Breckenridge Colorado is one of the most popular destination ski resorts in the world attracting over 1.5 million skier visits per year. And with a wide variety of film, music, theatre, and arts and crafts related events as well as all of the outdoor activities that the Rocky Mountains have to offer besides skiing, Breckenridge is a true four seasons destination resort. As a resort market, many considering the purchase of Breckenridge real estate do so with potential rental income as their primary criterion while shopping for property.
Individuals considering the purchase of a Breckenridge single family home as a rental investment property should determine if they prefer to rent the home to visiting tourists for short stays or to rent the home on an annual or seasonal lease basis. Potential Breckenridge house buyers should also consider whether they would like to use the services of a rental management company or to rent the home directly themselves. This is because Breckenridge homes which may not be of interest to local rental management companies for the purposes of short term tourist bookings may still have fairly good rental potential on a longer term lease basis or as a Breckenridge "by owner" vacation rental property.
Sleeping capacity is one of the main criteria that rental management companies will look at when considering a single family home in the Breckenridge Colorado area for short term rental purposes. All else being equal, larger homes with greater sleeping capacity are typically more appealing to Breckenridge rental management companies than smaller homes. Other criteria to be considered include proximity to the Breckenridge Ski Resort and the town of Breckenridge and whether or not the property is on one of the free public shuttle routes. Age and overall quality of an individual home and its amenities such as hot tubs, home entertainment centers, pool tables, etc. also attract the attention of rental management companies and help generate repeat visits by guests regardless of whether or not the property is being managed by a local booking company or being rented on a "by owner" vacation rental basis.
All of these same criteria apply when rental management companies consider a multi-family residence (i.e. condo, town house, triplex, etc.) except for sleeping capacity. In fact, studio condos are one of the most popular lodging options for Breckenridge rental management companies, visiting guests, and therefore Breckenridge investment property buyers alike.
Most rental management companies in Breckenridge Colorado focus on short term tourist rentals and will not accept into their rental management inventories most single family homes in Breckenridge that would sell for less than $600K. This is because such homes are typically smaller and older than the average Breckenridge home and are not located within walking distance of the Breckenridge Ski Resort chair-lifts or town of Breckenridge downtown area. Even Breckenridge homes on one of the the free public shuttle routes within this price range are few and far between.
But, there could be exceptions to this $600K rule, especially when it comes to homes located north of Breckenridge, between Breckenridge and Frisco. If a home with a value of less than $600K in this area has great mountain views, a private hot tub, easy winter access, and is of good overall quality, it could be of interest to Breckenridge rental management companies for the purposes of short term rentals (i.e. tourist bookings). One would have inquire with the property management companies in Breckenridge to see which might be interested in taking such a home into their inventory and what they would estimate its rental potential to be.
Also, many Breckenridge homes that are not of interest to local rental management companies can still generate rental income on "by owner" vacation rental web sites and/or they can be rented on a longer term annual or seasonal lease basis.
With all of this said, if rental income is the primary criterion for someone considering the purchase of Breckenridge real estate for less than $600K, a condo or townhome is at the very least worth considering as the revenue generated from such a property will often be greater than that of a comparably priced single family home.
As a general statement, sale prices of Breckenridge homes and condos have been effected by the market downturn of recent years in a similar manner. However, to be more specific:
1) Larger, and therefore more expensive, single family homes have been somewhat more effected by the market downturn than smaller and less expensive homes. As of May 06, 2011 there were 218 single family homes on the market in the Breckenridge area. Of these, only 44 were priced under $600K. Within the previous year, there had been 171 single family home sales in the Breckenridge area and 53 of them sold for $600K or less. This means that within the under $600K price range, the supply of available homes and the demand for them is fairly well balanced with less than a one year supply currently on the market. In the over $600K price range, the market is over supplied which has more of a downward pressure on price.
2) Looking at the multi-family residence (i.e. condo, town house, triplex, etc.) market in a similar manner, as of May 06, 2011 there were 364 multi-family residences for sale in the Breckenridge area with 282 having sold in the previous 12 months. Within the under $600K price range, there were 227 active listings and 182 sales in the previous 12 months. Therefore, there is well over a 12 month supply of available listings in both the over and under $600K price ranges.
To summarize, the under $600K single family home segment of the Breckenridge residential real estate market is the strongest segment of the market when analyzed in the above supply vs. demand manner. It is also the segment of the Breckenridge real estate market with the least potential for short term rental income generated through Breckenridge based rental management companies.
It is also worth noting that the Breckenridge multi-family residence market has experiencing something of a resurgence in demand with sales up threefold from the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2011. If this trend continues through the rest of 2011, Breckenridge condos, town homes, and other multi-family residences could lead the price recovery of the Breckenridge real estate market. And potential appreciation is always a consideration for any Breckenridge investment property buyer.
Copyright 2011 - All rights reserved by Ted Amenta
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Living in Breckenridge Colorado since 1992 and a Breckenridge Real Estate Broker since 1998, Ted Amenta is the Broker/Owner of Amenta Real Estate specializing in Breckenridge investment property as well as 2nd home and vacation real estate throughout Summit County Colorado. Summit County Colorado is home to the ski areas of Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Copper Mountain as well as the nearby towns of Frisco, Dillon, Silverthorne, Blue River, Wildernest, and Heeney.
