Vail Real Estate: $1.2 Billion and CountingBy Cliff Thompson, Eagle County CorrespondentThis article was originally published in the Summit Daily News
EAGLE COUNTY, CO-Frenetic sales of entry-level housing drove June's sales to a new record - $275.4 million.
That eclipses the previous June mark of $158.7 million by better than 50 percent and takes the year-to-date total to $1.2 billion in sales, according to statistics reported by Land Title.
The county's sales mirrored the national trend. Real estate sales records were set across the country in June, according to a report issued by the National Association of Realtors.
In Eagle County, continued low interest rates and the availability of entry-level properties - those priced at less than $1 million - have sparked the boom. Sales of those homes accounted for 61 percent - or 226 of 370 - transactions in June.
A total of 1,839 transactions were logged at the midway point of the year. That's 476 more sales than last year at the midway point.
Sales of homes priced at $3 million and more were a little slower than in the past - there were nine.
That disparity between the number of entry-level homes sold and the nine sold in the $3 million to $5 million range is attributable to fewer people in the upper crust, industry professionals said.
"It's totally normal," said Jim Flaum of Slifer, Smith & Frampton Real Estate. "There's lots more people who can afford to buy a home priced under $1 million than over."
The difference may in fact be due to the acceleration of sales of entry-level properties instead of a slowing at the high end, Flaum said.