Aspen Ideas Festival Announces 2010 Lineup

The Aspen Institute has just announced the lineup for its 2010 Aspen Ideas Festival and the list is quite impressive. More below courtesy of the Aspen Daily News:


Published on Aspen Daily News Online (http://www.aspendailynews.com)

The Aspen Institute confirmed this week more than 200 of the expected 250 speakers for this year’s 6th annual Ideas Festival.

The seven-day conference, which runs July 5-11, draws some of the top minds from myriad fields, including public officials, artists, scientists, business executives, economists, and foreign policy specialists for a week of panel discussions, tutorials, seminars, and other events with a goal of promoting intellectual exchange.

This year’s lineup includes: U.S. Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey Jr.; former President Bill Clinton; president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Donohue; Nike Foundation President Maria Eitel; Sen. Dianne Feinstein; Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates; Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg; Attorney General Eric Holder; DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg; Craigslist founder Craig Newmark; White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag; Intel CTO Justin Rattner; NPR President Vivian Schiller; RNC Chairman Michael Steele; Twitter founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams; AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka; UNICEF Executive Director Anna Veneman, and at least 13 former heads of state of Latin American countries.

There are 12 areas of focus at this year’s festival: arts and culture; world affairs; the American agenda; the environment; design and sustainability; race in America; the century of biology; living digitally; ideas in education; Latin America — which is this year’s regional focus selection; global health; the next economy and the promise of “play.” New this year is a 13th focus area on women and girls.

“Looking at how women and girls are affected by political and social decisions and how women and girls affect the world has been an idea that has been growing in popularity with our attendees,” said Kitty Boone, vice president of public programs at the Aspen Institute. “Bill Clinton started us on this path a few years ago when he was at Ideas Fest and said that educating girls was the key to global success.”

Passes for the main festival are already sold out, but tickets for the public programs, which include breakfast, noontime, and evening panel discussions, film screenings and other events every day of the festival, go on sale in June.

“The public programs are a big part of what we do,” Boone said. “We sold more than 4,000 tickets to events last year, and we’ll probably have three or four public events every night this year at the festival.”

November Pitkin County Market Update

Courtesy of Land Title Guaranty Company

·         The gap is closing…..yet another month of increases over 2008 in both dollar volume and transactions!!!!

·         $81,433,876  - total dollar volume, up 26% from November 2008

·         72 total transactions, up 15% from November 2008

·         Dollars through November total $991,306,473, down 21% from same time period 2008

·         Transactions through November total 642, down 16% from same time period 2008

·         Transaction breakdown:  Aspen – 24 (33%), Snowmass Village – 21 (29%), Interval units (28%) – 20, Basalt – 4 (6%), Old Snowmass – 1 (1%), and Woody Creek – 1 (1%)

·         Fractional dollars for November total $5,494,824, up 131% from November 2008

·         Fractional units totaled 20, up 150% from November 2008

o   Hyatt Grand Aspen – 9, St. Regis – 3, Ritz Carlton Aspen Highlands – 2, Timbers Club – 2, Dancing Bear Lodge -1, Residences at Little Nell – 1, Residences at Snowmass Club - 1

·         For the year, fractional dollars total $179,363,479 – up 304% from the same time period of 2008

·         For the year, fractional units total 266 – up 32% from same time period 2008

·         Through November, the average single family home price is down 4% to $4,894,394

·         Through November, the median single family home price is down 21% to $3,250,000

     

*It is important to note that average and median prices compare full year 2008 sold data to year to date sold data derived from county records, not MLS data.

63% of Terrain Open; More Snow Expected!

Thanks to a good storm last week, the amount of open terrain at the four Aspen ski areas combined was 3,282 acres Tuesday, or 63 percent of the total.

Aspen Mountain now has 523 acres open; Aspen Highlands has 761 acres; Buttermilk has 408 acres open; and Snowmass has 1,590 acres available.

Assay Hill at Snowmass is scheduled to open today, followed by Two Creeks on Friday and Campground on Saturday, effectively opening all of Snowmass.

This is great news for all of you with plans to join us for the Christmas and New Years holidays!

November 2009 Notable Sales

3224 Castle Creek Road - $17,500,000
Castle Creek Valley

$2,108 / sqft
8,302 sqft
Five bedrooms, Five baths











1520 Tiehack - $8,250,000
Pyramid Peak

$879/ sqft
9,385 sqft.
6 bedrooms, 6 baths











200 Wingo Ranch Road - $6,000,000
Basalt

$743 / sqft
8,070 sqft; 60 acres
5 bedrooms, 5 baths







332 Gleneagles Drive - $4,000,000
Aspen Highlands

$952 / sqft
5,199 swft
3 bedrooms, 3 baths









310 Riverside Drive - $3,225,000
Basalt

$780 / sqft
5,064 sqft
5 bedrooms, 5 baths










215 W Bleeker - $3,050,000
Aspen - West End

$1,587 / sqft
2,048 sqft
3 bedrooms, 4 baths

September Pitkin County Market Analysis

 Compliments of Land Title

Summary for the month of September

•    September is the first month of the year to post increases in both dollars and transactions from 2008!
•    $128,180,662 in total dollar volume, up 27% from September 2008!
•    74 total transactions, up 21% from September 2008!
•    Dollars through September total $783,258,757, down 29% from same time period 2008
•    Transactions through September total 492, down 24% from same time period 2008
•    Aspen reported 44 transactions (59%), Interval units totaled 18 (24%), Snowmass reported 6 (8%), Basalt 3 (4%), Old Snowmass 2 (3%), Redstone 1 (1%)
•    Fractional dollars for September totaled $3,335,855, 4% from September 2008 (this is the first month of 2009 to show a decrease)
•    Fractional units for September totaled 18, up 6% from September 2008
     o Hyatt Grand Aspen – 13, Roaring Fork Club Suites – 3, St. Regis & Residences at Snowmass Club – 1
•    For the year, fractional dollars total $161,933,245, up 348% from last year, same time period
•    For the year, fractional units total 215, up 26% from 2008
•    Through September, the average single family sold price is down 3% to $4,981,740 – see page 4 for detail by area of Pitkin County
•    Through September, the median single family sold price is down 13% to $1,256,950 – see page 4 for detail by area of Pitkin County

Discounts needed to spur Aspen home sales

Average sales prices for homes are about 30 percent less than original asking prices

Scott Condon
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO Colorado

ASPEN — The recession has brought “unprecedented” discounts on real estate prices in Aspen, according to veteran brokers.

Single-family home sales prices are about 30 percent off their peak asking price from earlier this decade, while condominium prices are down about 20 percent, according to Brent Waldron, managing broker of Chaffin Light Real Estate in Aspen. That adjustment is “unprecedented” in Aspen, said Waldron, a 33-year veteran of the local real estate industry.

Examples of deep discounts abound. A five-bedroom, 8,302-square-foot luxury home called the Estate on Castle Creek sold for $17.5 million last week. It had been on the market for $25 million, so the sale price was 30 percent below the asking price. The property sold for $23.5 million in June 2007 when it was listed for $25.5 million, according to public records.

The discounts aren't just a recent development. A house at 10 S. Riverside Ave. in Aspen sold in April for $9 million — 35 percent off the $13.75 million asking price.

Sales prices were only discounted an average of about 5 percent from asking prices during the boom years of 2005 into 2008, according to Andrew Ernemann, a broker associate with B.J. Adams and Co. “All of a sudden in '09 that exploded. It got much bigger,” he said.

The good news for the local real estate industry is sellers are facing the new reality of the market and adjusting their asking prices accordingly, multiple sources in the industry said. Sales activity slowed to a trickle last fall, a trend that continued this year. That forced “motivated” sellers to drop their asking prices.

Buyers have found the adjusted asking prices a lot easier to swallow. As a result, activity has picked up the last two months.

“Sellers being realistic helps buyers feel good about pulling the trigger,” said Craig Morris, a partner at Morris and Fyrwald Real Estate in Aspen.

Waldron said the adjustment “isn't necessarily bad news for us.” Adjustments of 20 to 30 percent are spurring sales activity in Aspen-Snowmass. That's not the case in all resorts, he said. The market is forcing discounts of 40 to 50 percent elsewhere, he said. That demonstrates the ongoing strength of the Aspen market, he said.

The Roaring Fork Valley is actually experiencing two types of discounts. One is a deep discount from the original asking price — the amount set by the seller when the property first when on the market. In many cases, the original asking price was set before the full effects of the recession were felt.

The second is a less drastic discount from the current asking price — the adjusted prices set by sellers.

Ernemann undertook a detailed analysis that demonstrates the difference in the discount rates. He compared all residential sales prices in Aspen and Snowmass Village in 2009 to the current and original asking prices. One-third of all sales were discounted by 30 percent or more from their original asking price. However, only 6 percent of sales were discounted 30 percent or more from the current or adjusted sales prices.

The gap is closing considerably between buyers and sellers, Ernemann said. His analysis showed that more than 40 percent of this year's sales have been discounted less than 10 percent from the current listing price.

“Some buyers are willing to get back in the market,” he said. Investors who were waiting on the sidelines for a year or so are now starting to stir. The activity is affecting the market.

“We're starting to hit that point where it's not going up, but it's stabilized,” he said. Ernemann wants to see what happens this winter before he's willing to say prices aren't falling further.

Waldron said there is “no question” that Aspen is emerging from its trough. Sellers are realistic, and buyers recognize prices have hit bottom. And even with the unprecedented discounts, Aspen remains a high-end market. The median single-family home sales price is $5.05 million through Nov. 9 this year. The average sales price of 48 home sales is $6.97 million.

“Those are still solid numbers,” he said.

At the same point in 2007 the median sales price was $5.55 million, and the average was $6.07 million after 91 sales.

Morris said that the annual property appreciation during the boom wasn't sustainable and an adjustment was necessary. In late 2006 and early 2007 he asked himself, “Who the hell is going to pay these prices?” he said. “Not everybody is a $10 million buyer.”

Pricing adjustments in the middle and lower valley are similar to the upper valley. Wendy Lucas, owner of a real estate company bearing her name, agreed that prices came down 30 percent off their peak. However, her analysis of more than 100 sales of single-family homes, condos, townhouses and duplexes in Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and Missouri Heights shows average sales are 86 percent of original asking prices and 93 percent of adjusted asking prices.

The low discount is probably because most of the properties that are selling are priced below $500,000. “It's the low, low end of the market,” Lucas said.

Like other real estate agents, she believes the local market is emerging from the trough and there are signs of recovery. There were times in the last year when she didn't accept new listings because she didn't feel sellers were willing to price their property realistically.

“Now I'm telling them this is it, don't drop your price any lower,” Lucas said.

scondon@aspentimes.com

An Avalanche of Price Cuts

As luxury ski areas go into deep freeze, sellers capitulate to market realities

By NANCY KEATES

Wall Street Journal

10/30/09 

The hard sell has hit high-end ski areas. "ANOTHER PRICE REDUCTION!" shrieked a recent email to Aspen, Colo., real-estate agents in bold red 48-point font, advertising the fact that a large home in the exclusive community of Starwood was now asking $9.95 million, 38% less than its original $15.95 million asking price. "CONTRARY TO RUMORS, 101 STEIN IS NOT UNDER CONTRACT!" screamed another, in lime-green size 24 font, about a ski-in, ski-out townhouse now asking $4.8 million, down from $7.4 million. But the biggest shocker, says Aspen broker Pamala Steadman, was the email reporting the markdown of a mansion on Red Mountain—a prestigious area of a prestigious town—to $19.9 million from $28 million.

Prices Slashed on Ski-Resort Homes

Fall has long been considered a good time to hunt for good ski deals, from season passes to condominium rentals. But this year, the biggest discounting isn't just on lift tickets and goggles; it's on custom-built homes with views and slopeside condos with Jacuzzi tubs. "This is really unheard of," says Ms. Steadman. "Sellers are finally getting desperate."
Like the rest of the luxury real-estate market, elite ski areas initially held up better at the beginning of the housing downturn, seemingly immune from the rash of foreclosures sweeping across less-affluent communities. That was even more true at ski resorts, where land use restrictions limit inventory and buyers are often less reliant on credit. For a while, sellers just took their homes off the market.

But this summer the high-end finally hit a wall, because of the lack of financing for large "jumbo" mortgages as well as the fact that federal rescue measures only applied to lower-priced properties. According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of homes over $1 million fell 1.2% in September from a year earlier. The crunch was then exacerbated at ski resorts, where a number of projects begun before the housing bust have just been completed, says Rod Slifer, principal of Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate in Vail, Colo. "That's put extra pressure on prices," he says.
In Sun Valley, Idaho, a favorite spot for CEOs, a 12,000-square-foot home on 10 acres with a guest house and six-stall barn was reduced for the second time this month to $7.9 million, more than half off its original asking price of $17.9 million. Nearby, a newer six-bedroom home on 2.5 acres is at $6.5 million, down from $8.5 million. "Prices are much lower now," says Suzanne Williams, an agent in Ketchum, Idaho. According to the Sawtooth Board of Realtors MLS statistics, for September 2009 there were 14 home sales with a median price of $465,000 compared to 20 sales with a median price of $830,000 in September 2008.

Prices also fell sharply this summer in Jackson Hole, Wyo., known for its steep slopes and rugged feel. According to the Teton Board of Realtors MLS, nine homes sold with a median price of $800,000 this past September, compared to 12 sales and a median price of $1.3 million in September 2008 and 19 sales and a median price of $1.04 million in 2007.

Park City, Utah, a popular destination with a mix of high and moderately priced homes, has shown some signs of stabilization. The number of homes sold as of August of this year was the same, 50, as it was by August 2008, an improvement over the winter. But pricey Upper Deer Valley is still struggling. "I'm willing to go another year," says Craig Mogel, a developer in Deer Valley who initially listed a home he built at $9.95 million in the fall of 2007 and reduced the price by $1 million a year later.

Nowhere is the fire sale hotter than in Aspen, where four homes were sold in September of 2009 with a total value of $24.2 million, down from 11 homes sold in September 2007 with a total value of $71.8 million, according to MLS statistics from the Aspen Board of Realtors. "There are unbelievable bargains now," says Carol Dopkin, of Carol Dopkin Real Estate.

Ms. Dopkin is representing the house in Starwood that's down to $9.95 million. It is a top-to-bottom eight-year renovation of a 9,900-square-foot, seven-bedroom home on six acres with a four-stall barn and a guest house. Owner Debi Roblin Cook, who lives in Hawaii, says the current price is less than the amount she and her recently deceased husband put into the redo. "There's been some interest, but it's like people almost want you to give it away," she says, declining to say whether she would further reduce the price if the home fails to sell. She says she did get an offer a few years ago for $16 million which she now regrets rejecting.
Some agents think the market will pick up in the winter, traditionally high season. Developer and real-estate agent Sallie Golden and her partner finished a 6,000-square-foot home on 910 W. North St. in Aspen's West End in September. When the property sat unsold at $10 million, she dropped the price to $6.8 million. She received three serious offers and finally closed on a deal last week.

Meanwhile, the emails directed to brokers (and their clients) keep on coming. In October a brand new, four-bedroom, four-bathroom condo in the heart of Aspen originally at $8 million fell to $5.5 million. "PRICE REDUCTION!" the 24-point font bellowed. "FURNISHED!"