In-depth analysis

Should you buy an STR in Telluride in 2026?

Only with the capital depth to absorb a tight, peaked calendar at premium acquisition costs. Telluride’s revenue side is excellent — ADR around $363 and 56% occupancy yield RevPAR around $203, supported by a genuinely four-season festival calendar that distinguishes Telluride from typical ski-only markets.

The challenge: the box canyon limits buildable inventory, acquisition costs are firmly in elite-resort territory, and the town has actively tightened STR rules in recent years.

Regulation: where the city stands

Town of Telluride restricts non-owner-occupied STRs through zoning + license-cap structure. The 2022 Council action tightened both. New applications in residential zones face a steep approval bar.
Mountain Village (separate municipality, where most ski-base lodging sits) runs a more permissive framework — most of the rentable ski-base condo product is here, not in Telluride proper.
Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) of 2.5% applies on most sales in Telluride proper — meaningful for deal economics.
San Miguel County (unincorporated) operates under separate, more permissive rules.

See the Town of Telluride STR ordinance and the Town of Mountain Village STR program for current rules.

The market by the numbers

Metric	Telluride	Aspen	Crested Butte
ADR	$363	$432	$258
Occupancy	56%	56%	58%
RevPAR	~$203	~$242	~$150

Telluride punches above its size class on ADR because of inventory scarcity and the festival demand base.

Submarkets that matter

Town of Telluride (in the box canyon) — walkable to Main Street and the gondola, character housing, tightest STR pathway, top-of-market acquisition.
Mountain Village (gondola-connected) — most of the actual rentable inventory, ski-in / ski-out condo product, separate jurisdiction.
Lawson Hill / Society Turn (just outside town) — lower acquisition, longer commute to the lifts, San Miguel County rules.
Placerville / Norwood (downvalley) — materially lower acquisition, separate demand base.

The 3 mistakes buyers make here

Conflating “Telluride” with “Mountain Village” for STR-permit purposes. They are separate municipalities with separate rules.
Forgetting the 2.5% RETT. On a $2M acquisition, that’s $50,000 directly out of deal economics.
Overweighting festival weeks. Bluegrass and Film Festival weeks are extraordinary, but they’re 6-7 weeks of 52.

What to do next

Verify jurisdiction + permit availability in /comp-analyzer/.
Market score: /market-score/.
Financing: /dscr-loan-calculator/.
Year-one cash: /year-1-cash-needs/.

Not investment advice. Telluride vs. Mountain Village jurisdiction is the gating issue — confirm before offer.