Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com from Dec. 1-7.

1. Home prices in Colorado’s mountain resort towns keep climbing. So when was the last time the market was truly ‘affordable?’

Median sale prices for single and multifamily homes remain at or near historic levels in Colorado — and 2024 is likely to be no exception. 

Despite some relief from what is expected to be an ongoing series of cuts to the federal interest rate, which affect mortgage payments, housing costs could be as high as ever for new homebuyers next year. 

A November report from the National Association of Realtors shows that, nationally, first-time homebuyers make up just 24% of the buying demographic — a historic low. At the same time, homebuyers have never been older. 

— Robert Tann

2. Despite foreclosure, the former owners of The Pad in Silverthorne call hotel-hostel business a ‘success’

Winter jackets hung from barstools, and beanies still warmed a few peoples’ heads. Friends gathered around tables, chit-chatting about the recent snowstorm, the start to ski season and holiday plans. A handful of people ate takeout, and one table was playing cards. Upstairs, children did jigsaw puzzles in a play area as few adults talked.

But for Lynne and Rob Baer, who opened the hostel and hotel in 2021, this was not just any other night. It was the husband-wife duo’s final night as operators of The Pad. Just days earlier, The Pad’s lender foreclosed on the property.

Despite the foreclosure, the Baers said they believe The Pad not only proved the hotel-hostel concept was viable. They believe the business venture showed the concept fostered relationships and built a community for locals and travelers.

“We’re incredibly proud of what we built. We’re so grateful that we were actually able to get it built and see three years of operation and see everyone who has come through these doors,” Lynne said. “The Pad was a success. We just hit really unprecedented times.”

— Ryan Spencer

3. Winter storm colliding with Thanksgiving traffic on I-70 led to more than 50 citations for Colorado’s traction law

As a major winter storm coincided with travel ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Colorado transportation officials boosted resources along the Interstate 70 mountain corridor, while Summit County law enforcement monitored the situation from a central hub.

The National Weather Service says the snowstorm dropped between 18 to 24 inches throughout Summit County between late Monday, Nov. 25, and early Wednesday, Nov. 27. As vehicles slid out on icy roads throughout the county, public safety officials sometimes closed roads and mountain passes for safety.

Colorado Department of Transportation I-70 mountain corridor communications director Austyn Dineen said that ahead of the storm, six additional heavy plow trucks were stationed in the mountains.

— Ryan Spencer

4. Breckenridge officials consider beefing up a 15-year-old policy, citing sustainability concerns with increasingly bigger homes being built

Breckenridge officials started preliminary conversations about potentially revamping neighborhood preservation guidelines, or essentially the town’s ability to control some factors related to residential development so they fit with the “character” of the town. 

As of late, Breckenridge finds it’s back in a position it last was in during 2007: officials have concerns about increasing larger developments being built and the accompanying impacts. More specifically, officials were and are wary of “scraping,” or demolishing a smaller home and replacing it with a new much larger one.

The concerns prompted officials in 2007 to create a neighborhood preservation policy, which ended up entailing a two-year process that established above-ground density limitations for single-family lots in the town’s older and more established neighborhoods. 

— Kit Geary

5. Potential residential development will now be open space thanks to a partnership between Summit County and these two towns

What could have been a residential development around Pennsylvania Gulch Trailheadnear the town of Blue River is now being preserved as open space and will serve as a trail connector for the Wakefield/Blue River Trail thanks to an upcoming sale.

Breckenridge teamed with Summit County to purchase what is referred to as the Coronet Subdivision at the end August for $437,500 from Blue River Estates Incorporated. The two were seeking to re-establish a trail leading from Wakefield Sawmill to Fredonia Gulch through an easement on the edge of the property. 

“Currently in that location, there isn’t legal access from one part of the trail to the other, so this would secure that,” open space and trails manager Duke Barlow said.

— Kit Geary