Greetings,

Historically, the Telluride regional real estate market has never had a lot of transactions monthly nor annually. Up until the Pandemic Market, the number of annual sales in San Miguel County would range from about 500 to 600. During the pandemic they surged to 700 to 900 annually. For the first two months of 2023 the combined total number of sales was 48. The number of sales in the month of March was 38, a very big jump with $74.57 million in sales. Since Telluride has become an expensive market over the last decade and very expensive during the pandemic, it seems that the wealthy have strongly jumped back in the market in March. That may be due to two things. One, they still like the beauty and privacy of the Telluride region and the alternative investment choices in the stock market and secondly, global economies just look too scary. 

I’ve said in the past that one can’t really predict what annual sales might be like until you have seen a full quarter sales report. This year’s volatility means even a quarter of sales isn’t enough of a track record to guess at the rest of the year. Resort property purchases are typically a luxury, not a necessity. Hence, this year’s sales predictions are mostly ‘put your seat belt on and enjoy the ride’. Click here for the March market report. 

First Quarter 2023 Sales Review: For the first time I can remember, the amount of inventory available for sale in the twelve major categories that we track is the same on March 31st this year as it was on December 31st of last year at 199 properties. Of course, some of the categories were up a little in inventory and some down a little in available properties for sale. Click here to view that one-page report. 

Vail Sales for the First Quarter 2023: The average price per square foot of a single-family home in Eagle County (Vail area) has gone up 8% in the first quarter. That being said, both dollar volume and the number of sales in the Vail market are down 40% this year. We also see this same trend in Aspen and Jackson Hole too. 

National Home Sales: March sales of single-family homes in the U.S. was up 9.6%, the highest level in nearly a year. This surge was most prevalent in the Northeast where new home sales jumped a massive 171% in the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2022. This region performed poorly compared to the rest of the country for the last three years. You would think there must be some good deals there. 

Where are the cheapest states to buy a home? Click here to see the top ten lowest priced states for a home purchase as well as the top ten most expensive states. Noteworthy: the cheapest home price in the country in 2022 was Galesburg, Illinois where the median home price last year was $90,000. That could be the amount of earnest money for some transactions in Telluride.  

This month’s Visual Capitalist: In this visualization, the Visual Capitalist explores Which Jobs Will Be Most Impacted by ChatGPT?  OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, have authored a research paper that tries to predict the impact of AI on the job market. READ MORE  

Ten Fun Facts mostly about Real Estate:

1. There are now over 50,000 self-storage units in the U.S. - more than all the Subway, Dollar General and CVS locations combined. 
2. Colorado has 4.4 million registered voters and only 2.5 million voted in the last governor race. How did your state do?
3. After the massive Urban Exodus in 2020 though June 30, 2022, urban populations in the U.S. have stabilized. 
4. In 1992, three million passports were issued, and 18 million Americans had one. In 2022, 22 million passports were issued and 152 million Americans had one. 
5. The price for virtual real estate has dropped 90% in the last twelve months. Tangible real estate is doing pretty well. 
6. In the first quarter of 2023, 18% of auto lenders began tightening their lending standards and 19% of credit card lenders are doing the same. 
7. Until the late 1970’s there were never more than two NFL players that weighed more than 300 lbs. At the end of 2022, there were 468 NFL players that weighed 300 lbs or more. 
8. Construction employment is at a 50-year high and some large construction companies say they have enough work booked to maintain payroll for the next decade. 
9. In the past twelve years, Denver rents have doubled from a median of $853 per month ten years ago to a median of $1,783 a month last year. 
10. The total number of National Historic Landmark Districts in Colorado - Six. Telluride is one of them. Pretty special!

Real Estate Question of the Month: Is personal property if included transferred from the seller to the buyer by checking a box in the Real Estate Contract? 

Answer: No. Personal Property is transferred by a Bill of Sale, a separate document to be executed by the seller and the buyer. 

Quoted in the Press: We are most grateful for having our market information quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Post, the Colorado Sun newspaper, the Telluride Daily Planet, The Aspen Times newspaper, and numerous other local newspapers all across Colorado. Thank you!      

As always, thank you for taking time to read the Tellugram. If you have any questions as a seller, buyer or just curious reader, we’ll do our best to give you a straightforward answer. Contact us at George@TheHarveyTeam.net or on George’s cell phone number 970-729-0111.  

Quote: "One person can be a crucial ingredient on a team; but one person cannot make a team" – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Best to you,

George Harvey, Jr.