Affordable Aspen.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: REAL ESTATE ROUND UP

While the median home price in Aspen has eclipsed $3 million, the city has a robust affordable housing program, thanks in large part to a grandfathered real estate transfer tax. (TABOR explicitly bans new transfer taxes.) Established in 1974, the program was the first in any mountain resort town in North America.

"Aspen really led the way. They were the trailblazers in the 1970s and 1980s," says Mike Kosdrosky, executive director of the Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority (APCHA). "It's a pretty spectacular example of deed-restricted housing. It's double any other resort community I know of."

The affordable inventory now includes almost 3,000 deed-restricted units, especially impressive when you consider Aspen's year-round population is about 6,500. New units typically sell for $80,000 to $400,000, with annual appreciation capped at 3 percent, and monthly rents are generally $400 to $2,000.

It's still not a panacea, as 53 percent of Aspen's work force commutes from Glenwood Springs and other points down valley, but only 10 percent of APCHA's homeowners and 23 percent of renters of APCHA's deed-restricted units are burdened by housing costs, numbers that are notably lower than the rest of the state.

Beyond the...