Quick-term rental business in Summit County traits above remainder of the nation

Whereas short-term rental bookings have declined barely throughout the U.S. to date in 2023, Summit County continues to outperform the nation total, based on Melanie Brown, the chief director of information insights at Key Knowledge.

Key Knowledge tracks the short-term rental business throughout the globe, together with in Summit County, the place the corporate works with about 40 property managers representing 8,000 short-term leases, Brown mentioned Friday, Oct. 13, on the Ski Space COO Summit in Breckenridge.

“2021 and 2022 have been type of banner years for the U.S. short-term rental phase total. We noticed a number of elevated provide. So everyone determined short-term leases have been a good way to earn a living,” Brown mentioned. “We’re seeing a little bit little bit of oversupply in 2023. So, there are too many leases and never sufficient friends in a number of instances. So, occupancy is coming down for the U.S. total.”

The return of worldwide journey after the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to that nationwide pattern as effectively, Brown mentioned. Whereas Phoenix is an instance of a market the place there is no such thing as a restraint on the short-term leases, resulting in an oversupply that correlates with a decline in common property efficiency, regulation of short-term leases “has protected Summit County trip leases a little bit greater than different locations,” she mentioned.

In comparison with different western ski markets, Summit County is “center of the highway” for bookings to date this yr, Brown mentioned. Winter trip rental occupancy is outpacing final yr, up 7% yr over yr, in Summit County, whereas Aspen and Lake Tahoe areas have seen declines of 16% and 9% yr over yr, respectively, she mentioned.

Nonetheless, bookings to date this yr usually are not up as a lot as they’ve been in Jackson Gap, the place they’re up 11%, Steamboat Springs, the place they’re up 13%, or Telluride, the place they’re up 21%, based on yr over yr studies from Key Knowledge.

The typical value of a short-term rental in Summit County has dropped barely from final yr. Final yr, the common every day price for many who booked short-term leases within the county was $559, whereas this yr to date it sits at $537, Brown mentioned.

Vacation bookings in Summit County are up considerably from this time final yr, Brown famous. Quick-term rental occupancy for Thanksgiving is up 16% over final yr within the county, Christmas and New Years are up about 26% from final yr and spring break numbers have practically doubled, she mentioned.

“I believe that spring break development is basically encouraging,” Brown mentioned. 

Usually individuals e book their ski trip lower than two months upfront, Brown mentioned. Dearer stays are usually booked earlier whereas cheaper stays are usually booked nearer to the date of the journey, she mentioned.

“We’re type of seeing individuals diverge on both finish of that spectrum. Both they’re reserving their journey actually far upfront or actually near arrival,” Brown mentioned. “So I believe that spring break efficiency is exhibiting that there’s some confidence round going forward and getting these March journeys booked.”

The typical keep size in Summit County for the 2023-24 winter season is on an identical tempo as final yr. However based mostly on the general nationwide pattern and extra price-conscious vacationers, Brown mentioned that pattern is predicted to drop off a little bit bit because the county heads into the winter.

Common keep size is basically essential as a result of even a small 10% decline within the quantity of nights stayed by a customer requires 10% extra friends to fill that hole, Brown mentioned, and the quantity every customer spends whereas in Summit County additionally drops.

“Keep watch over that if that’s related to you, and check out to think about methods you may type of encourage individuals to spend a little bit longer and lengthen that keep a little bit bit,” Brown mentioned. “Once more, it’s associated to that price-conscious traveler.” 

Ski resorts, for instance, would possibly need to encourage individuals to buy a three-day raise ticket, somewhat than a two-day ticket, Brown mentioned. She famous that for these price-conscious vacationers, decreasing in the future of a visit is a simple technique to scale back prices.

The short-term rental market confirmed robust efficiency in Summit County this summer time and hopefully that may proceed into the winter, Brown mentioned. Summer time occupancy was up 1% this yr in comparison with 2022 she mentioned.

“Summit County is doing higher than the U.S. total,” Brown mentioned. “Native information is basically highly effective as a result of a number of traits and narratives that individuals are speaking about with short-term leases and vacationers and tourism within the U.S. total, they don’t essentially apply to Colorado proper now.”