The perfect place. Whether you’re looking to buy it, or looking to sell it, you should know the real estate market conditions in Summit County that could affect your transaction..

Paffrath & Thomas can help you understand the current market and trends. Our team of Summit County Realtors® know our mountain towns inside and out, and can guide you on your journey to the best outcome.

Contact us with your real estate questions, and read on to understand which real estate market conditions are important for buying and selling in Summit County.

Buying or Selling in a Mountain Town

Weather affects our market, especially winter weather—but not in the way you would think.

Snow, even with the amounts we get at this altitude, doesn’t particularly affect access to properties unless they’re further away from cities or towns. What the snow does affect, is the number of visitors and the reasons they’re visiting. 

In the winter, people come to Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Keystone, Silverthorne, and more Summit County destinations primarily to ski/snowboard. They don’t necessarily dedicate time to look at properties.

By comparison, summer visitors like to hike, fish, bike, and walk around town. As they enjoy strolling our scenic streets, with those views of the mountains, they more readily imagine themselves living here. And with our location on Main Street in Breckenridge, we love the number of people who stop and look at the listings posted right there on our windows. 

Since more people want to look at property in the summer, more sellers capitalize on that and list their homes. All of that to say the seasons don’t stop transactions, not by a long shot. What they do affect is key factors surrounding the process, and decisions for strategy.

Summer Selling in Breckenridge and Summit County

Summer is the hottest season in Summit County for more reasons than the temperature. Warmer days and nights make access to in-town and out-of-town properties much easier. This is especially true of more remote properties that usually do not have robust road clearing services. Summer gives a full view of their possibilities.

Plus, without snow covering the landscaping and other features, the property can be appreciated more by the buyer. That appreciation helps during the negotiation process!

However, this accessibility also has its price. Buyers who love skiing and the winter mountain lifestyle won’t be able to fully perceive how your property relates to their biggest priorities. If a buyer desires to purchase a ski condo then seeing the condo in the winter to evaluate the ski access can be a great selling feature. 

Most property owners tend to use their mountain property during the winter ski season and evaluate a possible sale during the spring/summer. This is why the summer months usually provide a larger inventory of properties for sale. As a result, there will be more buyers coming to see properties, which can increase the number of showings and possible offers. 

However, there will be more competition for their final choices, which means your property will need to be at peak showing quality.

Winter Selling in Summit County

The beauty of the mountains in winter draws skiers, vacationers, and fresh-air enthusiasts to our crisp peaks and heated restaurant patios.

The real estate market slows somewhat in Summit County during this time of year. It’s mostly because more people like to use their properties during the ski season or rent them. That makes access to properties for sale a little more complicated due to being occupied.

The plus side is that selling doesn’t stop during winter! Buyers still seek their mountain dream home, and motivated sellers make sure their property is kept ready for showings. Allow a Paffrath & Thomas broker to help you ensure the house is ready for showings. This can include:

• Snow removal
• Clearing the house exterior of hanging ice and walking hazards 
• Making sure the furnace/boiler is functioning correctly
• Heat-wrapping all exposed pipes

The buyers who love the winter wonderland of snow-capped peaks, ski slopes in full motion, and a warm drink in front of a fire inside the living room or out on the patio will truly understand the powerful draw of your property during this time. It might even be what originally drew you to purchase it in the first place!

What Is a Buyer’s or Seller’s Market?

You’ve heard the phrase before: “It’s a buyer’s market out there.” Or “this is a seller’s market right now.” But what does that really mean for real estate market conditions? 

Real Estate Market Conditions During a Buyer’s Market

Certain conditions create a market where the buyer has stronger bargaining power. These market conditions can include:

• Higher inventory levels. If there’s a lot of inventory, it keeps prices in check.
• Interest rates. Generally speaking, higher interest rates can slow down a market. The slower the market the slower the absorption rate of properties—thus increasing inventory levels and possibly resulting in decreased prices 
• Overall economy/buyer confidence. When the economy appears gloomy—even if it’s not in reality—this can affect how quickly a property sells.
• Sales Price/List price. During a buyers market you will see the % of sales price to list price decrease. This is a key indicator showing that sellers need and will negotiate more to sell their property. 
• Days on market. During a buyer’s market properties stay available longer. This makes higher inventory levels at any given moment.

All of these conditions mean increased negotiations during the transaction phase. Buyer’s can negotiate more, making for a larger difference between sales price vs list price. As a seller during a buyer’s market, you’ll need to be prepared for the possibility of not getting your list price, or for the negotiations to take longer than anticipated.

Real Estate Market Conditions During a Seller’s Market

The conditions to create a seller’s market align mostly with the same that make a buyer’s market, except in reverse. Those conditions can include:

• Lower inventory levels. This can create a higher demand for existing properties. 
• High economy/buyer confidence. With a more optimistic fiscal outlook, more buyers choose to enter the market, making more competition for same listing
• Closer to the list price. Because of the confidence in the economy, a seller can expect to get closer to their list price—or maybe even over it with multiple offers.
• Less days on the market. In a seller’s market, properties tend to sell more quickly, sometimes selling to one buyer while another buyer is looking. This competition typically results in stronger offers. Plus it gives the seller a bit more negotiating power. .

How does this affect purchasing in Summit County?

The Summit County real estate market doesn’t feel the effects of market conditions as strongly as non-mountain properties. Our market is fairly sheltered from the highs and lows because of these main factors:

• The desirable location protects properties from the full effects of recession.
• Long term appreciation has remained fairly consistent year-over-year.
• Purchasers frequently acquire what they want. When we say “dream home,” we mean it.
• Investment properties. With the value in mountain real estate, and the bright future for it, investors will find the opportunity there during all economic times.

This fact makes Summit County real estate appealing all year round.

3 Important Points for Buying or Selling Mountain Real Estate

When deciding about the property itself, there are things to consider along with the real estate market conditions. As local Realtors® with decades of experience, here are our top picks.

Buying in Summit County

Consider these three important points when buying mountain property.

Location 

Pretty much all mountain locations are great, but the types vary considerably. You’ll want to understand what your desires are first. Do you want unhindered views, or would you rather enjoy close proximity to a ski slope? Do you prefer the vibrance and convenience of in-town living, or the seclusion of more remote settings? 

Rentability

Do you want to rent the property while you’re not in it? Honestly, this is one of the first questions your hometown Realtors® ask at Paffrath & Thomas. The answer to this question will steer all your choices, due not only to desirability of rental locations, but also due to limitations placed on short-term rentals by city and county governments.

Property Type

The type of property you may want should also be delineated by your desired mountain lifestyle. 

Ask yourself what kind of maintenance do you like to do on a home? Or how much landscaping upkeep you wish to perform. Do you like to shovel snow or replace faucets? Do you want to be hands-off so you can enjoy your time in the mountains, not snow-blowing a driveway? If you love the idea of a home but hate maintenance, what can your monthly budget allow for hiring the work to be done?

The honest answers to these kinds of questions will help steer you toward the right property type, whether it’s a single family home, condo, or townhome.

Selling in Summit County

When you’re selling property in a mountain town, here are our top 3 things you should consider before listing the real estate.

Market Conditions

As we’ve detailed above, knowing the market conditions can help you set expectations on your real estate transaction. Understanding those conditions will help you determine how long the property might be on market, how many showings you can reasonably expect during the listing, and even when you should list.

Pricing

Current market conditions and inventory help to identify a price strategy that’s advantageous in the current environment. 

Time of Year

The seasons affect the showings. They impact how you can prepare for them, and how well a buyer is able to view the key characteristics of the property. Choosing the right time for your properties will make all the difference for achieving the best results.

How Paffrath & Thomas Can Help

Not only will our team of hometown Realtors® fill you in on the current market conditions in Summit County, we’ll help you all the way through the sales process.

We start with a conversation. Whether it’s via website, phone, or in person, we’ll fully understand your goals and begin the process to achieve them.

Next, Paffrath & Thomas will set up a custom search allowing you private access to view all the listings that match your criteria.. This search allows you to communicate directly with your Paffrath & Thomas broker, and to save/discard properties for future reference. You can fully customize it to search for what you want in a property, or to evaluate how it compares to other listings in the area.

We always welcome you to reach out to us and discuss your findings. Because we’re locally owned and locally run, we’ve got our finger on the pulse of Summit County. We frequently research and answer questions about:

• Differing Condo Complexes
• Neighborhoods
• HOA requirements
• Property build quality
• Short-term rental rules
• And more.

We’re also fully aware of those all-important real estate market conditions. We’ll provide proactive information on new developments and market comparisons. Everyone in our office is a full-time employee, and we live and breathe this kind of stuff!

Paffrath & Thomas helps you evaluate the property by looking at comps, setting up inspections, and monitoring the transaction process from cradle to grave. 

Paffrath & Thomas Is Your Hometown Realtor®

At Paffrath & Thomas, we love our work, and we love where we work. We invite you to share your dreams with our real estate company in Breckenridge. You can check out our listings online, plus contact us there via the internet or by phone. And always feel free to stop by our offices in Breck. We’ve got pictures of listings right there on our front windows! Let’s talk real estate over a cup of hot coffee!

Explore with us, make memories with us, live your purpose with us. Allow our Paffrath & Thomas family to guide your family home.