{"id":2457685,"date":"2020-04-25T22:40:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T04:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/scott-bayens-adjusting-to-the-new-abnormal-and-future-of-our-housing-market\/"},"modified":"2020-04-25T22:40:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-26T04:40:00","slug":"scott-bayens-adjusting-to-the-new-abnormal-and-future-of-our-housing-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/scott-bayens-adjusting-to-the-new-abnormal-and-future-of-our-housing-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Bayens: Adjusting to the new abnormal and future of our housing market"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My wife and I were on a video call with our family therapist last week \u2014 something I highly recommend in these trying times \u2014 and she said something to us that hit home. Appearances aside, we\u2019re all in crisis, all in flight or fight mode, and everyone\u2019s cortisol levels are collectively through the roof. She essentially reminded us, as a couple and as a family, just how significant and unsettling all this is and how everyone on the planet is sharing in this experience.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s important to remember we have it pretty good here in the valley. We haven\u2019t seen a deluge of cases as feared and our existence here already has a built-in element of social distance. Point is, we\u2019re not in the same boat as New York, Italy or Spain to name just a few. Despite the challenges ahead, we all have so much to be thankful for now.<\/p>\n

Several weeks ago, as the gravity of the crisis was really hitting home, I was forwarded a story titled, \u201cThat Discomfort You Are Feeling is Grief.\u201d The piece printed in the Harvard Business Review encapsulates and describes the sudden emotional shift we all are feeling \u2014 the loss of normalcy, the fear of a long-term economic toll, and of course, the sudden loss of connection. Everyone I\u2019ve sent it to says the article describes their upended psyche to a tee. Now that we find ourselves in a place few of us could have imagined, many are starting to focus on what\u2019s ahead, and how to adjust to this new \u201cabnormal.\u201d We are coming to grips with how many things will change for good and just how different the future might look; brick-and-mortar retail for example, how we\u2019ll buy our groceries and view sporting events. The same speculation is occurring in the world of real estate.<\/p>\n

According to the MLS, there are 24 properties under contract in the Aspen area, with 10 of those in Snowmass. This time last year, there were 55 properties under contract in Aspen, with between 35 and 40 in Snowmass \u2014 quite a significant swing. On the bright side, two monster deals \u2014 negotiated prior to the outbreak \u2014 sold for $21 million and $12 million in the past two weeks. But the numbers also show the stark reality of financial fear and uncertainly, with as many as 30 buyers having walked away from deals that were under contract pre-COVID-19.<\/p>\n

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