T
he $108 million sale of a Red Mountain property on Willoughby Way helped boost Aspen's real estate transfer tax collections in 2024. The city collected nearly $24 million in taxes from the closing of 638 free-market deals, a 4% increase from the $22.9 million collected in 2023.
Buyers of commercial and residential properties within city limits pay a 1.5% real estate transfer tax at closing. Two-thirds of these collections support municipal housing funds, while one-third supports the city-owned Opera House and Red Brick Center for the Arts. The city's RETT collections exceeded its budgeted amount of $19.4 million in 2024, with $15.8 million allocated to housing and $8.1 million to arts and culture.
The pandemic-fueled real estate boom saw significant increases in RETT collections, reaching $25.9 million in 2022, $31.9 million in 2021, and $27.1 million in 2020. Total property sales in Pitkin County also trended similarly, with $3.1 billion in 2024, behind the record year of 2021's $4.5 billion.
The average price paid for a single-family home in Aspen was $18.4 million in 2024, a 16% increase from 2023. The high property prices have led to concerns about the worker housing market, prompting voters to approve a 1% RETT to address the issue. The biggest deal of the year was the $108 million sale of a single-family home and real estate at 419 Willoughby Way in April.
Not all large sales benefit the city's RETT coffers, as seen with the $77 million sale of The Ranch at Owl Creek in 2024, which is located in unincorporated Pitkin County.
