Correction: MIM is right about everything

The Post says the average price of a single-fambly home in Aspen last year was $5.5 million, up 30 percent from 2005:

One way to look at it: You could buy more than 17 average priced single-family homes in the Denver area for the cost of the average price of a home in Aspen.

And more than 77 Drunkablog manses!

"Prices keep going up," said Stavey Rinker, executive vice president of the Aspen Board of Realtors.

Stavey Rinker?

The record median, or middle, price of $4.16 million in 2006 was almost 20 percent higher than in 2005.

Experts said that a large number of home sales above $15 million skewed the data. And that trend could continue this year, if Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan sells his Hala Ranch, a 56,000-square-foot home on 95 acres, for close to the asking price of $135 million . . . .

For metric-system users, 56,000 square feet is roughly 1700 square kilometers. The $135 million would be "the most expensive price ever paid for a home in the U.S."

The oil and gas windfall also has fueled the frenzy in Aspen, where a limited supply of homes and anti-growth regulations keep driving up prices, according to brokers.

[Broker] Heidi Houston of Houston & Gorog Co., also noticed a lot of oil executives snapping up Aspen homes last year.

Gorog?

She said that people who pay $7 million or more for a home never put 20 percent down and take out a loan.

"They take the money out of their Merrill Lynch account," she said.

Merrill Lynch?

Joshua Saslove, the broker who is listing the $135 million Hala Ranch, said he thinks there is a good chance that he will sell the ranch this year . . . .

Asked if anyone who is financially qualified to buy it has blinked at the asking price, he said: "Only that it is too low."

What? You don't believe him? Not only are realtors honest, they are the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human beings I've ever known in my life.