It looks like mountain towns have finally shook off the real estate buying frenzy triggered by the pandemic. The number of homes sold in 2023 is down and so is total sales volume compared to the all-time highs set in 2021 and 2022. 

But two critical metrics have yet to budge from the pandemic boom: prices remain at record levels and the number of homes for sale remains at historic lows. 

“I look at all this and it’s so interesting. We’ve got higher interest rates and increased cost of ownership with higher taxes and higher insurance rates. All these things you would think would bring the prices down,” said Dana Cottrell, a longtime Summit County broker and president-elect of the Colorado Association of Realtors. “I mean look at all the things conspiring to bring these prices down yet the supply and demand factor is stronger than everything else.” 

Around Steamboat, the average price for a single-family home hit $1.73 million in 2023, an 85% increase from the pre-pandemic average of $935,000. Home prices are up 12% in Telluride in 2023 and closer to 20% in Mountain Village. 

And around Aspen, where prices are always mind-boggling, there were just as many homes sold for more than $10 million and more than $20 million in 2023 as the previous, record-setting year. A Florida car dealership owner set a record for Aspen in September when he paid $76 million for a slopeside manse.

Read more from Jason Blevins at ColoradoSun.com

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