October sales numbers continue to reflect a very strong and balanced real estate market in the Vail Valley. Sales dollar volume at the end of October was 15% over 2006, which in itself tallied over $2.7 billion in sales. Led by the high-end niche of the market, and with very strong showing activity through the early season, I expect us to establish a new record by year's end.

Our sales trends fly in the face of everything one reads in the national headlines, yet tend to hold true throughout the intermountain west, as well as in luxury markets such as Beverly Hills, Newport Beach and Palm Beach. Each of these high-end markets attract a clientele that is not overly impacted by interest rate fluctuations, stock market volatility, etc. In fact, many astute individuals view luxury resort areas such as the Vail Valley as a “safe haven” in which to place a portion of their funds.

The activity in our market continues to be fueled in large part by demographics. The Baby Boomer Generation is now coming into its peak years for acquiring second and third homes, and this trend will continue well into the future. Further fueling our growth is the largest transfer of wealth ever recorded from one generation to another, which has already started taking place and will continue for many years to come. In spite of its recent ups-and-downs, the stock market has created significant wealth over the past few years, and many high net worth individuals are now taking their profits and shifting money into areas such as luxury real estate. The tech market is also rebounding nicely, and is creating a new wave of substantial wealth. Google’s recent stock price of over $700/share, up 34% since mid-September, is but one recent example. And lastly, the growing international economy is creating significant new wealth in areas such as India. When combined with the current state of the weak dollar, luxury property has become even more attractive to foreign buyers.

Overall, I look at the current uncertainties as having a nominal impact on the high end of our market. Looking back over the past twenty years, we have successfully ridden through storms that many pundits had predicted would derail our real estate market. “Black Monday” in 1987… the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990… the Asian financial crises in 1997… the tech market meltdown in 2000… the September 11 attacks… the rash of accounting/corporate scandals in 2002… and the outbreak of the second Iraq war… each of these events could have reasonably been expected to have a negative impact on Vail Valley real estate. Yet the overall trend in our market has been one of strong activity and growth.

One interesting comparison to consider is as follows… in 1987, Eagle County tallied approximately $251 million in real estate sales and 1,326 transactions, which was considered a big year. In 2006, we accomplished $2.75 billion in sales, and over 3,100 transactions!

In summary, Beaver Creek and Bachelor Gulch are essentially built-out, and Vail will soon follow suit upon completion of our $2 billion “renaissance” currently taking place. When combined with the growing demand for premium resort properties, our future remains very bright. While past results do not guarantee future success, I can say that all the pieces are in place to help ensure that we will enjoy many, many years of strong market activity.