Getting your player ready...
Around 67 million years ago, give or take a million, a fault that ran through present-day Golden, south through Morrison and Ken Caryl Valley, began dividing the Denver landscape. To the east were layers of sediments dating from 400 million years; while to the west, 1.7 billion year-old rock was thrusting up from below, set to form a new mountain range cresting a mile above the flatlands.
Along the same ridges where geologists read the chapters of that upheaval, real estate agents like Alison Brennan and Cara George are tracking changes in the early 2013 market. In midyear, when the pair began negotiating to list a stunning 2009 custom home poised right along that divide, there were 14 homes listed in rock-scaped Willow Springs. By year end when George’s and Brennan’s sign went up in front of the home, it had become one of only four on the market. All over Denver, analysts have seen a drastic drop in inventory, mostly below $500,000; however, at higher ranges, particularly over $1 million, the market stayed stratified, held in place by a loss in value that sellers suffered after the 2008-09 meltdown. But now along the western ridges, where red rocks form the most dramatic settings for homes, agents say high-end buyers are breaking out from their reticence. “I can tell you with confidence that a good house with recent updates is going very quickly,” says Re/Max Professionals agent Eva Stadelmaier, who specializes in Ken-Caryl Valley – ground-zero in the Cretaceous age battle of the rocks, where buyers find attractive homes sandwiched between super-scenic outcrops. Stadelmaier, who sold $24 million worth in 2012, was involved in three Valley sales each over $1 million in recent months. “I had to fight for my client to get $1.4 million,” she recalled of the most recent, backing to open space along the uplift — originally listed at $1.375 million before a bidding war broke out with two other potential buyers. “The good ones on the open space are going now,” Stadelmaier adds. “People want to be on this side of town because it’s closer to the mountains. A Wash Park listing is always going to go quickly, but I’m now seeing buyers coming here from areas like Wash Park and DU.” A few miles north in Golden, where during your tour you can stop by Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum for a mile-long trek that shows seven uplifted layers including dinosaur tracks, Fuller Sotheby’s agent Debbie Zucker is reading just how few million-dollar homes are on the market now, from north of Golden south to Morrison Road: just nine, one under contract. Over the past six months, sales are up, days-on-market are down, and sale price is now around 90 percent of list. She has one of those homes open this weekend in Mesa View, with a view of downtown from the side of Green Mountain near Sixth Avenue. The home in Mesa View Estates is a former Parade of Homes model, 7,496 feet with six bedrooms, at $1.215 million. “I’ve sold everything else I had,” Zucker adds, noting that she’s working on another six listings she expects in coming months. “I have quite a few empty nesters with great homes, on great lots, that weren’t thinking of selling before,” she adds. “Now they’re asking ‘What do we need to do?'” You can also view one of Eva Stadelmaier’s three listings she has in Ken Caryl Valley; and that custom home Cara George and Alison Brennan, with Re/Max Professionals, have in Willow Springs: built by Summit Chalet off U.S. 285 at Colo. 8, near The Fort restaurant. It’s a main-floor master with a view through the hogback to downtown, showing dramatic finishes including a finished walkout with elaborate bar and wine cellar, $1.199 million.303-916-8940 WHERE: 28 Black Bear Ln., Ken Caryl Valley/Littleton; from 470 take Ken Caryl west 1 mi. to N. Ranch Rd., right 1 mi. to Black Bear. PRICE: $999,000 WHEN: Sat 2-4 p.m. PHONE: Eva Stadelmaier 303-619-4880 Mark Samuelson writes on real estate and business; you can email him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com. You can see all of Mark Samuelson’s columns at DenverPost.com/RealEstate. Follow Mark Samuelson on Twitter: @marksamuelson