Our Real Estate Market Continues to Burn Hot

The Gunnison County real estate market continued its historic run as sold volumes in the quarter ending March 31, 2021, exceeded the prior year by more than double. Even accounting for the onset of the pandemic’s suffocating effects last spring, the volume increase in the first quarter of 2021 is nothing short of extraordinary and continues the trend from recent months: shifting lifestyles from cities to the mountains due to the pandemic, urban unrest, remote working and schooling, favorable financial markets, top-performing schools, abundant year-round recreation and impressive dining, arts, cultural and healthcare options. Crested Butte/Gunnison scores high on all of these metrics.

 

The first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2020 both outpaced the same quarter in the prior year by similar margins: 132% (Q1-2021 versus 2020) and 115% (Q4-2020 versus 2019) on sold transaction volume and 219% (Q1-2021 versus 2020) and 136% (Q4-2020 versus 2019) on sold dollar volume. So, what can be observed by comparing these last two quarters?

 

Focusing on the number of sold transactions (see the chart below), we see that County-wide sold volumes were 34% lower in Q1-2021 than in Q4-2020. Seasonality explains some of the decrease, but shrinking inventory is the real culprit (see discussion in the next paragraph below). Land sales experienced a smaller decline (-28% County-wide), especially in the Crested Butte area (-7% in the North Valley), due to higher inventory levels compared to residential. It is worth noting that land sales in Mt. Crested Butte grew by 91%! Also, the mix of total North Valley land and residential transactions shifted toward Mt. Crested Butte, which one would expect during the heart of the ski season.

 

We referenced falling inventory above, which is depicted in the two charts below. North Valley residential and land inventories are at their lowest levels in years. At the end of March, there were less than 100 active residential listings in the Crested Butte area and less than 150 land listings. Buyers will be encouraged to see the historical pattern of increasing listing inventory as the summer approaches, especially in May, June and July.

 

Finally, we are proud to report that LIV CB continues to lead the market in 2021 among local brokerage firms with a 20%+ share of sold listings and buyer/seller transaction sides. LIV CB’s growth in Q1-2021 compared to Q1-2020 was over 250% for the number of sales and 300-400% for the dollar value of those sales (see the two charts below). 

 

Please contact one of our broker professionals if you have questions about our market or how to realize your specific real estate objectives in the Gunnison Valley.