Ms. Julie Dunn, Business Reporter for The Denver Post, wrote:

Evidence that high-end home sales are boosting the mountain market can be seen across the state.

For the full article, click here.

I have been reading with great interest articles from the Summit Daily of late regarding our affordable-housing shortage for locals.  I refer to it as entry-level housing as it has not been ‘affordable’ for some time.  In the 30 years I have been in the real estate business in Summit County, this has always been a problem, however, it has grown to become a major problem in the past 10 years for locals attempting to purchase a condominium, townhome, or the much-desired single family home…the goal of most individuals and families.

Over the past 20 years we in Summit County Colorado have continued to increase the number of year-around residents that wish to have a single-family home, but we have failed to create additional subdivisions or neighborhoods for those residents.  There are very few Summit Coves, Dillon Valleys, Willow Brooks, or Meadow Woods being created in or near any of our towns:  Keystone, Montezuma, Dillon, Silverthorne, Frisco, Breckenridge, or Copper Mountain.  Thank you, David O’Neal for Wellington Neighborhood in Breckenridge…one of the few.

Housing prices are based on 2 factors: one is supply and the other is demand. The explanation is simple…we do not have enough supply to meet demand.  The appreciation in this segment of the market has been higher over the past 5 years than any other segment of the market and it continues to inflate beyond what is reasonable.  Until it becomes a priority of the people of Summit County to encourage new local’s neighborhoods, the prices of homes will continue to inflate and make it more and more difficult for locals to purchase or move up to a single-family home.

When discussions of a new, affordable neighborhood come up, it usually ends with, ‘there isn’t any land.’  In Summit County we spend a tremendous amount of time, energy, and money on Open Space…maybe we need to spend a little more time on Living Space.

There is no simple answer to the local’s housing shortage, however it is a travesty that our children will not be able to afford to work and live here.  It is a travesty that several of our children’s parents can’t afford to work and live here.  (File Attachment: HousingItsAboutYou.pdf (52 KB))

A committee should be set up that would identify land parcels appropriate for new local’s neighborhoods.  Local governments should do all they can to encourage the private sector to create local’s neighborhoods.  I would like to see the Summit Housing Authority be a strong proponent of new, market-rate neighborhoods, therefore, I am a strong proponent of the Summit Housing Authority Referred Measure 5A.

Terry Novak, Managing Broker
Novak & Nelson Real Estate