First, Aspen; now, Basalt
Small nearby town fetching $1 million for homes.
An Excerpt from THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 23, 2006

ASPEN - The playgrounds for the rich keep getting bigger.  These days, it takes a million dollars to buy into Basalt, a small town about 16 miles away from ritzy Aspen, according to an analysis by real estate agent Wendy Lucas of Aspen.  ‘‘The prices are getting higher and higher,’’ Lucas said.  Also, the appreciation is so rapid right now that the seller of a new home cannot set a price based on recent sales of comparable properties, she said.

Her research demonstrated that point:  The median price of the 27 single-family homes that sold in and around Basalt through mid-May was $695,000. The median price of 19 homes currently under contract in that same area is $899,000. The median asking price for the 19 homes currently listed for sale is $1,195,000.

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It’s not a case of sellers reaching for the stars. They are getting what they seek.

‘‘This is an absolute sellers’ market,’’ said Matt Harrington, co-owner of Harrington Real Estate, along with his wife, Terry. ‘‘It’s the very definition of a sellers’ market.

‘‘There’s been a frenzy created from lack of supply and high demand,’’ he added.

Terry said conditions have changed drastically in the mid-valley in the past six months.  Median prices aside, there still are opportunities in the Basalt area for less than $1 million, Terry said.

But any single family home under $400,000 to $450,000 ‘‘is unheard-of anymore,’’ she said. Any home listed for less than $500,000 receives at least one offer, and often several, the same day it goes on the market, according to the Harringtons.

Open houses can draw three times as many brokers as a few months ago because homes to sell are in such short supply. While the appreciation is welcome news for sellers and most people who already own property, it also pushes the Basalt area out of the realm of affordability for workers.

At a recent public meeting, Garfield County Commissioner Tresi Houpt had this observation: ‘‘Aspen has the billionaires, Basalt has the millionaires, and we’ve got the working stiffs.’’

In Garfield County. Lucas said it is undeniable that working people are getting shut out of Basalt now based on the median prices of homes under contract and listed. Townhouse and condominium prices are also skyrocketing. Lucas said she has a one-bedroom condo at Willits under contract for $315,000.

Four months ago, it would have listed for $250,000, she said. The sales prices of comparable Columbine townhouses in Basalt jumped $100,000 in one month, the Harringtons noted.

‘‘I have seen very active markets before but this is the most active I’ve seen by far,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘It shows that people have discovered Basalt.’’

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