Peak season: A look at the best properties in North America’s mountain hotspots

From Aspen’s star-studded Red Mountain to Vail’s renovated retreats and Whistler’s scenic escapes, Ruth Bloomfield explores how these iconic destinations are weathering a shifting property market—and why they remain irresistible to buyers...

The mercury is falling in the Rocky Mountains, giving skiers and snowboarders a chance to test their mettle on the slopes at the start of the winter season. The sporting life in these mountains is certainly high octane and, during the pandemic, the most upscale resorts were also the spectacular backdrop for one of Covid-19’s most compelling property stories.

After a long period of slow and steady growth, sale prices shot up in Aspen, Vail and Whistler, as urban buyers freed from the office rushed to pick up a property in the clean fresh air. But the boom proved to be as short-lived as it was dramatic: prices have been slowing, and in some cases falling, ever since.

Aspen is the most expensive of North America’s mountain hotspots. The former silver mining camp has been attracting winter-sports fans for a century, with high-profile names such as Jeff Bezos and Kevin Costner owning homes there.

“Anyone who is anyone has a house in Aspen,” says Brittanie Rockhill of Douglas Elliman estate agents. In 2021 sale prices in the town jumped by 38 per cent, according to research by Knight Frank, but the boom soon ran out of steam and Aspen has now returned to solid but unspectacular annual sale price growth – six per cent over the 12 months up to August 2024, bringing average sale prices to $3.6 million (£2.75m).

At the top end, buyers have to pay far more for one of Aspen’s trophy homes, and in this rarefied section of the market price ceilings continue to be shattered. In April the casino tycoon Steve Wynn splashed $108 million on an 11-bedroom, 15-bathroom, 1,195-square-metre Aspen property previously owned by stock trading billionaire Thomas Peterffy.

Beyond billionaires, Rockhill’s buyers tend to be young parents who holidayed in Aspen as children and want the same experience for their own families; buyers from Texas or Florida seeking a refuge from the beating summer sun; plus overseas buyers, often from Mexico.

The most exclusive address in town, says Rockhill, is Red Mountain, just north of downtown Aspen. “Willoughby Way is where all the hedge-fund people have their houses; a house closed there last week for $6,900 per square foot,” she says.

Rockhill is confident that prices in Aspen will continue to grow during 2025, partly because this is a small town and development is heavily restricted to preserve its quaint atmosphere. “In Aspen the constraint of supply is intense,” she said. “You will never see a high-rise in Aspen, and we are basically built out. Hopefully once we have got through the election period and interest rates have come down, people will feel better about dishing out money for a vacation home in Aspen,” she added.

In Vail, the real estate market has experienced a similar up-and-down over the past few years. Prices increased 20 per cent in 2021, and by another 15 per cent in 2022. In the past 12 months, annual growth had slowed to eight per cent, reaching an average $1.8m.

Vail attracts a similar range of buyers to Aspen, and Paige Shonk, of LIV Sotheby’s International Realty, said that while the market is slower and less competitive than in 2021, buyers will still pay top dollar for a newly renovated home. “We have a lot of older properties, so we see people leaning into those which have been redone,” she said.

Smart owners, said Shonk, should consider upgrading their homes with new decor, kitchens and bathrooms, if they plan to sell this year in a market which has become increasingly picky. “I predict an eight to 14 per cent… [annual price] increase on properties that people have put some effort into,” she said. “People want to buy something which has been improved – in 2021 and 2022 they just wanted to get in.”

While this may be true of Vail, it will probably take more than a fresh coat of paint to help Whistler’s homeowners achieve the kind of prices seen in 2021. Prices jumped an extraordinary 56 per cent during that year as buyers flowed out of Vancouver, but have fallen every year since. Over the past 12 months they fell six per cent, bringing the average sale price to CAD$2.5m (£1.4m). Emilie LaJoie Regan, of the Whistler Real Estate Company, believes autumn 2024 will be a turning point for the Whistler market.

“We expect to see a slight uptick in prices this [autumn] as interest rates are expected to continue to come down and buyers are looking for places for the upcoming snow season,” she said. “We expect both of these factors to generate more market competition.”

Max Thornhill of Engel & Völkers Whistler believes that while the 2021 boom quickly subsided, buyers still value the outdoor life that a ski home can bring. “The mountains are a spiritual place and the design of our village, the beauty of our valley and the people who live here make Whistler a special place,” he said.

First published in the December 2024 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.