Every two years, Colorado state law requires county assessors to reassess all real estate to be certain that values reflect actual values for a defined period. With the recent financial melt down, you may think that your property values would be lower. Unfortunately this will not be the case during this reassessment as the new valuation period is January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008, generally before the national financial meltdown last fall. The Assessor has indicated that valuations coming out soon will actually be stable to slightly higher. Any general lowering of real estate values due to last fall’s financial cliff jump won’t be reflected in assessed valuations until the next statutory reassessment two years from now which will cover July 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009. Owners of real estate in Eagle County should expect their reassessment notices by mid May. These valuations are contestable if you feel they don’t reflect actual valuations during the 2007/2008 period or the information used in the assessment is inaccurate. Instructions on how to contest your new valuation will be contained in the valuation notice. John Nilsson
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We are hearing that many real estate markets are beginning to experience a strong rebound. Last month it was San Francisco where houses in the city were seeing strong activity - even multiple offers. One broker reported four times more contracts written in one week than he had seen during 2009 to date. One property he had listed had over ten offers in three days time! Los Angeles and the Phoenix metro area then checked in with similar good news. Adding to the increase in activity are foreign investment groups who are jumping in to buy blocks of foreclosed properties all over the West Coast. It is indeed starting to look much, much better in markets that have been battered for well over a year with stories of desperation. In many parts of the country, sellers have capitulated and savvy buyers have sensed the bottom of the market. Historic low interest rates, the increasing return of capital to the lending market, and a much strengthened stock market have been just too much for the pessimists to ignore any longer. In addition, the general feeling coming from world financial markets and Wall Street has turned from dire to optimistic in many sectors. In many real estate markets throughout the U.S. it appears that right now is the time that we will all look back to as the turning point to a recovery. The Vail Valley remains a different story. While many parts of ”the real world” have been in deepening recession for well over a year, Vail had remained untouched with a relatively vibrant real estate market throughout the spring and summer of 2008. Only with the financial melt down of Fall 2008 did we see anything near what other parts of the country were experiencing. Our profile of generally more affluent owners and a lower percentage of highly leveraged homes and condominiums insulated us from drastic increases in on-the-market inventories and foreclosures. Since November 2008, however, our market has been very quiet with transactions falling more than 50% over similar months in the previous year. Not surprisingly, however considering the general strength of our owners, inventory on the market for sale has not increased appreciably over last year. In addition, listing prices have remained strong and foreclosure rates, while increasing a little over normal, have not become a local issue - especially in the higher price ranges. The supply/demand equation seems to be at an interesting stand-off. At least on the surface, sellers are not willing to drop their listing prices to levels that will stimulate strong buyer activity. Conversely, buyers have been taking a “wait and see” attitude, looking for the BOTTOM. What we in the local real estate business are finding, however, is that if buyers step up and make an offer, sellers are responding. Recently we determined that while listing prices in the multi-list generally were not falling, the actual sales prices on properties that are selling are coming in over 20% below listed asking prices. Just ask and you shall receive! I’m going to stick my neck out here and call a BOTTOM. The next few months through July 1 are going to continue to be slow in the Vail Valley real estate market but I do not see any pending seller capitulation as seen in other markets. Instead, the strength of our sellers and our extremely limited inventory will result in sellers generally winning the standoff . I feel strongly that summer will see a swing from a Buyer’s Market to a Seller’s Market that will build through 2009 and 2010. I might add that when this swing occurs, it will be rapid as we do not have the glut of inventory that would slow down the freight train. If you are a buyer, make your move during the next few months. John Nilsson
www.Remodelista.com sounds like some kind of Banana Republic splinter group but it just happens to be one of the campiest contemporary design sources I’ve seen in a long time. On this site you’ll find fascinating discussions on new trends and directions in interior design and remodeling as well as great examples of remodeled and refurbished homes all over the world. It’s also a tremendous well-edited source for finding fixtures, appliances, furnishings, great architects and ideas for making your home sing! Give it a look. John Nilsson
