Sorry, Denver: Summit County Housing Market Hot Spot for Colorado Home Loans

On the other side of the Continental Divide, the housing market is a completely different story from the record numbers of Colorado foreclosures and inventories accumulating on the Front Range.

According to Dave Bittner, a mortgage broker with Re/Max Properties of the Summit, there were 610 listings in Summit County as of Jan. 22, about half as many as at the same time last year. Compare that with 3,820 listings at the end of 2001, and it’s clear that properties in ski country are trading at a record pace.

“The first half of 2006 we were red-hot. The second half, we’re just hot,” Bittner said.

The average price of a Summit County home has jumped dramatically, too, from $331,092 in 2005 to $380,717 in 2006, he said. However, this has not slowed Colorado mortgage demand in the region.

A student of statistics, Bittner said two-thirds of the properties in Summit County are secondary homes - half of those belonging to home buyers from the Front Range, the other half from investors worldwide.

Consider this statistic, too:

In 1995, no homes sold for more than $1 million in the county. In 2006, 172 homes sold for more than $1 million, the most expensive being $3.75 million.

Moreover, Breckenridge continues to be a hot submarket of this Colorado housing market. In 2005, homes appreciated an average of 33 percent, jumping from $300 to $400 a square foot.

“Now they’re headed for $500 a square foot, and the new stuff is $1,000 a square foot,” Bittner said. “What’s going on here is something Denver only dreams about.”

It’s true. The Denver home prices have been dropping since the last quarter of 2006. Until this changes, Colorado home loan activity will continue to lag behind the increasing popularity of Summit County.