Mammoth Lakes Village Woes

Friday, May 01, 2009

Spring isn’t quite sure if it's ready yet to stay here in Mammoth. After another little dousing of snow last week, we were treated with a beautiful spring day last weekend and now it looks like it’s snowing up on the mountain again. For those who ventured up to Mammoth last weekend to pick up their season passes for this year, they were treated with some fresh powder. Meanwhile just down the road the fishermen are out in swarms!

It truly is a wonderful time of year here in Mammoth Lakes. We’re seeing the golf courses start to come to life after being covered in snow all winter. Mountain bike trails, especially just outside of town, are completely accessible, fishing season has begun and the skiing/boarding is still great. As far as Mammoth Lakes real estate goes, activity has been pretty consistent over the past 5-6 months and although the town is relatively quiet, we’re seeing a fair number of deals go through. Our foreclosure inventory is low right now due to the recent government moratorium on foreclosures, but we are expect to see more come on the market this summer. Be sure to visit http://www.mammothlakesforeclosures.com/ every so often to see all the current bank-owned properties listed for sale.


Unfortunately, the commercial real estate market here is still suffering. Just recently the already ghostly Village lost three more tenants (LuLu’s Restaurant, 5 Burroughs Pizza and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory). Galerie Barjour had closed on March 28th. All have left due to the extremely high rents. The majority of the commercial space in the Village at Mammoth is currently owned by a real estate investment trust (REIT) called CNL. It’s rumored that CNL will sell and there is at least one buyer out there, but the price that CNL wants is insane, especially in the current economic climate. The good news is that “eventually” everything will work it self out, the commercial real estate in the Village will sell and the new owner will be able to offer reasonable and sustainable rents, thus giving us a thriving “village”. The question is, how long is that going to take?

Time to get out and enjoy some of that pristine mountain air here in the High Sierra!

Tara Peterson & Dennis Cox
RE/MAX of Mammoth

P.S. Don’t forget to check out our website at http://www.mammothrealtysearch.com/