Shoulder Season in the Mountains

April and May are the shoulder season months in the mountain resorts where one day you are playing golf in shorts & tee shirt and the next day it is snowing. This is the time of the year when locals leave to head for warmer climates and several of the local restaurants and business’s close for several weeks to give the employee’s time off to re-cooperate from the busy winter.

Yesterday I brought in REALTOR® representatives from the ski resorts of Vail, CO, Jackson Hole, WY and North Lake Tahoe, CA to talk to the members of the Park City Board of Realtors about what the real estate market has been like this past year in our neighboring resorts. The panel discussion was attended by 200 members of the Park City Board of Realtors. The questions that we asked the panel members were: Compare the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter or 2008? What are the strongest and weakest parts of your market? What is the average price per square foot of homes and condos in your resort? What is the price per square foot for new developments and are they selling? And finally, what is your outlook going into the summer?

As far as year to year comparison all 3 resorts were quite similar. Numbers on average were down about 20-30% over the same period from last year. The difference between each resort was the average price per square foot of properties. Lake Tahoe reported that the average price of their high end homes (which are located on the lake) run around $800 a square foot and condominiums located at the base of Squaw Valley run around $300 per square foot. In Jackson Hole the price per square foot of homes near Teton resort range from $1000 per square foot for an older home without ski access to nearly $2000 per square foot for a newer home on the mountain. Condominium’s located in the village run anywhere from $1000-$1200 per square foot. Vail reports that resort condominium’s run from $1600-$1800 per square foot and homes run around $1000 per square foot.

Regarding new condominium developments Lake Tahoe reported that they are essentially built out and have been for quite some time, so other than a couple of newer developments around the base of Squaw Valley they really do not have new condominium projects. In Jackson Hole a couple of new developments, such as The Four Seasons, were selling briskly until this past year at over $1000 per square foot. Vail has several new condominium developments that have just completed or are near completion. These projects are priced anywhere from $1800-$2500 per square foot and as expected, sales have been slow this season.

All three resorts felt that the high end of the market was quite strong but the middle market (homes priced between $1 and $2 million) was one of the weakest areas. The reasoning behind this is that the middle range market homes are not in a particularly good area and tend to be older with only mid range finishes. There is nothing to make this type of home stand out in the minds of buyers looking for exceptional value and location.

Regarding the future outlook, all three panelists were cautiously optimistic going into the summer months. They all reported an increase in activity and interest at the end of this ski season and feel that this will carry into the next few months.

If you would like a more in depth discussion on our neighboring resorts feel free to call me at (435) 640-5851 or email me at DHanlon532@aol.com. In the meantime I am waiting for the next sunny day to break out the golf clubs!