The talk as of late here at Prudential Steamboat Realty and around the MLS has been of a market stabilization. It's interesting to take a look at the sales we've seen in recent weeks and try to get a feel for what the market is doing.
The Boyd Team has been lucky enough to have a good variety of closings over the last quarter. Our recently closed properties include a Stagecoach townhome, a luxury duplex near the Rollingstone Ranch Golf Course, a 2-bedroom Canyon Creek condominium near the mountain base, a 3-bedroom home in Steamboat for $950,000 and several others. We've currently got a 3-story home under contract for over $1 million and a Walton Village Condo pending for less than $200,000. As we examine our sales for the last few months it seems consistent with what we're generally seeing in the Steamboat Springs real estate market as a whole.
The Steamboat Pilot reported yesterday that a cross section of recent sales demonstrates a "market in transition" and points out a similar pattern of closings of all varieties. A rural home, a luxury home, a home in Hayden and undeveloped land near Clark were all represented in a sales snapshot taken last Wednesday.
We're starting to see buyers once again enter the market and there is optimism in the air as we look at a recent surge in transaction volume. After nearly 2 years of declining quarterly sales, the 3rd quarter of 2009 was the second quarter in a row where the Steamboat real estate number of sales has increased over the last.
One benefit of increased activity in the market is that many of the distressed properties we've had available over the summer months are now being sold. With these properties being pulled from the pool, current offerings now stand a better chance of holding their value. It's been tough to sell even a competitively priced property when the neighbor down the street is offered as a short sale or foreclosed property.