.

This has been fueled by a combination of high end clients looking for great values on some of the luxury homes in the valley and some sellers pricing their properties for a quick sale. A reflection of this is there is three different properties over $3 million currently under contract.

Benson Sotheby's International Realty is
Crested Butte's Luxury Home Leader

Benson Sotheby's International Realty has either been the listing broker or the buyer's broker or both for all of the luxury homes that have either sold or under contract within the last few months - including all of the luxury homes listed below:

• A 7,000+ sqft partially completed home in Smith Hill Ranches sold for $3,000,100 and was the first property to close over $3 million in the last 2 1/2 years.
• A new luxury home located in Mt. Crested Butte's Overlook neighborhood sold for $1,325,000.
• A luxury log home on the East River in Danni Ranch is under contract and listed at $3,250,000.
• A luxury home at The Ridge on 70+ acres which is listed for $3,795,000 is currently under contract.
• A ski in/ski out luxury green home in The Prospect is listed for $4,489,000 is currently under contract.

If you have a property you are looking to sell, be it a luxury home on 35 acres or a small ski condo on the mountain, or you are looking for your next property to purchase make sure to contact Benson Sotheby's International Realty for all of your real estate need in the Crested Butte Area.

Best regards,

The Benson Sotheby's
International Realty Team

Follow Us On

Upcoming
September Events

"The Robber Bridegroom”
Crested Butte
Mountain Theatre
September 2 – 5

22nd Annual
The People’s Fair
September 4 - 5

Fall Festival of
Beers & Chili Cook-Off
September 11

Pearl Pass Mtn Bike Tour
Crested Butte to Aspen
September 11 – 12

Wooden Nickel
Fall Golf Classic
Club at Crested Butte
September 12 - 13

25th Annual Vinotok
Fall Harvest Festival
September 13 – 18

Cow Pasture Golf Tourny
Gunnison Ranchland
Conservation Legacy
September 18

“Moon Over Buffalo”
Mountain Theatre
September 23 – 26, 30
October 1 - 3

"The Way I See It"
Matchstick Productions
CB Center for the Arts
September 24

Click Here for
Full Events Calendar and Information

Home Sales Increase and Prices Stabilize in Second Quarter

The trend in firming home prices solidified in the second quarter of 2010 with more metropolitan areas showing increases from a year ago, aided by a surge in home sales driven by the home buyer tax credit, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors®.

In the second quarter, 100 out of 155 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) had higher median existing single-family home prices in comparison with the second quarter of 2009, including 14 with double-digit increases; two were unchanged and 53 metros showed price declines. In the first quarter of this year 91 areas had higher prices, while only 26 MSAs experienced annual price gains in second quarter of 2009.

The national median existing single-family price was $176,900 in the second quarter, up 1.5% from the same period of 2009. The median is where half sold for more and half sold for less. Distressed homes accounted for 32% of second quarter sales, down from 36% a year ago.

“All year we’ve been seeing relatively flat national home prices, which appear to be supported by market fundamentals,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Prices in some areas remain below replacement construction costs, so even with an elevated supply of existing homes on the market we don’t expect any consequential movement in home prices for the foreseeable future. Very low inventory of newly built homes also will help to support home values.”

-- “Broad Stabilization in Second Quarter Metro Area Home Prices with Strong Sales,” by National Association of Realtors, Aug. 11, 2010.

July sales tax numbers soar in town and on the mountain

Mt. Crested Butte sales tax collections up 24 percent

Written by Mike Horn & Mark Reaman | Wednesday, 01 September 2010

It’s been a while since there was good news to report on the sales tax front. In July, though, the busy vibe was downright palpable, and now the numbers are in to confirm it. In fact, both Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte are reporting that this July was unprecedented for sales tax collections. The businesses in both towns say it was strong as well.

On the mountain, town finance director Karl Trujillo said there was $2,381,000 in taxable sales in July, which equated to $119,057 collected in sales tax. That’s $22,871 better than what was budgeted, according to Trujillo, and 24 percent up from last year. He said restaurants, retail and lodging were all up—lodging in particular was up 38 percent.
Justin Hastings, co-owner of the Store and Treasury Liquors, confirmed, “July was a good month, though it took a while for things to kick in up here.” Because the store was closed last year during July following a structure fire, Hastings couldn’t draw parallels to last July. However, he said, “The Fourth of July was great up here and great for business. It was nice to see some people up on the mountain. Every weekend in July there were tons of weddings.”

Hastings also said the first two weeks of August felt similarly busy to July, and things started to drop off once kids from Texas and Oklahoma headed back to school mid-month. He’s looking forward to the Fall Festival of Beers on September 11, and thinks the additions of a bigger name band and a downhill biking event will be very complementary and add to the draw.

Click here to read the full story...