“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!” Steamboat celebrated Christmas in July, as an anonymous and generous donor contracted on 536 acres of land on the western boundary of the city of Steamboat Springs. The Yampa Valley Housing Authority – Routt County’s affordable housing agency is the recipient of this extraordinary gift. This transaction completed in August with a purchase price of $24,000,000. This closing arises after a twice-failed venture by previous developers on the same site. And so, begins the laborious job of the Housing Authority to embark upon a comprehensive development for a locals’ community- to include much needed affordable & deed restricted housing.

If one were to look only at August’s year over year decrease of pending sales/sold listings, which for single-family was -28.6%/-22.6% and -50%/52.6% for multi-family; you might think the market was changing. However, when we look at the reduced new listings/active listings which are -14.3%/-53.9% for houses and -19.3%/-55.5% for townhomes/condos, we can see that the lack of inventory is what is slowing the market.  Demand is still evident with Days on Market for both single & multi-family teetering around 30 days and Months Supply at two months for houses and almost one-month townhomes/condos.

Like many places in the country, the low-standing inventory has buyers frustrated as they lose to multiple-offer situations, cash offers or simply find themselves waiting longer than they were wanting to wait to get a suitable property. Some may even begin to feel that it is never going to happen- although, as the wise editor of New York’s Sun told Virginia, “…your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see.”  Skepticism aside if Buyers believe, are patient and persistent, then it can still ultimately happen.

Similar to other mountain communities, Steamboat finds itself in its own short-term rental discussion with city council. Professional property rental companies encourage licensing, permitting and enforcement – something many of the other mountain towns have already enacted. Covid is also being blamed for our housing shortage; yet the reality is that construction ceased for a number of years during the Great Recession and during the recovery, most new construction was in the upper spectrum of the market. As we look towards the development of our west-end local’s community, we all acknowledge that it cannot happen fast enough. We look for a collaborative effort between the Housing Authority and for the city to remove construction barriers that could impede the process. Steamboat’s second homeowner community is a vital and important component to our town – they support our non-profits and our small business owners and they do so because they love Routt County and want to feel a part of us.

Note: August 2021 statistics & info provided via the Colorado Association of Realtors with credit to the Sun Editorial.