Home Sales in Aspen Decline 34 %; $43-million Mansion Still Available

You can still buy this $43-million vacation estate here in Aspen, but why hurry? According to an analysis by Land Title Guarantee Company as reported in today's Aspen Times, the dollar volume of real estate sales through June was down 34 % from the same 2008 period, to a mere $471.57 million.

Sound like a lot of dough? Not by Aspen's lofty standards. Since 2003, the Pitkin County (Colorado) market has topped a billion dollars every year. If the second half of 2009 parallels the first, the yearly total won't reach that mark.

Wnat's selling? According to the analysis published in the Aspen Times, the answer is fractionals. They've accounted for $139 million so far this year, a jump of 396 % over last year.

The $43-million property? There were two! The first, a 21,400 square foot 11-bedroom "mountain palace," in the phrase used by the Aspen Daily News, was sold in early July. It's got 15 bathrooms and is located in the Pitkin Green area of town. The broker said the views are spectacular. Could they be anything less for that price? It was said to be the most expensive house sold in the U.S. this year.

But since you missed it, how about another $43 million house, the one pictured above, in West Buttermilk? On the other side of Aspen It's only 16,000 square feet and 7 bedrooms, but it is "Tuscan style" and "18th-century inspired" It includes a theater, exercise room and wine seller and comes furnished.