Summit County division of Slifer Smith & Frampton also sets a record for the year with $232 million in sales
Avon, CO (October 2006) –Slifer Smith & Frampton, the Vail Valley’s premier real estate firm, is pleased to announce a sales record for the company of $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2005/2006. This is the second straight year the company has exceeded the billion dollar mark (by comparison, during the company’s first year of operation in 1994, Slifer Smith & Frampton completed $364 million worth of sales).“The Vail Valley and Summit County real estate markets have been very active during the past 24 months for a number of reasons, with the number one reason still the incredible beauty of our state,” said Jim Flaum President and Managing Broker of Slifer Smith & Frampton. “Experiencing the mountain lifestyle is now more desirable than ever. With quality development happening throughout Summit County and the Vail Valley, as well as amenities and service that can’t be beat anywhere in the world, the Colorado high country continues to be a choice destination for people throughout the world.”The Summit County division of Slifer Smith & Frampton also recorded a record fiscal year, with $232 million in sales. The division’s previous sales record was set last year with $210 million in sales. Eric Thompson, the managing broker for the Summit County division, credited increased skier visits, investment in local ski areas and strong buyer interest.“The market is quite healthy across all price ranges and people are actively purchasing primary and vacation homes throughout Summit County,” said Thompson. “In fact, home sales in the overall Summit County market are up by 19 percent over last year. I am very confident in this market because there are several key fundamentals at work for property owners here: the four ski resorts in the County have seen significant increases in their skier visits over the last few years; the ski resort owners have been investing huge amounts of money into improving the ski mountains; the Baby Boomers are now reaching the time in their life when they want to own vacation property, and, probably most important, there isn’t much land left to develop here. Summit County is essentially an island surrounded by an ocean of National Forest.”As a result of record setting sales, Flaum also points out that available inventory is beginning to level off. Slifer Smith & Frampton reports show that there are approximately 950 available residential listings today in the Vail Valley “Because the focus is on quality development in the mountains – as it should be – there simply isn’t as much land left to build on in mountain resorts, and the land that is available must go through a very difficult entitlement process before development can begin,” said Flaum. “This is impacting the numbers of properties that are available now, or in the future.”Slifer Smith & Frampton has been the most trusted name in Colorado real estate for over 40 years.