Welcome back winter! We've received almost two feet of new snow in Aspen the past week. I enjoyed a spectacular powder day on the back-side of Aspen Mountain yesterday with friends; it doesn't get better. The conditions are so good now, and only getting better with more snow expected the next ten days. We're settling into a nice March winter storm pattern, bring it on! Aspen is much happier when we have fresh snow! I want to invite you to join my friend John Sarpa and I for an Open House Ski Day tomorrow, Friday, February 27th at Ashcroft from 2-4 pm. Come see the new Ashcroft Adventure Loge Arrival and Retail Center, formally the King Cabin, and enjoy Sherpa Stew, cocktails, music and a giveaway for dinner for two at Pine Creek Cookhouse. Please RSVP, so we don't run out of food!
Here is a brief recap of last week's real estate sales activity. There were three sales in Aspen, the highest sale, which was listed by me and never made it to MLS, was at 1417 Sierra Vista Drive, and sold last week for $2,950,000, $714 sold price per sq. ft. It went under contract before it even got entered into MLS, Cemetery Lane is a hot market right now. Two properties went under contract in the last two weeks on Cemetery Lane. Recently listed by Aspen Snowmass Sotheby's International Realty, 950 Cemetery Lane, went under contract on February 19 and 1134 Cemetery Lane, listed by Coldwell Banker Mason Morse went under contract on February 13. Both properties were listed less than three weeks ago.
The downtown Aspen central core market is as hot as it has ever been. The disparity between the downtown core, Red Mountain and West End markets and the periphery is incredible. The discount for Snowmass has never been bigger. We are starting to see the core activity spill over to West Aspen and beyond with the recent Cemetery Ln. pending sales and closings. Cemetery Lane is Aspen's best family neighborhood with nordic skiing access, free bus and and easy ride or walk via the Cemetery Ln. Pedestrian path to town or the schools. That's where my wife and I would eventually love to end up with our family. Another interesting trend I wanted to point out is that the Average Agent Days on Market of the recent Aspen sales is way up across the board which means the inventory is getting picked over and now things that have been listed for a while are trading. Inventory of downtown condos is down more than 20% today. I put another downtown Aspen core condo that I just listed under contract in two days, which also never made it to MLS. I'm close on another that also isn't in MLS; that's the advantage of working with a broker that is 100% committed and attends all open houses and communicates regularly with buyer/sellers and the brokerage community. I'm here full-time and ready to help you.
[caption id="attachment_661" align="alignleft" width="600"] 1417 Sierra Vista Drive at Cemetery Lane in Aspen, Colorado[/caption]
Upcoming Events
This Saturday, I will be racing in the Audi Power of Four SkiMo Race. It's a 25 mile race, with an 11,600 vertical gain, to the top of Snowmass, Buttermilk, Highlands and Aspen Mountains. Follow the race on Twitter and Instagram at #PowerofFour. Wish me luck! Have a fun weekend ahead. Book your trips to Aspen Snowmass now for March - it's so much fun here now, and only getting better!
Chris Klug
[caption id="attachment_658" align="alignleft" width="600"] Power of Four SkiMo Race Jon Gibans & Chris Klug 2013[/caption]