Art Fest Weekend

This coming weekend, August 1st, 2nd and 3rd is the annual Park City Arts Festival. This is such a great event with Main Street being turned into one big party. As with many events in park city, Main Street is closed to all vehicles, and vendors from all around the country set up tents to display their wears. Entry into our Arts Festival is limited and the competition to be allowed to participate is fierce. Judges from the Kimball Arts Center begin reviewing applicants during the winter months and by early spring have made their selection as to who they will allow in the year’s festival. With our close proximity to Salt Lake City and the cooler mountain temperatures a large number of Salt Lake City visitors make the drive up to partake in the festival. Friday night has become an advanced showing for the locals and is a terrific party. Everyone we know is out on the street looking at the art and drinking wine in an uncrowded and less hectic atmosphere. Saturday and Sunday is the main festival and we typically draw about 100,000 visitors for this.

Last week wrapped up the girls Fast Pitch Softball Tournaments here in town. This was a three week event featuring teams from all over the country and was, as usual, a huge success. At the ski resorts the lifts are running for hiking and lift-serve mountain biking. And as I mentioned last week, the trails are beautiful with lush foliage and wild flowers.
We are definitely seeing an increase in activity in real estate. Not only have I been seeing an increase in calls and interest from buyers, in looking at the daily sales sheets from the board of realtors, the number of sales has increased dramatically in the last couple of weeks. As the summer wanes and we get closed to fall, we typically do see an increase in business as people are looking to pick up their property for next winter’s ski vacations. Even though much of the news these days is filled with stories about how difficult it is to obtain financing, which while it is certainly more difficult than in past years, financing is obtainable for qualified buyers. Interest rates are low and combined with a wide variety of available vacation homes, buyers are feeling that this is the time to purchase

Music in the Mountains

Summertime, mountain resorts and music just seem to fit together, and Park City is no exception. During the summer evenings one can find a free music venue just about anywhere in town featuring an assortment of local musicians. New this year is the Sky Lodge at the bottom of Main Street. When the Sky Lodge opened last December and re-opened its restaurant Easy Street they had the foresight to include a wonderful outdoor seating area with a stage perfect for summer evenings. This has been a favorite place to relax on a weekend, have a nice glass of wine and listen to some wonderful local music. Mountain Town Stages is a local organization with the charter to put on free music events around town and the local areas. Mountain Town Stages is the driving force behind the Wednesday free concerts. These concerts first started in the early 90s in City Park. By 2004 they had become so popular that they outgrew the park and moved to Deer Valley Resort. These Wednesday concerts are the highlight of the week and a place for everyone to get together, listen to some fun music and catch up with friends that we may not see for the rest of the week. If you are here during the summer months, this is a must attend event.

In real estate news, I was looking at the latest statistics provided by the Park City Board of Realtors comparing 2007 and 2008. Through June 30th in 2007 the Park City Board of Realtors has recorded 1,235 closed transactions. For the same time frame in 2008 the number dropped to 711 closed transactions. Interestingly enough, the average sold price for these sales went from $815,085 in 2007 to $869,919 in 2008. This would seem to indicate that the average value of a property increased about 5% last year. As with all stats, these numbers can be misleading and this is one of them. While it is true that the average sold price has increased, it is due to a significant number of sales being new construction at or near the ski resorts. Because of land cost and construction costs, newly built homes and condos are more expensive than existing homes and condos. The reality is that existing homes and condo prices are at best, flat from last year and, in more cases than not, down slightly. Since we know that all trends, whether up or down, do change over time this is an excellent time to purchase. Yesterday I was with a past client who had purchased a vacation home this past December. He could have lamented the fact that had he waited, he might have gotten a better deal. But instead was thrilled that he purchased when he did. His feeling was that not only did he get his home at a good price, but he had the advantage of being able to use it this last ski season. He mentioned that he had many friends come out this past winter and stay with him and commented on how lucky he was to have a place here.

All of the factors that have contributed to our growing Real Estate Market are still in place in spite of the weakening economy. We are an easy to reach and very desirable 2nd home community with a wide variety of real estate opportunities. This has not changed, and the desire to own real estate here is as strong as ever. Don’t let the scare headlines from the media prevent you from pursuing your dream of a 2nd or vacation home in whatever area you are interested in.

Hiking in Park City

July is one of the best months for hiking in the local mountains. With the late and very wet springs that we just had, the wild flowers are just now in full bloom. As we walk along any of the numerous trails in Park City there is an amazing array of colors with Columbine, Lupine, Bluebells and Mountain Daisies all in full bloom. Walking under the canopy of towering Aspens, it is easy to get distracted. It is also the time of year that deer and moose are taking advantage of the tender new foliage and are constant companions on the trails. We are very fortunate here in Park City to have an organization such as the Mountain Trails Foundation which builds and maintains many miles of hiking/biking trails. One of the most popular trails is know as the mid-mountain trail. This trail begins at mid-mountain Deer Valley at an elevation of 8,200 feet and follows the 8,000 foot contour across the mountains through Park City Mountain Resort, the Canyons Resort and ending just to the north of the Utah Olympic Sports Park. One of the great things on this trail is that there are numerous entry and exit points so that whether you have all day or just an hour or two, there are wonderful loops.

One of my favorite areas for hiking is in the Uinta Mountains just to the east of Park City. The Uinta’s contain most of the high elevation peaks in Utah, with peaks ranging from 12,000 to over 13,000 feet, contain about 500 lakes and, for the most part, is a wilderness area accessible only by hiking or horseback. This range offers spectacular views and is a must visit for outdoor enthusiasts coming to Park City.

In real estate news, I am seeing some signs of an improving real estate market here. I’ve been receiving an increased number of calls lately for people looking to pick up an investment or ski condo this summer. And while the national economic news is still pretty dismal, many buyers are beginning to look at our prices as a good investment. Last week I visited a new golf course project called Red Ledges in a neighboring town of Heber, about 20 minutes from Park City. Red Ledges will feature a Nicklaus Signature course as well as a Cliff Drysdale Tennis Academy, and offer some of the most beautiful view of Mount Timpanogos and the Wasatch Range. The golf course is currently under construction and at least nine holes are expected to be open for next summer.

The Mark O’Meara course at Tuhaye is now in it’s third full season of operation and people that I have taken there to play feel that it is the most interesting and enjoyable of the private courses around the area. Lot and home sales in Tuhaye are doing well and I have been meeting several new owners who are calling Tuhaye “Home”

Upcoming events to look forward to is the Park City Arts Festival the first week of August and the Deer Valley Jazz Festival August 21-24. If your schedule permits you to visit Park City during any of these times these are definitely events to participate in.

I’ve moved!

The big news here in Park City this week is that I have left Sotheby’s Real Estate and moved to Prudential Utah. As with any change, there are always a variety of reasons, but one of the most compelling for me is that Prudential has by far and away the largest percentage of the market. This is a move that I feel will benefit both my Sellers and Buyers. I am currently located in the Prudential office on historic Main Street with many of the top agents from Prudential. The energy level and excitement are contagious and I look forward to this next stage in my career.

This past weekend was 4th of July and the Park City parade was as quaint and fabulous as always. Where else but in a western mountain ski town can you have a float featuring a real snowman made from snow still up on the ski resorts? The parade was followed by festivities in City Park, music, games, rugby, volleyball and all that is traditional for a 4th of July celebration. The day’s activities were capped by a spectacular fireworks display shot from the base of the Park City Resort against the mountains.

Here is a link to an interesting article that I found in Travel + Leisure GOLF Digest. It is an article from a writer who has been here in the winter time but came out last summer and played several of our beautiful mountain golf courses. Enjoy the article, and if you are a golfer I hope this will entice you visit Park City in the summer, as we all know how spectacular the winter is. If you are lucky enough to visit Park City this summer, please stop in the Prudential office at the bottom of Main Street and say “hello”.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/tlgolf/articles/golf-the-greening-of-park-city