It's hard to believe that another mountain summer is nearing its unofficial end with Labor Day weekend upon us. Kids are back in school up here as of this week and traffic is a little quieter during the middle of the day. However, the summer fun is not yet over!
Our trails are in great shape - we’ve had some much needed rain this month and the midday sun is delightful. There is still boating to be done, golf to be played, hikes to be hiked and single track to be biked. If you ask a local, you’ll probably hear that this time of year is better than the heart of summer.
There is also a buzz in the air that continues and that buzz (or noise, if you will) is called construction! It’s not only market real estate going vertical, it is also lots of infrastructure and commercial projects happening throughout the county. The “halfway pathway” sidewalk project in Granby will be completed in September. This project started in 2013 but lacked the funding to continue the sidewalk (hence the “halfway” moniker) that parallels highway 40 between the town of Granby and Thompson Road (aka City Market/Grand Elk entrance). A federal grant was awarded to fund the bulk of this wonderful new amenity.
Another amazing, new, commercial project completed just in time for back-to-school is the new Granby Elementary school adjacent to the middle and high school.
On the Winter Park/Fraser town line, there is rapid dirt work, utility boring and metal beams being erected to construct the new Middle Park Medical Center satellite campus. This building is tucked behind Pine Tree Plaza at the southeast corner of the Grand Park subdivision.
As for other new market projects, you’ll find Granby Ranch working on a number of new projects including Granby Meadows Townhomes near the hospital with the first phase slated for completion later this fall - prices start in the low 500s. This is only one of many at Granby Ranch underway.
In Fraser, building continues at Rendezvous and Grand Park for both multi family and single family units. In Rendezvous, there have been 35 townhome sales year to date (out of 69 total townhomes sold in the WP area). Many of these were brand new construction, but there were some resales in the mix as well. This sector of the market is up 86% over this time last year in sales volume!
Winter Park has several new projects in progress and soon-to-be-completed. At Arrow (condos and townhomes) along Highway 40, they are wrapping up construction of the final phase of 20 units. 13 of those units are sold and starting to close with only 7 remaining in the project. Headwaters Condos, adjacent to the Headwaters Center, will be completing construction mid to late fall as well. Whistlestop Townhomes, off Lions Gate, offer very spacious townhomes - the first three units have sold with 7 available and currently under construction. Reunion Lofts marketing release will be happening soon (located on 40 near the post office) so stay tuned for details on those. All of the above mentioned projects are exclusively listed with your friends at Real Estate of Winter Park.
And while inventory is up across the board, not only in Grand County, but around the state, numbers are still favorable year over year for those invested in real estate. Single family, condo and townhome volume is up in the greater Winter Park area. In Granby, single family homes, vacant land and townhomes all exceed last years’ volume. Grand Lake has had strong, but flat, sales compared to 2023.
If you’re thinking of buying, don’t wait for rates to come down too much or you may find yourself in a bidding war much like years past. Many sellers are willing to negotiate but may not be down the road when supply starts to dwindle again. Take advantage of great loan programs that are out there which could be an ARM or may involve an interest rate buy down. Call us- we’ll fill you in on the competitive products our hungry lender friends are offering. Enjoy this transitional season which offers so much goodness and fun. Leaf peeping will be here in the next couple of weeks so make your plans to visit us very soon!
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