There is one tree on the Park City Resort that gives up way too easy and is the first tree to turn every fall. This past weekend I notice it has changed colors and is bright red in a sea of green on the resort. I've informed the other trees to hang on and don't give up so quickly but I'm afraid fall is here. This weekend was cool--actually chilly--and quite rainy. A perfect weekend for tennis and football. On Saturday, went out to Rockport Reservoir, one of the local reservoirs here, to attend a blues festival. While the music was terrific, the weather was not. Driving out, we encountered severe lightning, high winds and heavy rain. While at the festival site it was only light rain, the temperature was in the low 50s and it really wasn't very pleasant for sitting outside listening to music. But that's fall in the mountains and we just get used to it.
The other news over the weekend is that La Nina has returned! For skiers this is generally good news as a La Nina weather pattern typically means that the Pacific northwest through northern California and the northern and central Rockies tend to be wetter and colder than normal. Bad news is that the southwest (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas) tends to be warmer and drier than normal. The same pattern that we saw last winter that brought record snows to Utah and record drought to Texas.
In real estate news real estate continues to be quite active. In looking at our MLS sales, as of today, 9/12, there are 20 homes within the Park City limits with contracts pending on them waiting to close. Of these homes, the least expensive home under contract has a list price of $638,000 and the most expensive is a ski-in/ski-out in the Bald Eagle community of Deer Valley with a list price of $7,250,000. Of the 20 homes with contracts pending, 6 have a list price over $2,000,000.
As of today and inside the city limits there are 44 condos with contracts pending on them with the low price of $125,000 up to the high of $6,250,000. Included in this are about 10 condos in the St. Regis hotel in Deer Valley that have been under contract for quite some time and are still waiting to close. What this does show is that there is a lot of activity going on right now and it covers the full range of prices. When I talk to most buyers and sellers, I am always asked what is selling. And when I show them statistics such as these they are usually quite surprised as their guess would have been only the lower price range would be selling. Another thing that I take from these statistics is that the buyers are out there and are looking in all price ranges and are ready to purchase if the property is right for their needs and they feel it is properly priced for today's market.
Hopefully we will have our traditional Indian summer here but I am seeing signs of the aspens starting to turn. I would expect by early October we should be pretty close to peak colors. With all the rain that we've had, I believe that the colors will be particularly vibrant this year, so if you've never seen fall in the mountains, this may be a great year to do it. And be sure to stop in and say hello if you are in town, particularly to see which restaurants are open and what events are going on.
