Last month, RealtyTimes.com announced that it’s a good time to buy a vacation rental.  I agree!  For one, real estate has historically been a solid investment. True, many property owners in luxury markets around the country have seen values fall during the recent market slump; but stock market investors have had it just as rough. Even accounting for the recent market, real estate is still a value-generating, relatively safe investment. And, vacation properties add an additional benefit: if you rent them out when you’re not there, they can generate enough income to cover your mortgage and expenses – even earn you a profit. Perhaps best of all, they’re a comfortable home-away-from-home for your own vacations..

Beyond those reasons why vacation homes have historically been a good investment, there is growing buzz that now, in particular, is the time to buy.

Why? Because. . .

Prices are low and inventory is high – opportunities abound!

Property prices are as low as they have been in ten years. At the same time, inventory is high and opportunities are plentiful. Yet the market won’t stay this way forever; Procrastination is not going drop prices further, or keep them low. In fact, analysts have indicated that the market has hit bottom and that prices will continue to rise. As buyers move in to take advantage of the great deals available, inventory will shrink – which will push prices up further. Now is the time to make your move..

Interest rates are low

Interest rates are likely as low as they will drop. The end of November saw the average fixed interest rate on conforming 30-year mortgages gaining for the second week in a row. However, this rate was still 5% lower than the same week in 2009. So, rates are low, but we are beginning to see indicators that they may not stay low for long.

Renting our your property has never been easier

Thanks to the internet, it has never been easier to rent out a vacation property. There are a number of online vacation rental portals that help owners market their homes – they make it easy for you to post photos, descriptions, testimonials and other marketing information to attract vacationers.

Most inquiries for rentals come between January and March as people are planning their vacations for the year.  With Vail’s increased snow fall making national news this winter, now is an incredible time to offer a Vail vacation property up for rental.  You can’t buy the publicity Vail’s snow is providing you for free.

To recap: it is still a very strong buyer’s market in the Vail Valley. If you have been thinking about buying here, now is the time! Why? Because while prices are still relatively low and inventory is high (opportunities abound!), the numbers are trending upward. Sales are up 110% from last year at this time. I predict that 2011 is the window to buy in – before we are back to a seller’s market!

I am very excited to feature a fractional ownership opportunity this month at One Willow Bridge Road. This is a fabulous luxury residential development with many resort amenities. It is in the heart of Vail Village – therefore, close to the ski lifts and all of the shops and restaurants in the village.  You will be impressed with the quality and elegance of this property.

The property is available for seven weeks: you get three weeks in the summer, three in the winter and one week to use whenever you want. Basically, you get to enjoy all of the wonderful season that Vail has to offer! Also, you can rent the weeks you don’t use. This two bedroom, two bathroom condo is listed at $595,000. Give me a call at 970-331-1806 to schedule your private showing.

RealVail.com reported on Wednesday that Colorado is still poised to potentially host the Winter Olympics in 2022. Denver would be the host while Vail – and surrounding areas – would support Denver with their resort and skiing amenities. The full article can be found here.

Tourism is a huge industry in Colorado as visitors from all over the world come here to enjoy the mountains, ski and gold amenities. And the Colorado bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics could boost the state as a global tourism destination even more.

Vail and Beaver Creek will be well-positioned for the Olympic bid from an alpine skiing facilities and organizational standpoint. As I’ve blogged about before, we are already the hosts of two world championships (in 1989 and 1999) and Vail this year was awarded the 2015 championships — second only to the Olympics in ski racing prestige.

Top international ski racing officials are visiting the Vail Valley the first two weeks of September to begin planning for the 2015 championships, and U.S. Forest Service officials expect a definitive proposal from Vail Resorts for terrain and facility changes in the next month or two.
As reported earlier, Vail Resorts officials have said they plan a new women’s downhill course to rival the adjacent men’s Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek, as well as major upgrades to the finish area and the building of a new restaurant. Vail, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, will see a “dramatic new stadium” in Vail Village. All of these upgrades would obviously position the resorts well for a possible future Olympic bid.

It’s an exciting time to be a Vail resident!

The Vail Daily reported last week that real estate numbers in Eagle County for June of this year were up significantly over the same time last year. This was according to statistics released by Land Title Guarantee Co. in Eagle.

Here’s the gist:

• June saw $141.8 million in transactions, up 49 percent compared to June of last year. It was the highest monthly total since December of 2008.

• The number of transactions in the county in June also climbed. There were 121 transactions recorded, up from 78 in June 2009.

• For the month, there were nine transactions that sold for $4 milion or more. The largest sales was a penthouse at the new Solaris in Vail, which went for $14.8 million.

• For the first six months of 2009, Eagle County has seen big increases in the transactions and dollar volume compared to 2009. Transactions are up 74 percent and dollar volume is up 88 percent compared to 2009.

This is great news and comes on the heels of some very consistent numbers that I reported on in my August newsletter. I wrote about Real Vail’s story last month “Eagle County, home to Vail and Beaver Creek ski areas, saw the dollar volume of real estate sales more than double in the first five months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.”

They reported 12 sales totaling $42 million in the Vail Village in May – six of the homes sold for more than $4 million.

This upward trend is encouraging. Also encouraging are numbers that were run by my brokerage firm – Slifer, Smith & Frampton Real Estate – of last month’s sales statistics. We found that, in the past five years, only 2007 had a higher sales volume in June than 2010. That’s great news as it is not just a recovery from the last year or so but it actually is exceeding even when times were pretty darn good.

Why the increase? Some of the uptick is due to home values going down and buyers seeking great deals in luxury real estate areas, such as Vail. And it’s true. Some great deals can still be had.

It is this and the fact that – as Real Vail put it – “the nation’s wealthiest home buyers are feeling more confident about buying luxury mountain properties.” It’s good to see that people are putting their confidence – and dollars – into a great area like Vail.

The Lodge at Vail is our community’s landmark hotel. People who buy condos here have all they want in amenities, services and location in the heart of the Vail Village – making this property a true winner in the number one rule of real estate: location, location, location.

If you’re interested in this property as a family getaway, you’ll be pleased. If you’re interested in this property to generate rental revenue, you’ll be very pleased. Either way, it’s a must-see. With over 1,200 square feet, this condo has 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and is listed at $2,250,000. Give me a call at 970-331-1806 to schedule your private showing.