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Showing posts from December, 2009

New Year's Eve Happenings in Breckenridge & Summit County

On behalf of the Breckenridge Associates Real Estate brokers, we'd like to wish you and yours the very best in 2010. There's really not a better place to kick off the new decade than in Summit County. Depending on where you are and where you want to be, we've put together a list of some of the happenings in the area for New Year's Eve celebrations. Breckenridge Yamn , formerly of Breckenridge, Colorado is bringing their annual New Year's Eve show to the Riverwalk Performing Arts Center for an all ages show. Ring in the New Year in the heart of Breckenridge listening to great music. For more info. about Yamn click here . Doors open at 7pm and the show begins at 8pm. The Town of Breckenridge New Year's Eve fireworks will be visible from right outside the venue at 9pm and the band will take a quick break to enjoy the fireworks. Tickets are available at all Yamn Performances, Space Cowboy in Breckenridge, Colorado and Affordable Music in Dillon, Colorado, as well a

U.S. Home Prices Showing Modest Recovery

For the fifth straight month, October real estate prices showed another slight gain over previous months. Home prices were up .4% over September at October's close. While overall the housing gains appear flat, we are seeing some solid gains. A spike in consumer confidence for December has encouraged investors and U.S. stocks also reacted positively on Monday with an early rise in trading. View the full article here BBC News Article .

Tourism Spending Shows Slight Rebound

Though it hovered slightly below pre-recession levels, tourism spending was on the rise for the third quarter of 2009. More was spent on transportation, and fuel prices jumped, contributing to higher overall spending on tourism. Spending increased at a 6.4 percent inflation - an adjusted annual rate in the third quarter after rising 0.2 percent in the second quarter. The overall economy grew at a 2.8%. To read a full article, visit this link to the Wall Street Journal .

Real Estate News: Using the 203k to Purchase Your Dream Home

Are you familiar with what the FHA Section 203k offers? It is a program specifically designed to rehabilitate and repair single-family homes. The 203k is a single mortgage loan providing funds to purchase a home and make repairs and improvements. If you are considering a new home purchase and have found a home with potential that needs some work to suit your needs, you should find out if the home could qualify for the 203k loan or at least learn more about this new program. If the buyer and the home meet the requirements, the remodel loan can be built directly into your mortgage. For more information on the 203k loan program click here or click here .

Breckenridge Snowflake Challenge Results, A Local Snowsculpting Competition

Thank you to all the participants, volunteers and sponsors for the 2nd Annual Breckenridge Snowflake Challenge on Main Street Breckenridge, Colorado. And the winners of the $2k grand prize are: 1st, The Grinch that Stole Christmas. Located in Blue River Plaza (They are 2nd year winners - Congratulations and great work) Our other talented winners include: 2nd, Charlie Browns Christmas (snoopy Doghouse). Located in front of Main Street Outlet, Breckenridge. 3rd, Sled Dogs. Located by the Photo Shop at Adams Street, Breckenridge. 4th, the Pizza Guy. Located at Fatty's on Ridge Street, Breckenridge. 5th, Snow Globe. Located in front of Paragon Lodging on North Main Street, Breckenridge. 6th, Dog with Camera. Located in front of La Cima Mall on Main Street, Breckenridge. 7th Stolen Gold. Located by Magical Scraps on Main Street, Breckenridge People's Choice. A TIE between Kenosha Steakhouse with Santa & Reindeer in the Half-pipe & Summit High School with Snow Globe of Brecke

The Winter Dew Tour Kicks Off In Breckenridge, Colorado – December 17

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Back for a second year, the Winter Dew Tour will once again begin its 3-stop series at the Breckenridge Ski Resort. This not-to-miss tour consists of 3 major, multi-sport events spanning across the U.S., with a cumulative points system, and a $1.5 million competitive cash purse. Each stop of the tour features men's and women's snowboard (superpipe and slopestyle), and men’s freeskiing (superpipe and slopestyle). The Winter Dew Tour will be broadcast live on NBC Sports from 11:30am-2pm, Saturday, December 19 and 2-4pm, Sunday, December 20 with additional competition and lifestyle broadcasts on USA, MTV and MTV2 and is also distributed on Fuel TV, Universal HD, Rush HD, and internationally on Eurosport, Fox Australia, Extreme Channel and Allarco Superchannel. All competition courses and the Festival Village locations are at Peak 8 at the Breckenridge Ski Resort. Peak 8 can be accessed by taking the BreckConnect gondola to the Peak 8 base from Breckenridge Station in town. Access

The Breck Snowflake Challenge is Underway in Breckenridge

Local snow artists are hard at work this week creating their own snow art masterpieces on the streets of Breckenridge for all to enjoy. This 2nd year event, created by Breckenridge Associates Real Estate and produced jointly with the Breckenridge Resort Chamber, is a friendly competition among locals to put out their best snow sculptures for a chance to win up to $2,000 and other generous cash prizes. This year we have approximately 16 teams competing and we can wait to see what they produce this week. Come one, come all, but be sure to come and cheer for our competitors this week and watch as their creations come to life. Sculpting started on December 5 and will be judged at 3pm, December 12. Stop by Breckenridge Associates Real Estate at 229 South Main Street in Breckenridge for a site map of the sculpting locations and be sure to vote for the People’s Choice sculpture on Saturday, December 12 – also at our office. The awards ceremony follows Saturday's judging from 5:30-7:30pm a

The Secret Stash – Tubing At Keystone Ski Resort’s Adventure Point

A favorite family or group activity of ours is heading up the gondola at Keystone Ski Resort sometime each winter to experience the thrill of snow tubing at Adventure Point. It’s just like snow tubing we've all done as kids, but with a much larger hill, its own tubing lift and a much greater adventure. Choose your own adventure with three different tubing lanes. You can link tubes together or ask for a spin by one of the tubing guides. Try it during the day or under the lights at night. One things for sure, you will love the thrill of it and want to come back for more! Hours and Dates: 
Weather dependent, Nov. 25, 2009 - April 11, 2010. Wednesday-Saturday: 12pm-3pm & 5pm-7:00pm*; Sunday: 12pm-3pm & 5pm. Sessions start on the hour and half hour. 
4pm-5pm CLOSED for grooming 
*Night tubing only open when night skiing is open. Requirements: You must be at least 42 inches tall to ride. Cost: $27/person or $22/person if you choose to go and watch. Checking in: 
Guest must check

Copper Mountain Hosts the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix this Weekend, an Olympic Qualifier

Copper Mountain will bring snowboarding's biggest stars to the area this weekend for the U.S. Grand Prix of Snowboarding, a half pipe Olympic qualifying event. The event kicks off tomorrow, Dec. 10 with Women's qualifying heats, and carries through the weekend. It is the first qualifying event for the Vancouver Winter Olympics - a total of 4 men and 4 women are expected to make the U.S. Snowboarding Olympic team. Top riders from around the country and world wide will be competing. Olympic hopeful and Breckenridge local, Steve Fisher, is one of the competitors (also a two-time winning XGames Superpipe Champ) along with other top male athletes - Shaun White, Mason Aguirre, J.J. Thomas and Louie Vito. Top women competitors include Kelly Clark, Gretchen Bleiler and Hannah Teter. Schedule of Events Follows: Thursday, December 10 9:00am-12:45pm | Women’s Halfpipe Qualifiers | Main Vein 1:00am-3:00pm | Men’s Halfpipe Practice | Main Vein Friday, December 11 8:30am-2:30pm | Men’s Halfp

US Consumer Spending Sees Rebound

U.S. consumer spending was up more than expected in October - another good sign of a continuing economic recovery. Spending for the month of October jumped .7% over September, according to the Commerce Department. This was unexpected given September had shown a decline of .6%. The data from the Commerce Department indicated that consumers increased their spending in October on both durable manufactured goods, such as cars and household appliances, and nondurables, such as food and clothes. This report comes from BBC News View the full article here.

House Prices Up Nationally in 3rd Quarter - First Time Since 2nd Quarter of 2007

Home prices came up slightly in the third quarter nationwide, something national real estate hadn't experienced since the second quarter of 2007 - according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI). The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages. It was 0.2% higher on a seasonally adjusted basis in the third quarter than in the second quarter of 2009. Over the past year, seasonally adjusted prices fell 3.8% from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009. This type of data shows a short-term stabilization in home prices on a national level, which is likely a result of the ongoing economic efforts to stabilize markets according to a recent article by RIS Media . View the full article here.

Sign-up by Tomorrow for the Breckenridge Snowflake Challenge

The Breck Snowflake Challenge takes place in Breckenridge, Colorado beginning December 5 with final judging on December 12. We're excited for the 2nd Annual Challenge presented by Breckenridge Associates Real Estate jointly with the Breckenridge Resort Chamber. Visit brecksnowflakechallenge.com for details and all the forms you need to sign up. Or, call the Breckenridge Associates Real Estate office at 970.453.2200.