Are Ski Towns Real Estate Driven or Tourism Driven
Are Ski Towns dominant industry real estate or servicing tourists coming for the skiing? That is a question that has popped up in cities such as Aspen, Vail, and Stowe.
Naturally one would think that both would be the answer, but the recent real estate boom turned the focus on real estate growth instead of the skiing. Sure they came to ski, but the goal of the city was to sell a home or a condo. Those entities generated year round revenue and employed builders, salespeople, and government types. Jobs that stayed after the snow had melted.
But with the real estate downturn in these ski towns the pressure is back on making tourism profitable and popular to bring people in to town. With disposable income tightening up, tourists are no longer being taken for granted.
And if they buy a home or condo, awesome, but the town elders are looking to make sure they come back first to ski their slopes.
In fact, there always has been a symbiotic relationship between tourism and real-estate sales. Some ski towns, such as Aspen, Crested Butte and Telluride, existed before the ski areas, but real estate prices were inflated by the tourism economy. In other towns, such as Vail and Snowmass, real-estate development subsidized skiing operations.
David Perry, the senior vice president at the Aspen Skiing Co., obliquely noted this synergism in a recent appearance before the Aspen Chamber Resort Association. “We are a ski town, and tourism drives real estate,” he said. via Idaho Mountain Express
Very funny comparison. However you don't need to pay property tax on Barbies 3 Story Dream House. With the unemployment ...
My wife has actually decided to study for and get her real eatate licence just so we dont ever have ...
I like your analogy in this article. The real estate economy really is like a patient who you cannot ...
Real Estate is hyper-local. Every market is different. Phoenix has already hit bottom and is starting to recover. We have ...
Great to hear that the big boys
are predicting recovery sooner than
most think.
Thanks for the value! 
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Comment by Channing Boucher on 4 February 2009:
Its been a wild ride in Crested Butte. The “Butte” is a ski town that has relied on tourism almost exclusively from the 1960s until the Mueller family showed up in 2004. Pre-2004 we didn’t have a real estate “market”. Tourism barely drove real estate. Our winter skier visits (400,000) and summer visitor days (500,000) have pretty much been the same for years. Pre-Mueller there were no homes for sale over $1 million, no ranches, nothing. But, when the Muellers bought the ski area and promised $250 million in resort and real estate improvements our “market” suddenly changed. From 2004 – 2008 we realized over $1 billion in real estate trades. Values shot up – doubled then tripled before flat lining in 2008. Now in 2009, values are retreating to 2005 levels and even lower. Our once mostly tourism-based economy is now top-heavy with real estate, big inventories, a slow down in construction and prices on great ski resort property that rival pre-Mueller era levels.. Incredible.
Comment by Danilo Bogdanovic on 5 February 2009:
Great timing on your post! I just got back from Tamarack, Idaho, an awesome and less than 5 year old resort/mountain that’s an absolute blast to ski and snowboard on and their staff is awesome.
Tamarack’s big claim to fame is that it’s the only 4 star ski and golf resort built in the US in the last 20 years (according to the marketing literature).
And, they’re about 30 to 40 percent less expensive than Beaver Creek, Vail or Aspen!
Sounds like a recipe for success, right?
Wrong. The place is in financial shmables. Credit Suisse is collecting early on $250M in loans plus another $20M in extra interest.
Why? Becuase Credit Suisse is in trouble due to the housing and economic downturn.
As for the builder (Petra) who built all the homes and is in the middle of the project…
Many of the homes that were built seem to be owned by the builder who is attempting to rent them out. The house we stayed in was only rented out for the week we were there and 2 other weekends – ALL SEASON!
The condos they’re building are sitting half-built and winterized with no set date on when they will get back to building them. And it has nothing to do with winter – they stopped building because they’re facing foreclosure. And that’s with 90% of them already pre-sold – OUCH!
The tower crane next to the condos? It’s just sitting there (which costs thousands of $ per day).
The rest of the development? Up in the air.
Why? Partially because Credit Suisse decided to collect. Partially because there has been very little snowfall out west (including CO). But more than likely, it’s because people aren’t buying or traveling like they used to.
In the case of Tamarack, ID, I’d say it’s a bit of both – real estate and tourism. But then again…tourism comes down to the economy and housing started that down fall. So perhaps it’s all real estate driven in the end.
Comment by djoko on 5 February 2009:
It’s great!!
Comment by Lisa on 8 February 2009:
Regardless of their primary industry, I think we can be certain that they’re essential to a strong economy, and the collapse of the resort industry can mean a number of not so pleasant scenarios and far reaching impact on our already struggling economy.
Comment by Affordable Land on 9 February 2009:
I believe that tourism has a huge impact on real estate sales. Tourism offers the best opportunity for buyers to form an opinion on the area’s potential for a future homesite, be it for recreational, residential, retirement, or rental investment opportunities. There are affordable land opportunities out there, and location is upmost in every buyer’s mind.
Pingback by The Best Colorado Ski Towns For Family Trips With Non Skiers | Snowmass: Ski Destination for Everyone on 14 June 2009:
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