These Are the Best Places to Own a Vacation Home in the U.S.: Colorado has 5!

Bloomberg recently did a study to determine the best places in the United States to own a vacation home. I took the pic above outside of Breckenridge.   Colorado scored the highest of any state with 5 of the top 15 spots.  What cities were on the list?  Why are these cities the best cities to own a vacation property?  Should you invest in real estate in these 5 markets?

How were the cities determined?

Bloomberg looked for small pockets of wealth in more than 500 areas across four equally weighted metrics: vacation home stock, share of the workforce employed in real estate and recreation-related industries, home valuations and household income. The final index is comprised of 70 micropolitan statistical areas.

A micropolitan statistical area includes one main urban center with a population of at least 10,000 but fewer than 50,000 people, at least one county and all designated hamlets, villages and townships.

What cities were on the list?

#2 Edwards/Vail, CO

#3 Breckenridge, CO

#5 Steamboat Springs, CO

#10 Glenwood Springs, CO (gateway to Aspen/roaring fork valley)

# 13 Durango CO

Vacations have changed

7 of the top 10 spots are “mountain west” resort communities.  Travel/vacation trends are changing.  Many vacationers are looking for “vibrant” small cities and active adventures from skiing to hiking, biking, etc…   Past vacationers would go to the beach and “lounge”.  The new generation of traveler wants to mountain bike, snowmobile, white water raft, ride a mountain coaster, etc… All five of the cities in Colorado have captured the new generation of travelers.

Why these 5 cities?

Although all 5 of these cities have skiing close by which draws in an affluent demographic, but summer has recently become a large draw making each of these cities year-round destinations.  Each of these cities has been on multiple lists and are known as “cool & hip” places which has further attracted vacationers to each of these towns.

Along with destination tourists, local tourism has also grown as Denver and cities along the front range continue to attract population, these new residents are venturing into the “mountain playgrounds” furthering the increase in visitation to the top 5 Colorado investment cities.

Highly paid location neutral workers are also being attracted to these same cities.  Many location neutral workers can live about anywhere with high speed internet.  Like tourists, they are choosing many of the same mountain communities so they can play where they work.

Each of the top 5 cities are good long term real estate investments

As more vacationers are attracted to each of these cities, more demand is created for purchasing in each of these markets.  This increased demand will continue to drive prices.  At the same time none of these five markets have considerable supply (or the room to build) which will further increase the pressure on prices.  Long term each of these markets are good investment choices.

The Mountain West, and Colorado in particular, will continue to attract tourism due to the changing vacation habits.  This trend will likely accelerate as millennials continue to become a larger force in vacation spending and cities like Denver continue to attract residents that will recreate in the various mountain towns.  The list by Bloomberg highlights what most residents of Colorado already know.  The state continues to be popular and these five resort communities will continue to flourish.

I need your help!

Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to wire money to your long-lost cousin that is going to give you a million dollars if you just send them your bank account!  I do need your help though, please like and share our articles on linked in, twitter, facebook, and other social media.  I would greatly appreciate it.

Written by Glen Weinberg, COO/ VP Fairview Commercial Lending.  Glen has been published as an expert in hard money lending, real estate valuation, financing, and various other real estate topics in the Colorado Real Estate Journal, the CO Biz Magazine, The Denver Post, The Scotsman mortgage broker guide, Mortgage Professional America and various other national publications.

Fairview is the recognized leader in Colorado Hard Money and Colorado private lending focusing on residential investment properties and commercial properties  both in Denver and throughout the state. We are the Colorado experts having closed thousands of loans throughout the state.

When you call you will speak directly to the decision makers and get an honest answer quickly.  They are recognized in the industry as the leader in hard money lending with no upfront fees or any other games. Learn more about Hard Money Lending through our free Hard Money Guide.  To get started on a loan all they need is their simple one page application (no upfront fees or other games)