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Greetings,
July was the clearest breakout month of 2026. County-wide dollar volume reached $102.09 million – the first month above $100 million in the last six years and 69% above the last five-year July average. However, dollar volume expanded much faster than the number of transactions. The number of transactions in July was down 7% since January 1st of this year. At the same time, asking prices in the bottom 70% of the market continue to fall almost daily, as this segment is more sensitive to rising mortgage rates. Click here for the Telluride Consulting July report.
August sales for Telluride, Mountain Village and the region continue the same trend since January this year. Fewer sales with bigger prices. Year-to-date through August dollar amount of sales was $602.3 million, up 18% over 2025 with the number of transactions being 265, down 8%. The average sales price for 2026 so far is $2.27 million, nearly 30% above last year. August was heavily influenced by the sale of Hidden Rocks Ranch on Hastings Mesa for $38 million. It is a 1,576-acre ranch in a very private location with extensive luxury improvements. This transaction was approximately 35% of all San Miguel County’s dollar amount of sales for August. The Town of Telluride dollar amount of sales was up 56% for the year with the Mountain Village dollar amount of sales being nearly flat for the year. Click here for the Telluride Consulting August report.
“Market Data is not Market Understanding” - Cooper Thayer. Who is Cooper Thayer? He is a friend of mine, a talented Denver real estate broker and the author of a new book called “Mastering Market Trends: A Field Guide to Understanding and Interpreting Real Estate Data”, now available on Amazon. The reason I’m endorsing this book is because of Cooper’s quote above. For 40 years I’ve been reading the best of the best real estate market reports all over this country, but especially in western United States luxury resort markets like Aspen, Vail, and Jackson Hole. Reading the data is different from understanding the data trends, where those markets have been over the last 30 years and trying to predict where they are going.
Having lived through the Great Recession and the Booming Pandemic Market I can truly say that I did not see either coming. Yes, there were ‘hints’ but not enough to see ‘around the corner’. That being said, I have some serious concerns where the overall United States economy is headed. Too much national debt, the hollowing out of the middle class and trying to figure out the future whims of the ultra-wealthy. One thing I know is that the wealthy are smart, most made their own money and did not inherit it. How can we see around the corner and predict how 2027 might look for the above luxury resort markets? Send me your thoughts if so inclined. 😊
AI Trends: I recently had a client price his own home using AI. AI doesn’t know the Telluride market better than me with 40+ years of experience listing and selling real estate in the Telluride region. Nevertheless, I did use AI to second guess what to list this property for and we weren’t very far apart. What that did make me think about is what was unique and special about this home that could appeal to a buyer. AI doesn’t know that. In my opinion, the special qualities of a property are the most important. Another friend of mine, Aspen long-time real estate broker, Krista Klees, with the Palladium Group recently said this: Buyers aren’t simply comparing houses anymore. They’re comparing lifestyles. Can I walk to town? How easy is it to get to the ski slopes? What are the views like? Is there enough privacy? Can I comfortably host family and friends? Is there a good outdoor living area? Is there a space for working remotely? Those questions can matter as much as square footage or the number of bedrooms. Krista hit the nail on the head. Buyers are shopping for lifestyles, and every buyer has some special lifestyle requirements that are important to them. A good broker will listen more than talk!
National Real Estate News: Below you will find more national real estate news than normal. We’re trying to read the ‘tea leaves’ together.
- The first-time buyer is now 40 years old. Only 21% of all buyers are first-time buyers. Before the Greal Recession, about 40% of all buyers were first-time home buyers.
- The number of foreign buyers is down 19.1% in the last year. The number of properties they bought in the last 15 months is the lowest since the National Association of REALTORS began tracking that data several decades ago.
- The typical U.S. home is 44 years old and the repair bills are stacking up. America’s housing stock is the oldest on record.
- Homes priced at $250,000 and below are the weakest in sales while homes from $750,000 and up posted double-digit growth last year.
- Last year, total home sales nationally fell 8.5% year-over-year, while cash sales dropped 11.2%.
- Berkshire Hathaway has purchased the fourth largest homebuilder in the U.S. that specializes in factory-built houses and building materials. The Berkshire CEO says this is one of their longtime goals of making homeownership accessible to as many people as possible.
- Mortgage rates are up for the fifth consecutive week averaging 6.69% as of August 6, 2026.
- Today a typical starter home in the U.S. of $350,000 needs an income of $78K, up from just $43K in 2019.
- Boomers, those currently between age 62 and 80 control over $110 trillion or about 60% of all U.S. household wealth.
- The National Association of Homebuilders found that regulatory costs, fees, and other government ‘red tape’ now total nearly $132,000 per newly built single-family home - a 40% increase from the previous 2021 analysis. That’s about 26% of the final price of the typical single-family home in the United States.
Western United States Luxury Resort Markets:
Steamboat (county wide) July sales were $99.17M across 98 transactions. That was a slight decrease from July 2025, down 6.6%.
Vail (county wide) July 2026 sales were $317,106,420 across 147 transactions. That an increase of 14% in dollar volume and 20% increase in the number of sales over July 2025.
Jackson Hole (county wide) July sales were $367M up 20% over 2025 with the number of luxury sales ( $5M and over) up 8%.
Colorado Statewide Real Estate Reports: To see the sales reports for 30+ markets in Colorado. Click here for the July report. Click here for the August report. If you need a seasoned real estate broker anywhere in Colorado, I can find you one of the best in every local market. That comes from 35 years of networking in Colorado. I am well connected to a great real estate broker in all of these markets.
Visual Capitalist: Home Prices vs. Incomes: Where is buying a home actually affordable? This global ranking compares home prices with incomes across more than 180 countries. >> View more
Regional Wildfire Mitigation Services: If you would like to learn how to make your home wildfire defensible, check out these websites and local resources:
· Mountain Village
· Mountain Village Cedar Shake Roof Replacement
· Western Region Wildfire Council
· Watch Duty App
· San Miguel County Red Flag Alerts
· Colby Adams Local Goats Assist with Fire Mitigation
Top Ten Things Mostly about Real Estate:
- Homeowners Insurance now represents 2.4% of the median household income, up 24% since 2020.
- Colorado is in a severe drought - the 7th driest year in the past 132 years.
- Boomers are now 42% of Buyers and 55% of Sellers in the current U.S. real estate market.
- It now costs $28,922 a year to raise a child in Colorado, the 10th highest in the United States.
- The anticipated peak season single-day lift ticket for winter ‘26/27 will run you $392 at Beaver Creek and $374 in Vail.
- The U.S. is projected to add 21.5 million people from 2025 to 2040, reaching 363.3 million people.
- Baltimore’s median home price is $235,333 according to Zillow, much lower than the national median home price of $381,333.
- Wildfires have burned more than 230 million acres nationwide since 1983 - that’s more than twice the size of California.
- In 2005, about 2% of all homes in the U.S. was valued at $1M or more. By 2024, that percentage was 8%.
- 400+ Feet: The height of Bridal Veil Falls, Colorado’s tallest free-falling waterfall.
Disclaimer: We track dozens of local, state, national and international news sources to compile our monthly Tellugram newsletter. We retain those sources for about approximately a month after each Tellugram newsletter is published. If you ever want the original source for any of the information in this newsletter, just send us an email and we’ll send you that source as best we can.
Real Estate Question of the Month: How many hours of continuous education does the Colorado Real Estate Commission require licensees to take and how often?
Answer: 24 hours every three years. I’ve always thought that’s not enough. In my 42+ years I’ve averaged about 25 to 50 hours of continuous education yearly.
Disclosure: The above Question and Answer is my opinion as to the parameters and guidance from the Colorado Real Estate Commission rules and the Realtor Code of Ethics.
Quoted in the Press: We are most grateful for having our market information quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Post, the Colorado Sun newspaper, the Telluride Times, The Aspen Times, and numerous other local newspapers all across Colorado. Thank you!
We are flattered to have been quoted in The Denver Post twice in the last two months: My favorite is: Buyers know exactly what they want, right down to the finishes and their passing on anything that doesn’t fit their wish list and lifestyles.
As always, thank you for taking time to read the Tellugram. If you have any questions as a seller, buyer, or just curious reader, we’ll do our best to give you a straightforward answer. Contact us at George@TheHarveyTeam.net or on George’s cell phone number 970-729-0111.
Quote: "Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat" – Napolean Hill
Best to you,
George Harvey, Jr.
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