Dive Brief:
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2014 was “a year of unprecedented growth” for U.S. ski resorts and the towns that surround them, according to World Property Journal.
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Aspen recorded the largest volume of residential sales of any ski town last year, with $1.1 billion worth of sales. Construction also wrapped up on the mountain town’s first new downtown condominium building since the recession.
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The two priciest residential sales in ski communities last year each closed for $20 million, in Aspen and at Montana’s Yellowstone Club. Another big sale near the slopes: Oprah Winfrey paid $10.85 million for an estate in Telluride, where neighbor Tom Cruise has put his property on the market for $59 million.
Dive Insight:
When ski resorts do well, so do the surrounding communities. A case in point: Within six weeks after the $182.5 million purchase of Park City Mountain Resort in Utah by Vail Resorts, which has promised $50 million in upgrades, condo sales in Park City soared by 71% when compared to the year before. The inventory of homes for sale also jumped 43%, according to a study of the market after the transaction.