Families Tired of Crowds Turning Toward New Mexico Ski Town
ANGEL FIRE, NM – (September 11, 2017) – With Colorado and other Rocky Mountain states feeling the pinch of huge crowds, traffic problems and high prices of real estate in their mountain towns, many second home owners are turning their focus to New Mexico. Nowhere is that interest in mountain life more obvious than at Angel Fire Resort, (https://www.angelfireresort.com). Angel Fire, located in the Southern Rocky Mountains of northern New Mexico, has been dubbed “America’s Most Affordable Ski Town” by Realtor.com and ranked a Top 25 “Best Family Ski Resort in North America,” and is now celebrating another record. The resort town set a record high in 2016 for single home and condo sales, with over $105 Million dollars in sales, a 37-percent increase over the previous year.
Long time Angel Fire Broker, Mike Woolley’s firm, RE/Max Mountain Realty, closed over $45 Million in sales last year.
“It was the highest sales in our town’s history of real estate. We attribute this to several factors. First, we saw significant increases in visitors to the area from our Texas neighbors, who ended up purchasing second homes, due to our cooler summer weather and the great winter skiing. Secondly, there was a small drop in listing prices that were more in balance with the current market. Finally, we’ve seen the town and resort continue to grow and offer more to do and experience here in the community. It’s the kind of trend we want to continue.”
Woolley and his team at RE/Max believe offering more to do in the area is key to more growth, so they’ve sponsored several of the community events. Some of these include the new weekly Arts and Farmers Market, the Cool Summer Nights free outdoor concerts and the inaugural Angel Fire Food and Wine Roundup, a four-day western-themed food, wine, spirits and craft beer festival put on by Angel Fire Resort.
“For years this place has been a hidden gem for Texas families to come up and ski our 2,000 vertical feet of great cruising runs. However, over the past few summers the resort has invested in adding major events, capital improvement projects and new summer activities to increase its year-round popularity,” explained Mike Hess, CMO, Angel Fire Resort. “In addition to the multi-million-dollar country club at the golf course, we’ve recently opened a luxury RV Resort, added one of the highest zipline tours in the country and expanded our bike park to over 64 miles of trails, which is ranked the #1 bike park in the southwest.”
Capital improvements to the ski mountain, expanded snow-making systems, road improvements, adding utilities to lots and even adding fiber-optic ultra-high-speed internet service to the area are all adding to the recent growth. Additionally, Angel Fire has one of the top charter middle and high schools in the country, bringing in more families who are wanting to combine mountain living with great education opportunities.
So far, 2017 is shaping up to be an even better year in real estate sales.
“So far we’re up over about 10% from this time last year. We tend to sell more in the second half of the year, so we are expecting 2017 to be even stronger than last,” added Woolley, who’s been a leader in real estate in the area for the past 15 years. “So far we have seen six consecutive successful quarters of year over year growth.”
In 2016, 168 homes and condos were sold across Angel Fire, Black Lake, and Eagle Nest. With approximately 320 homes currently on the market, the houses traditionally take just under a year to sell.
“I’ve lived all over and visited most ski towns, what’s always amazed me is how affordable land, building a home and buying an existing house is here in Angel Fire,” Hess explained. “It’s becoming harder to find an affordable ski and summer resort vacation home in the Rockies, but Angel Fire still has them.”
While the median house price is currently $389,000, the area offers several below $150,000 all the way to $2.5 million. Lot prices tend to start around $10,000 up to over $300,000.
Additionally, if a home, condo or land is purchased within Angel Fire Resort the owners are entitled to membership to the Resort. The Membership includes access to downhill and Nordic skiing, snowboarding, golf, country club indoor pool, dining, tennis, downhill and cross-country mountain biking, ziplining, fishing, boating and fitness training and classes.