Greater Park City Area and Deer Valley Real Estate

Let the Holidays Begin

2011-12-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

So, we're five days from the start of the Christmas holiday here in Park City and while the snow has certainly been on the scarce side, it's been cold and all the resorts have been working to make snow as hard and fast as they can. I was out skiing over the weekend and conditions were surprisingly good. Of course we here in Park City are pretty spoiled as we normally have a much deeper snowpack by this time of the year, but it will come and resorts continue to make new snow and open new trails everyday.

This morning I was at the Waldorf Astoria hotel at Canyons Resort and heard about a new program with Talisker, Canyons, and Deer Valley. Talisker Club members have always had access to the Talisker lounge on mountain in Deer Valley and the golf course and spa at Tuhaye among many other amenities. Talisker purchased the Canyons resort a few years ago, and since the purchase have put many millions of dollars of upgrades into the resort, and now have included with the Talisker membership, amenities at Canyons Resort as well. These include valet parking right up at the resort (no need to take the people carrier lift up), members-only lounge at the Plaza and a members-only restaurant at mid-mountain Canyons. Talisker Corporation recently purchased the Waldorf Astoria hotel at the base of Canyons and is opening up memberships in Talisker Club to their owners as well. They're offering a very nice incentive for new owners who wish to try out the Talkisker Club by allowing new owners at the Waldorf Astoria to become members of Talisker Club for three years at 50% of the annual dues and the initial deposit buy-in not due until year four. This is a great program for owners to try out and discover how wonderful all the amenities of the Talisker Club are while owning a condo at the beautiful Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Continuing with my theme from last week of talking about exceptional buys going into the ski season there are a couple more I would like to point out. First is a 3-bedroom condo in the Chateaux at Silver Lake at mid-mountain Deer Valley. The Chateaux is a wonderful hotel being run by the Stein Eriksen Lodge--a Forbes 4-star hotel--and right across the street from the lifts at mid-mountain Deer Valley. The Chateaux has a restaurant, a very comfortable bar and lounge with great views of the mountain, fitness room, spa, outdoor pool and whirlpool and full concierge service. The Chateaux offers conference facilities and therefore is heavily booked year-round. This particular 3-bedroom unit is priced well below recent comps at $1.295 million and has in the past generated around $100,000 per year in gross rental.

In Lower Deer Valley there's a project called Silver Baron Lodge right across from the parking lots at Deer Valley. There are 2- and 3-bedroom units in here that are priced very competitively, from the high $600,000s to the mid $700,000s. These are also terrific rental properties and are booked all year long.

Also in lower Deer Valley is a development called Daystar. In Daystar there is a beautifully remodeled uphill, (the preferred floor plan), unit with excellent views of Deer Valley. The owners of this unit had a kitchen designed specifically for this unit and is much larger and open than the original model. This is a 3 bd unit with hot tub, 2 car garage and is priced at $815,000.

With the Christmas holiday coming up in just a few days, the town is abuzz with activity with everyone looking forward to a very busy and hopefully snowy holiday. The first couple weeks of January are typically very slow which makes for a great time to visit and ski the local resorts. So plan your vacation and as always, please contact me for the latest on ski conditions, new restaurants and the "must-do" activities around town.

We're Skiing!

2011-12-06T22:51:00.003-07:00

Deer Valley opened Saturday with 16 runs and ten lifts open. Not a bad start for opening weekend. While I have seen better conditions for opening day, I have also certainly seen much worse. On the runs that were open the coverage was quite excellent and the skiing was pretty fun. The weather turned quite cold last Friday and as the weekend progressed, steadily got colder which means that snow making has been going full-speed, nonstop since Friday. I expect by this weekend we will see at least two more lifts open and several more runs particularly over on the Northside area. That's the good news, but unfortunately it doesn't look like there's any significant snow in the forecast for at least a week.

As is customary, on Deer Valley's opening weekend, we had the Deer Valley Celebrity Classic Ski Race. This is a yearly event and is a fundraiser for support the Waterkeeper Alliance, a clean-water advocacy group. Though the celebrities that show up are not necessarily the most well-known, the fun is in watching our local celebrities. Phil and Steve Mahre, Heidi Voelker, AJ Kitt all former members of the US Ski Team. Watching them you can see that the competitive juices have not left.

It looks like plans are starting to come together for a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Olympic winter games that were held here in Park City. There is talk of once again closing Main Street to vehicles, making it a pedestrian-only event with music and other events commemorating the 2002 Winter Olympics that were such a success. As this event starts coming together, I'll certainly let you know of it. This would be an event to make plans to come out and partake in.

In part of my efforts to stay as current as I can on the market I am constantly going out and looking at what's new and what's good. Last week I toured two areas of Deer Valley, the first being Empire Pass and the second the Silver Lake area at mid-mountain Deer Valley. The first thing that struck me was how little there is available. We've been talking for years that in spite of all the condos that were on the market in Empire Pass nothing new was being built and it would not be long before there was a shortage of available product. Well, this time has come. However, one place that is available and struck me as being one of the better buys, is a penthouse unit in the Arrowleaf building in Empire Pass. This is a true ski-in/ski-out, top floor unit with vaulted ceilings and spectacular views of Deer Valley. The unit features large windows, is beautifully furnished, comes with the full Talisker Club membership, and is listed for $2 million. Of everything that I saw in Empire I feel that this one is probably the best unit available.


Photo courtesy of the PCMLS

In the Silver Lake area of Deer Valley, I feel from everything that I've seen the best condo available is a 3-bedroom Stag Lodge in the main building where you literally walk out your door and you're standing on the ski slopes. This unit is also beautifully furnished and updated, has large windows to take in the views, and is listed for $2.8 million. While these are my favorites and what I feel are the best buys in each area, there is certainly a wide variety of homes and condos to choose from.

Photo courtesy of the PCMLS

Ski season is here, the town is buzzing with anticipation, and rental condos are filling up for the season. So if you haven't already done it, book your vacation and feel free to either call or email me for the locals' inside information on ski conditions.

Split Jet Stream, Skiers' Woe

2011-11-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

It is not uncommon in fall/early winter for a split jet stream to set up over the interior west. What occurs is that a strong and dominant high-pressure system takes hold of the western US. Low-pressure systems originating in the Gulf of Alaska typically move southward along the coast of British Columbia and swing inland anywhere between Northern California and Washington, sweeping over Utah and providing our famously fluffy powder snow. However when a high-pressure system sets up over the west as it is currently, as these low-pressure systems start to move inland they encounter the high-pressure and split apart. With one part going north over the top of the high-pressure and another section swinging south under the high-pressure leaving Utah warm and dry. This is the pattern that we are currently in. But the high pressure is just far enough to the west that the northern branch of the jet stream does clip Utah bringing us occasional light snowfall. This is what is going to happen this Wednesday and Thursday with probably not more than 3-4 inches of snow for the northern Utah resorts while the central and southern Utah mountains could see several feet.HMMM, Could we possibly switch this pattern for May, when it snows continuously and we want sunshine?

On a brighter note, Deer Valley opens this Saturday and conditions should be pretty decent for opening day. I haven't heard what is going to be open yet but I would expect runs down Bald Mountain, Flagstaff and Northside should be open. The Stein Eriksen Lodge, located on the mountain in Silver Lake, Deer Valley, has received the Forbes 5-Star rating for its spa. This is the only 5-star rating for a spa in the state of Utah and only one of 4 throughout the country. This is quite a feather in the cap for Stein's, as it completely redid its spa two years ago and has made great efforts to bring up the level of service.

Last week I spoke of The Montage Hotel here in Deer Valley. This week I'd like to talk about one of Deer Valley's other great hotels, The St. Regis. The St. Regis Hotel, located in the Deer Crest area of Deer Valley overlooking both the town of Park City and the Jordanelle Reservoir is truly one of the luxury hotels here in town. The St. Regis first started selling units in 2005, prior to completion of the hotel, The hotel was substantially completed in December of 2009 and at that time was about 60% sold. Even during the downturn of the economy the majority of owners who purchased during the pre-construction phase ended up closing on their units, and this year there have been four new sales in the St. Regis. There are only ten units available for sale, a one-bedroom listed for $1,370,000, two-bedrooms listed around $1,500,000, and three-bedrooms listed anywhere from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 depending on location and views. The hotel has the space, feel, and services that you'd expect from the St. Regis and certainly lives up to its brand. The St. Regis features a wonderful heated patio overlooking the ski slopes of Deer Valley, which is a favorite gathering spot for lunch or early afternoon cocktails in the spring and Sunday afternoons throughout the summer.

To get to the St. Regis, guest ride a funicular--a European-style cog train--from lower Deer Valley to the terminal in the St. Regis. Riding down the funicular in the evening with the lights of Deer Valley sparkling is something all visitors to Park City should experience.

Ski season is here and going strong. I have been arduously working off my Thanksgiving dinner, as I hope you have. So plan your trip to Park City, come see me in my office at Silver Lake in mid-mountain Deer Valley and let's go skiing. In the meantime, do your snowdance, drink a glass of wine to the Snow Gods, or whatever else you feel works to bring on the snow!

We Are Skiing

2011-11-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend four more Utah resorts opened for skiing. Brian Head in central Utah, Alta and Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and Park City Mountain Resort have all opened with very good conditions for the middle of November. We received about 6" of snow Friday night and snow has continued off and on all weekend and into today, Monday. This week, Thanksgiving week, Canyons Resort opens followed by Deer Valley the following weekend, December 3rd. With the early snow that we have been receiving and the resorts opening with very good conditions, the lodging companies are all reporting higher than normal bookings for the year. While in the past, management companies have all said that visitors are booking closer and closer to their actual vacation time to see who has the best snow and rates. This year with early snow throughout all of the Rockies, visitors are once again booking ahead and booking early to assure that they get the accommodations that they want.

Last week I was at a luncheon where we heard speakers from all three Park City resorts talking about what's new and what improvements the resorts have made over the summer months and also from White Pine Touring which operates the cross-country ski tracks around town. White Pine Touring also works closely with Mountain Trails Foundation which is a non-profit here in town dedicated to the building and maintenance of mountain biking and hiking trails throughout the mountains. Apparently the International Mountain Biking Association has named Park City as the best mountain biking town in the country. This is such a tribute to the Mountain Trails Foundation and the hard work that they do building and maintaining the Park City trail system.

On another note two weeks ago Park City, through our local radio station held a community wide call-in fundraiser for all of Park City's nonprofit organizations. I am very proud to say that our small town of Park City, permanent population of 7,000, contributed over $300,000 that day to our nonprofits. These non-profits are such an integral part of our community in maintaining hiking trails, putting on music festivals and contributing to the arts in town and this money will help assure their continued success. Way to go, Park City, and one of the things that I so much love about this town.

Last week I was up at the Montage Hotel at Empire Pass in Deer Valley and toured some of their new residences. They are absolutely stunning and the location of the Montage Hotel is in the "A" location for skiers. The Montage Hotel is located at the base of the Empire lift of Deer Valley with premium ski access to Deer Valley's most challenging expert terrain or the easy groomers of Northside. It is no wonder that The Montage has been a resounding success for both guests wishing to stay at the best Deer Valley has to offer or buyers wanting to own a condo in the heart of skiing.

Ski season is here so get your skis tuned up and waxed, and when you are out this winter, let me take you on a tour of Deer Valley and show you my favorite places to ski. Remember my office is mid-mountain Deer Valley in the Silver Lake Plaza, right across from the ticket booth.

Third Quarter Resort Comparisons

2011-11-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

A very interesting observation as winter approaches North America is in watching reactions to forecasts of snow. When watching the news stations or weather channel I have noticed that when snow is forecast for most cities in North America or the US, it comes with a warning for travel and usually with advice for residents to avoid traveling outside and to stay at home. It does not seem to matter whether the forecast is for an inch of snow or several. Ski resort towns, on the other hand, not only do not panic with the forecast of snow, but instead celebrate it. The ski resorts in the western US really don't even take notice or start to get excited unless the forecast is for at least a foot. Then the excitement is not for concerns of traveling around town (we all know how to drive in snow) but rather the prospect of excellent skiing the next day. Just another example of how ski country people are just a little different from the rest of the country.

This past weekend we had a fairly decent storm with 8-10 inches of snow on the Park City side and between 1 and 2 feet in the Alta/Snowbird area. Unfortunately the combination of new snow and early season enthusiasm is a recipe for disaster. Over the weekend and mostly on Sunday, there were around a dozen skier/boarder-triggered avalanches in the Wasatch Range. And most unfortunately, pro-skier, Jamie Pierre was killed in an avalanche at Snowbird Resort. Prior to the opening of the resorts--Snowbird and Alta don't open until this Friday--the resorts aren't doing avalanche control work and early season enthusiasts forget that while skiing at these resorts, one must take the same precautions as backcountry skiing. This is a lesson that is all too often learned too late.

The third quarter statistics for all of the resorts of the Western Mountain Resort Alliance have just come out and are pretty interesting. The statistics are for most of the major resorts in the western US: Whistler in British Columbia; Park City, Utah; Steamboat, Vail, and Crested Butte in Colorado; Sun Valley, Idaho; Big Sky, Montana; Lake Tahoe, California; and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Pretty interesting that what I've been reporting for Park City all year is quite similar to what's happening at the other resorts. All year I've been reporting that the number of listings has been down (and for Park City it's down 6% over last year) and likewise, the other resorts are down anywhere from 2% in Whistler to 16% in Big Sky. Only Lake Tahoe is up at 6% and Jackson Hole is even from last year. Over this past year I've been saying the number of units sold has been up in Park City (which it has by 18%) and every resort except for Crested Butte is also showing number of sales up over last year. Vail is basically even, up only 1%. Big Sky, Montana has had the biggest increase at 40% in number of sales of last year, and Crested Butte is the anomaly down 45% in number of sales last year. I have been following these statistics since 1996 and pretty consistently, Vail has always sold about twice as much as we have in Park City. However last year and again this year, total dollar volume sold in Park City has surpassed Vail. Through September, Park City has sold just over $853,000,000 for a 7% increase over 2010. Vail, on the other hand, has sold just under $725,000,000, which is a 24% decrease over 2010. In looking at all of the resorts, four are up this year and five are down. Whistler, Park City, Steamboat and Big Sky are all showing increases in dollar volume over 2010. While Sun Valley, Vail, Lake Tahoe, Jackson and Crested Butte are all showing a decrease. Jackson Hole continues to have the highest average sales price of all resorts with the average sales price for all property types for the entire county of $1,225,000. By contrast, Vail, which we always assume is very expensive, is showing an average for all property types of $898,000 and Park City at $676,000. Jackson Hole has always been expensive because of the scarcity of developable land. Only 3% of all the land in and around Jackson is available for development. This is one of the big contrasts that we have here in Park City where one of our main issues is actually that there is too much land that can be developed. Please feel free to contact me for detailed or more specific information for any of these resorts.

The snow is piling up, the resorts are opening, Park City, Alta, and Snowbird open this weekend, so it's definitely time to find where your ski gear hid itself over the summer and get the ski legs in shape.

Snow, snow, snow

2011-11-10T08:44:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday, Park City held a Snow Dance Parade on Main Street where everybody was encouraged to dress up in appropriate snow gear, ring cowbells and parade to bring on winter. Well, it worked! It's been snowing ever since, and all three resorts are making snow. Big news this week is the announcement of opening days. Brighton Ski Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon opens this Thursday followed by Solitude on Friday. Park City, Snowbird and Alta are opening the following week on the 18th or 19th, Canyons on the 25th, and Deer Valley as is consistent, opens the first Saturday in December which is the 3rd this year. Fall has definitely ended and winter is here now for the duration.

The excitement in town is readily apparent with the ski shops getting all the new equipment out and everybody gearing up for a great winter. With last ski season showing a marked improvement in visitors to Park City over the 2009-2010 season, we are hoping the trend will continue and with abundant snowfall visitors will come.

In real estate happenings, for the off-time of the year, we are remaining relatively busy. Buyers are continuing to take advantage of low prices and low interest rates to purchase their ski property prior to the arrival of winter visitors. I had some clients in town last week and their reasoning for coming this time of the year was the of the availability of properties to look at. With very few visitors in town right now getting appointments to see property is very easy, unlike during the height of the ski season when everything is rented. So if you are contemplating purchasing a ski property this year, this is a terrific time to come out and look. The availability is high and there is great selection of properties to look at.

The start of the ski season is just days away so continue working on your strength and agility exercises, and let's go skiing!

Park City Mountain Resort Goes Green

2011-10-27T09:28:00.000-06:00

With all the talk over the last several years of global warming (or more correctly, climate change) and the concern that we have of ever-rising snow levels, the three Park City resorts have been taking steps to reduce and hopefully eliminate their carbon footprint. Several years ago both the Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley Resort purchased wind power electricity and converted their fleets of snow groomers to bio diesel. This year Park City has gone a step further and installed a wind turbine at the top of the mountain along with solar panels with the goal of becoming completely independent from conventional electricity and using only renewable sources. This is a great move and I believe we'll see more and more resorts going this direction.

Last week I talked about my Hero Tree in the backyard that stays green well after the other trees have turned golden. This last weekend it finally gave up and started to turn. I guess this means the end of fall has arrived. While there's still a few splotches of gold in the mountains the leaves are coming off pretty quickly and we're entering the brown season. The brown season is when all the leaves are gone but snow has not yet arrived. It looks like we're going to get another small shot of snow this week and with very cold temperatures. I was just in Deer Valley purchasing my season pass for the year and saw that they had the snowmaking guns out. This is a good opportunity to remind everyone that on November 1 season pass and coupon book rates increase at our local resorts.

Continuing as we have been all fall, there is nothing terribly exciting in real estate happening. However the past week my phone's been ringing with inquiries for ski condos prior to the start of the ski season. Prices continue to be low and interest rates remain at historic lows and buyers are taking advantage of this. On the flip side, as I mentioned last week, the number of new properties listed are decreasing significantly which is making it harder to find steals. There are great deals out there but I would caution buyers that if they're looking and find something that fits their requirements not to dawdle.

Last weekend the new Warren Miller ski film, Like There's No Tomorrow, premiered here in Park City and now of course everybody is enthused and ready for the start of ski season. If this film comes to a town near to you I recommend seeing it as it's one of his better ones in the last several years. With that, I hope to see you on the mountain this winter!

My Hero

2011-10-19T08:45:00.000-06:00

I know every week I talk about just how beautiful it is and how it can't get any prettier...but it does! This weekend was the peak of the colors and it's absolutely spectacular. The hills were awash in color, the temperature was near 70 and then we had a little snow last night. My hero this week is an aspen tree in my backyard. While all the other aspens have turned bright gold and are starting to lose their leaves there is one that holds on and is still bright green. Way to go, aspen. Don't give up!

In real estate news the sales stats are in through the end of September and the trend we have been observing all year is continuing. Comparing year-to-date January 1 to September 30 of 2010 and 2011, the number of single family homes sold is up just over 17% and the average sales price of a home has risen 4.5% from $826,000 to $863,000. Condo sales are up just over 13% and continuing the trend we've seen all summer, average sales price is down about 27%, from $862,000 in 2010 to $623,000 in 2011. Looking at and comparing this September to last September, the number of homes sold was flat at 74 for each month but average sales prices rose almost 24% from $767,000 in September of 2010 to $948,000 for September of 2011. From September 2010 to September 2011 in condo sales, number of sales is up 21% and average sales price continues to decline to just over 35%. A major contributor to this decline was sales in lower Deer Valley where last year there was one sale with a sales price of $2,289,000 and this September there was again one condo sold but sold for $514,000. This shows a decrease in sales price of 77.5%. Now we know condo prices in Deer Valley haven't decreased 77%; this is just a function of what sold this year compared to what sold last year. I believe that this holds true for the average sales price of homes and condos overall. I do not believe that home prices have increased 17-24% or that condo prices have dropped 27-36%, but rather more expensive homes are once again selling, but buyers are looking for the lower priced condos.

Also a continuing trend we've been following all year: the number of new listings continues to decrease. Year-to-date, 2010 to 2011, the number of new homes listed is down 15.6% and number of condos listed year-to-date is down 18.9%. Looking at September 2010 versus September 2011 the number of new homes listed was down almost 26% and number of new condos listed decreased 31%. I think we have several factors going on here of which I think the major factor is that many of our sellers are not desperate to sell, not in trouble, and are willing to wait until the market starts to return. This is also the message that most agents are telling their sellers: unless you really want to sell and are willing to price it according to today's market, don't sell. However, if the trend continues of number of sales increasing each month and numbers of new properties being listed decreases, something has to give and we're starting to see this. We're seeing well-priced properties selling quickly and we're seeing more and more multiple offers. With the economy continuing to waffle along and interest rates running historically low, buyers are definitely taking advantage of this opportunity and are purchasing. We know there will come a time when resort real estate cannot be purchased for today's prices and interest rates are not this low and we as agents will be hearing "I should have bought back then." If you're in the market for resort real estate don't let this be you.

Each week brings us closer to the opening week of ski season. Deer Valley opens in about 6 weeks so continue the leg workouts, the core body workouts and start focusing on aerobics. See you on the mountain this winter!

Fall Colors and Snow

2011-10-12T12:24:00.002-06:00

Well the much-anticipated snow storm arrived on schedule last week and snowed off and on here for several days. Sunday morning it finally started to clear up so I drove up in the local mountains to take some very pretty pictures of snow-capped mountains blending in with the fall colors. It really is a magical time of year. But as the ground is still quite warm, all the snow down low has melted off. I do suspect that the higher elevations' north-facing slopes now have snow for the remainder of the year.

Last week's paper published the story that the Hotel Park City had signed an agreement with Marriott Hotels to be part of their flagship hotel chain. Well, this was a bit premature, as while the Hotel Park City is moving that direction and is close to signing, the deal has not been inked yet. From what I hear it is extremely likely this will happen and I think it will be a good benefit for condo owners at Hotel Park City as Marriott brings lots of name recognition and useful insights.

The big news this week is that the readers of Ski Magazine voted Deer Valley as the #1 Ski Resort in North America for the 5th season in a row. What makes this most remarkable is that no resort has received the #1 ranking 5 times, let alone in 5 consecutive years. Park City Mountain Resort received recognition as the #1 Family Resort and #6 overall. This is a tribute to not only our wonderful resorts, but also to the town of Park City, and all of the shop, restaurant and resort employees who strive to make every visitor feel welcome.

In other local news going on, grading for the Canyons Resort Golf Course is actually under way! Finally, after what seems to be an eternity of infighting, the various landowners have settled their differences and course construction has started. This will be extremely good news for Canyons Resort and owners of condos at Canyons Resort as this should make it a stand alone resort in Park City.

In other Canyons news in last week's post I had talked about the proposed lift connecting Canyons and Solitude Resort. This has been and continues to be a hot topic of conversation around town and interestingly enough in last Wednesday's paper there was a very well-written letter from a local skier in support of the lift. While he brought up many very good points I'm afraid that the majority of Parkites are either still against the proposal or at best skeptical. This debate reminds me of a debate that went on here in the late 1980s concerning the idea that Park City had of putting in a lift connecting Main Street Park City to the resort. This lift as envisioned would cross Park Avenue (one of the main entrances into town) and unload right in the commercial district. At the time, I remember being quite surprised at how vocal and widespread the opposition to this was. Well, the lift did go in, the ski run crosses Park Avenue as does the lift and it accesses hotels and restaurants in downtown Park City. Since this has gone in I've heard no opposition, just kudos for what a good idea it was. Will this be the same result as the Canyons' proposal to hook up with Solitude? Who knows, but I will certainly keep you posted as to how it's going.

Other than that it's a pretty slow time of the year and everyone is just enjoying a bit of relaxation before winter madness starts. Wolf Creek Resort in southeastern Colorado received over 3 feet of snow and is the first resort in the US to open. I have seen several videos posted on the web of people skiing Alta so it's not far away. Continue working out and I look forward to seeing you skiing this winter.

It Was Only a Matter of Time

2011-10-04T10:06:00.002-06:00

After quite possibly the most beautiful September on record, it appears this will all come to an end as the first significant winter storm is forecast for later this week. Heavy rains starting Wednesday, turning to snow Thursday with the snow level lowering to around 6,000 feet; well below Park City which is at 7,000'. While everyone will be sad to see these warm, beautiful cloudless days come to an end, it's also exciting to see the snow come as it is a preview to the upcoming ski season. Come back next week for photos of snow-covered mountains combined with fall foliage, usually quite spectacular.

The other big news for the week here in Park City was an announcement by the Canyons Resort that they would like to connect the Canyons with Solitude Mountain Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon by chairlift. Not surprisingly, the overall reaction has been less than warm. In fact, downright chilly. I say not surprisingly because as long as I have been in Park City (since 1984) there have been various proposals to connect some or all seven of the local ski resorts together. This can be accomplished with about four chairlifts and would make the most incredible ski resort in North America, if not the world. While this is quite common in Europe, connecting ski resorts owned by different entities is virtually unheard-of in the U.S. I only know of one that has done this, and that is Snowbird and Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon here in Utah. The strongest and most vocal opponent to connecting the Canyons and Solitude is the Save Our Canyon organization. This is a group of backcountry skiers who strongly oppose any new development in either Little or Big Cottonwood Canyon and have been able to rally enough support to block any ski area expansion. I'm not sure that Talisker Corp, the owner of the Canyons Resort fully grasps the fight that they're going to have on this. In the 7 days since this announcement has come out, there have been two editorials and several letters in our local paper opposing the expansion and the Save Our Canyons organization has already posted this on their website and is garnering opposition. So this will be an interesting battle to see what happens, but I can assure you, it is unlikely that there will be a chairlift connecting the Canyons and Solitude for the next ski season. This will be a many year fight primarily because any proposed skiing and lifts crosses Forest Service land.

In real estate news, there was an article recapping last summer's visitor count here in Park City and while specific visitor numbers have not been tallied interviews with various hotel owners or management companies indicated that the summer was a mixed bag. Overall, visitor nights were up but not consistently throughout the summer and average daily rental rate was up only slightly if at all. For the upcoming ski season, the major holidays (Christmas, Sundance, President's week) are just about completely booked and I have heard the Deer Valley ski school is completely booked for Christmas. The trend for the last few years has been for winter visitors, other than for the major holidays, to book closer and closer to their actual trip. Generally waiting to see which resorts have the best snow, where they can get the best rates, etc. If this storm comes in this week as expected, we typically see a marked increase in phone reservations as early snowfalls usually makes national news and piques the interest of skiers.

So, winter is coming! Continue your workouts and I look forward to seeing you on the ski slopes this winter.

Underwear Runners Strike Salt Lake

2011-09-29T06:09:00.001-06:00

This past Saturday the big protest in Salt Lake, was, as only Utah can have it, about 3,000 people stripping down to their underwear (nudity was not allowed of course) and running en masse to the State Capitol in a protest of Utah's overbearing morality laws. If this will actually have any effect on the Legislature and its opinions is doubtful but it certainly is humorous. Way to go, Utah: throw caution to the wind and take chances.

On a much more positive note, the fall colors are absolutely astounding. It seems that they're changing by the minute. The weather for the past week just doesn't get any better. Temps in the low 70s, bright blue skies, the maples are bright red and the aspens are just beginning to turn. I took a drive this past weekend up in the mountains and it was truly breathtaking. If you ever get a chance to come out and see the fall colors in the Rockies, forget New England: this is where you need to be. As I mentioned a moment ago, the aspens are just starting to turn so we've only got another 3 weeks of peak colors. Yes it's been a little late this year which I suspect it's due to the wet spring and summer.

In real estate news, there's nothing really exciting to report. Sales continue to be quiets strong for this time of the year. In looking at what's selling, its still all over the board from the very low condos in the $100,000 range to the multi-million dollar homes and condos. I have noticed that multiple offers are occurring more frequently on well-priced properties again in all price ranges. The stock market continues its dizzying roller-coaster ride but seems to be holding about where it was 3 years ago. It seems if it goes above this point it doesn't stay for long and comes back down, and the same is true if it drops below the 3-year average: doesn't stay long and comes back up. What this means for real estate: I haven't a clue. So far it doesn't seem to be having a strongly negative effect but I think this winter is going to be very telling.

Forecast is for storms to start rolling through next weekend and into the following week, so this may be the first significant sign of winter approaching. So continue the leg-strengthening exercises, get your core muscles strong, and I look forward to seeing you on the slopes this season.

Fall Colors

2011-09-22T09:21:00.000-06:00

As you've heard me say many times, September is the best month in Park City. Bright blue skies, chilly nights, warm days and COLORS! It is amazing the difference since last Monday. Almost all the maples have turned and the aspens are beginning to turn as well. It is truly a magical time to be in the mountains.

Last Sunday was our annual fall classic, the Tour de Suds bike race. This is a mountain bike race from City Park in Park City to the top of Guardsman's Pass, which divides the Park City side of the Wasatch mountains and the Salt Lake city side, 7 1/2 miles in length and 2,700 vertical feet. So named "Tour de Suds" as it originally started at the Brew Pub on Main St, rode to the top and back down for what else, brews! This has developed into an annual event with most riders dressing in some sort of wacky costume. Other than that it's pretty quiet in town these days. Most music is done, all festivals but the Park Silly Sunday Markets are done and the restaurants are empty.

In real estate news, probably the thing affecting us the most is the erratic economy: one day stocks are up 300 points, the next down 400 and so the yo-yo goes. In looking at August 2010 versus August 2011 it's clear the uncertainty in the US and world economies is having an effect. Home sales for August 2010 were basically flat: 73 in 2010 compared with 75 in 2011. However the average sales price was down 12.6% from $755,900 in 2010 to $660,700 in 2011. Number of condo sales was up slightly: 37 in 2010 compared to 44 in 2011, for a 18.9% increase. But the average sold price increased quite dramatically, up 70%: $502,900 in 2010 to $854,000 in 2011. While this would appear to be great news, in looking at the numbers, the average sales price was skewed by five sales in Empire Canyon of Deer Valley with average sales price of almost $3.5M compared to 2 sales in 2010 with average sales prices of $2.5M and one sale in St. Regis in Deer Crest with a price of $3.2M where in August 2010 no sales in St. Regis. Another area that helped skew the prices was lower Deer Valley, 2 sales in August 2010 with average sales price of $894,500 and 3 sales in August 2011 with average sales price of $1,715,00, or up almost 92%. What this does show is that all aspects of the market are selling and high-end buyers are not afraid to jump in right now.

Last weekend was cold, rainy, and our first forecast with the snow level in it (albeit at 10,000 feet); a sure sign winter is on its way. So continue your ski workouts and let's go skiing when you're in town!

Fall Has Arrived

2011-09-13T12:35:00.002-06:00

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.

All's Quiet in Park City (and we're above water!)

2011-09-08T05:41:00.003-06:00

So Labor Day has come and gone and with it most of the summer visitors. While September and October are my personal favorite time of the year, still warm days but not too hot, and cool nights, with kids back in school most everyone has left. September is the change of seasons month. We had our first two mornings of frost last week but the daytime temperatures are still up in the low 70s. Looking around, the leaves on the trees are definitely getting old, and you can just barely start to see some signs of the leaves turning. It will really be the end of September/first part of October before we start to see big changes in the leaves. But the turn is starting and snow can fall at any time now.

While the summer visitors have left. Real estate tends to not slow down as much in the fall as it does in the spring. Like the changing of the seasons, September/October is also the change of the real estate season, where during the summer months our focus tends to be on single-family homes and more full-time residential sales, now we make the switch to vacation properties. September and October tend to be relatively busy as people are looking to pick up their ski home or condo early enough to allow themselves to close on the purchase and customize the property prior to the ski season. This is a great time of the year to be in the market for properties as vacancy rates are very low so it is easy to get in to see properties, and sellers tend to still be more eager to sell than they are during the height of the ski season.

While we can--and will--see snow any time now, the days in between the storms tend to be very delightful. Fall is a wonderful time to visit where you see the trees turning colors and as we get later in the fall, the higher peaks covered in snow. This makes for quite the contrast and a great time to be up here enjoying the fall weather.

Miners Day in Park City

2011-08-31T08:41:00.000-06:00

Where has the summer gone that this weekend is already Labor Day, or as it is known in Park City, Miners Day. This is the weekend Park City celebrates its mining heritage with a funky small-town parade down Main Street, followed by music, food and games in the City Park and the ever-popular Mucking and Drilling Contest.

Now you may be wonder just what the heck is a mucking and drilling contest. This is a throwback to the mining days and there are two separate contests: the first, the drilling, is where former and current miners compete to see who can drill three holes in a slab of granite in the shortest amount of time using the old pneumatic drills. Best described as contraptions, these drills are about five feet long and weigh up to 70 pounds, are horrendously noisy, and will vibrate your eye teeth out of your mouth. Watching the miners pick up this piece of machinery, set it against the wall of granite and quickly drill a hole in a precise location is truly amazing. What comes next, however, is the mucking. Mucking is a term used by the silver miners for getting rid of the waste rock in the mine of which there is plenty. To do this another contraption is used which consists of an ore cart on a rail (again pneumatic driven) and with a pneumatic-powered bucket on the front. So the miner/contestant runs the cart forward on the track to the pile of muck, scoops up a bucket full which then is lifted up and over the top and drops in the ore cart. The part of the ore cart with the bucket is on a hinge which can swivel left or right or straight. So the miner is constantly angling the bucket to pick up the most amount of muck and then has to get it straight so it drops straight into the cart. The contest is to see who can fill the cart with the most muck in the smallest amount of time. As you can see, we are easily amused here in Park City. So that is Labor Day/Miners Day in Park City which will of course include the mandatory barbecues and a sad farewell to summer which feels like it just started yesterday.

In real estate news, probably the biggest news coming up that will have the most affect on buyers is that on October 1, conforming loan limits change from about $729,000 to close to $600,000. The affect that this will have on our market remains to be seen but it could be fairly significant. The gist of this change is that prior to October 1, purchases with a loan amount up to around $729,000 are available at the lower conforming rate, and now after October 1, any loan amounts over the new $600K limit will have to be jumbo loans which traditionally come at a cost of at least half a percent. The National Association of Realtors, bankers and lenders are lobbying hard to get Congress to extend this to at least the end of the year. Let's hope they are successful as this will allow buyers to continue purchasing and save significant amounts of money during the course of their loan.

Fall is one of the prettiest time of the year in the mountains with warm sunny days and cool evenings. If possible, make plans to visit for the fall colors which normally reach their peak mid-September to early October.

Summer Heat Wave

2011-08-25T07:03:00.000-06:00

Well I suppose better late than never, but hot weather finally got hot here, and by hot I mean in the mid-80s, although Salt Lake has been approaching 100 degrees each day these past few weeks. Fortunately it’s short-lived and next week is supposed to cool off into the high 70s, to low 80s. As we have been saying for the past 2 months, each morning when we get up, "just another boringly beautiful day in Park City". Summer is rapidly winding down but music continues. This coming weekend, Leo Kottke is performing at our local Egyptian Theatre and this should be a great show that I’m looking forward to seeing.

In real estate news, I’ve been running some numbers on some different developments in Park City, and what is particularly striking to me is Empire Pass in Deer Valley. For the past few years we’ve had anywhere from 50-80 units for sale at any given time but in looking at it yesterday, there are only 20 condos for sale in all of Empire Pass. While this may seem like a lot, there were over 40 condos sold last winter and nothing new is being built. There are three more building pads available in Empire but nothing is started and even if they were to break ground today it would be two years before anything was developed. For sometime now we’ve been saying watch out in Empire Pass as what looks like an unlimited supply of condos will quickly run out and once again, buyers will be left saying, "Why didn’t I...?"

Just a short blog today as I am off taking clients to golf at Tuhaye on a beautiful summer afternoon. Hope you are enjoying your summer and plan to ski park City this winter.

July vs. July Sales and YTD Real Estate Comparison

2011-08-17T14:53:00.002-06:00

As I've mentioned in previous posts, real estate sales for the first half of 2011 have been up over the same period of 2010 and this trend is continuing. Year-to-date sales (through July), for single-family homes are up 23% from 349 in 2010 to 430 in 2011. Comparing July to July, there were 58 sales of single-family homes in 2010, compared to 67 sales in 2011 or an increase of over 15%. Year-to-date average sold price is up 4.2%, $852,820 in 2010 to $888,601, 2011. July to July averages are more dramatic as average sold prices increased 32.4%: $688,534 in 2010 to $911,958 in 2011. While the number of sales has been increasing, the number of new listings of single-family homes continues to decline. In July, 2010, there were 219 new homes listed but only 165 listed in July 2011, a decline of 24.7%.

Condo sales show a mixed trend. Number of sales year-to-date have increased 10.6% from 293 in 2010 to 324 in 2011, but average sold price continues to decline from $943,085 to $603,026 in 2011 for a decrease of 32%. As with single-family homes, the number of new condos listed has also continued to decline, from 757 in 2010 to 623 in 2011, or a decrease of 17.7%. Comparing July to July, the number of sales has increased 34.6% from 26 in 2010 to 35 in 2011 but average sold price was dramatic: $817,942 in 2010 to $335,287 in 2011 for a decrease of 59%. Again, like single-family homes, the number of listings is down 18% July vs. July, from 92 new condo listings in 2010 to 77 in 2011.

So what does this all mean? Buyers are here and they are buying. However, buyers are very price-sensitive and only buying what they perceive to be deals. With inventory continuing to decline, the better properties are going away faster than they are being replaced. Does this equate to be the right time to buy? Low prices, dwindling inventory and low interest rates: resort real estate has always been popular and now it appears buyers are back in the market. If you've always wanted that vacation home, whether it be the mountains, beach, or golf course community, this might be the right time for you to purchase. To paraphrase my favorite ski film photographer Warren Miller: if you don't buy your vacation home this year, you'll just be that much older when you do.

While summer is still here in the mountains, a hint of fall has definitely arrived. Days are noticeably shorter and mornings are cooler. If you have not already done so, it is time to start getting in shape for ski season.

Blue Skies, Wildflowers, and Cool Nights

2011-08-10T20:51:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned last week the Park City Arts Festival was held this past weekend and was a huge success. The weather couldn't have been better. Bright blue skies, temps in the high 70s to low 80s, and not a cloud to dampen the spirits. Arts Fest is such a great time with Main Street Park City turned into one big art show, with vendors from all over the country: artists from Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Washington, Arizona, California and many others that I can't recall. Each displaying their unique wares. The festival over the years has become so popular that artists start applying for entry early during the winter, then by spring the Kimball Arts Center--who is the sponsor--makes their determination as to who will be allowed to participate in that year's festival. All the artists that I spoke with said that the festival was very profitable for them and most have participated for many years.

Unique to the Rocky Mountains, the weather starts cooling off in August. Daytime temperatures are not as high, evenings are a little cooler, and this summer has been a little cooler than usual. Salt Lake City, which is about 3,000 feet below us in elevation, has yet to hit 100 degrees, and if they haven't by now it's doubtful that they will this year. It's not uncommon during the hot month of July for Park City to get a few days at or near 90, but not this year. With the late start of summer and all the rain, the mountain flowers are still in full bloom and absolutely spectacular.

Nothing real exciting in real estate news this week. Sales continue to be brisk but will be very interested to see what if any effect the government's mess with the economy will cause. With the stock market in a freefall for the last two weeks I'll be very interested to see if this makes buyers more inclined to put their money in the safety of real estate or just afraid to do anything. Needless to say, here in the resorts, where our economy is so tied to both the US and world economies, we are just a little nervous right now and wishing that the politicians in Washington DC would get their act together and quit creating these crises. The next month should be very telling, so come back and let's see what happens.

This coming Saturday the Utah Symphony will be performing under the stars at Deer Valley and will be featuring the music of Queen. I'm really looking forward to this show. It should be a delightful evening and I'll be very interested to see who the symphony brings in for the main performers for Queen.

Here it is the second week of August and we are actually starting to think about the upcoming winter. Next month I'll give a wrap-up of what improvements the resorts have made this summer and what to expect for the upcoming ski season. In the meantime, enjoy your summer and start getting in shape for ski season!

August in the Mountains

2011-08-02T12:57:00.003-06:00

So, it's August 1. How did that happen so quickly when summer only came a month ago? Oh well, the joy of living in the mountains at 7,000 feet. This summer has been cool and rainy, much like the summers were when I first arrived in the '80's. Could it be that we have turned a corner and the drought cycle is over? Time will tell but the mountains are so green right now and the wildflowers are so vibrant that it is absolutely spectacular.

This coming weekend is the annual Park City Arts Festival, a summer highlight. It starts off Friday night with what has traditionally become Local's Night, where admission is free, most all the vendors have set up and all the PC locals come up to preview what's going on, drink wine, have dinner on main street and catch up with friends before the crowds arrive. The Art Festival traditionally brings 100,000 visitors to PC over the weekend. A great event in town, the merchants and innkeepers are happy, and once again the people-watching is amazing, and the exhibitors continue to amaze festival goers.. August is thunderstorm season in the mountains and not uncommon to have afternoon thunderstorms come during the arts festival with all the vendors scrambling to secure their wares and hold the tents down during the storm. This year, while it has been very stormy for the past few weeks the forecast for the weekend is to be dry warm and sunny. Terrific for the festival, merchants, and festival goers. Tune in next week for photos from this years' arts festival.

In real estate news, nothing really exciting has been occurring recently other than the trend this summer has continued. Numbers of transactions are up, inquiries into my listings are up significantly over last year, and inventory continues to decline. While we are still in a buyers' market, particularly for cash buyers, I am starting to see sellers not coming off their prices as much and not as willing to sell at any cost. With sellers getting more and more calls to see their properties the feeling is becoming more and more that the market may be turning slightly to the sellers' favor. I don't feel that this is occurring yet but as inventory dwindles and as we get closer to the start of the ski season, historically interest continues to increase, this may start to happen.

In the meantime, the mountains are a wonderful reprise from the stifling heat that has taken over most of the country. I have lived in PC for 27 years now, and this the first time that I have still seen snow on our local mountains in August. For the next month, Park City is abuzz with arts festivals, music festivals, and outdoor dining. I'm hopeful your summer will allow for you to come up and enjoy summer in the mountains.

Mid-Year Golf Course Wrap-Up

2011-07-29T12:47:00.003-06:00

Unfortunately I have to start this week's blog with some very sad news. A local park city skier, "Speedy" Jaret Peterson tragically took his life on Monday. Speedy grew up in Park City, won a silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics in freestyle and like so many others, lost his battle with alcoholism and depression. Speedy will be missed by all and hopefully there is a lesson to be learned here.

On a much brighter note, the town is absolutely bustling with activity. Walking around Main Street, the shops are full, the restaurants are full and everyone seems to be in a good mood. Could there be a correlation between the oppressive heat wave the rest of the country is seeing and our beautiful mountain weather? IF you're reading this while living anywhere in the Midwest or Eastern US, my full intent is to make you jealous by telling you our daytime temps are in the high 70s to low 80s, with nighttime temps in the 50s and 60s. Visitors might think that we live here for the winters and skiing, but it's really the summers. They are so beautiful!

It has been an interesting year for real estate sales in our private golf courses, of which we have five (Promontory, Glenwild, Tuhaye, Victory Ranch and Red Ledges). Of these, the most active has been Promontory. In 2010, 16 homes sold in the first half of the year compared to 22 in 2011, or a 37.5% increase in number of sales. Following the trend throughout Park City the average sales price dropped 8.5% from $1,291,000 to $1,181,000. Lot sales in Promontory is where all the activity really was. In the first half of 2010, 19 lots sold, compared to 56 in 2011, for an increase in 195%.(this number is somewhat scewed by one buyer having now purchased over 20 lots) Average sales price also increased 15.5% from $132,000 to $153,000. Glenwild and Tuhaye saw far fewer sales; combined saw 6 home sales in the first half of 2010 and 5 home sales in 2011. Average sales price for homes in Tuhaye was $1,192,000 in 2010 and $1,499,000 for 2011. In Glenwild the average sold price of a home in 2010 was $1,450,000 and $3,397,000 for the first half of 2011. For lot sales, there were 8 lots sold in Tuhaye and Glenwild in the first half of 2010 compared to only 2 in 2011.

In trying to analyze why there was so much activity in Promontory compared to the other golf course communities, I feel there are several factors contributing to this. When Promontory first opened it was the second course to open after the very successful sellout of Glenwild, and everybody wanted to get in on the golf course action. As a result, builders started snapping up lots as well as speculators. It is very difficult for a community to remain viable when the majority of purchases were for speculation as opposed to end users. And as a result, prices dropped dramatically in Promontory. Lots are selling for about a third of their original purchase price or less and finished homes can be purchased for significantly less than what it costs to build the home. Combine this with the terrific amenity package that Promontory has: beautiful clubhouse, separate fitness centers and pool, separate children's center, two golf courses, and now The Shed (which is a rec center). While Glenwild has a stunning clubhouse, Tuhaye has the Tower Club on the mountain of Deer Valley and a fitness center and small restaurant at the Golf Course, none of these come close to comparing to what Promontory has to offer. Fortunately, Tuhaye and Red Ledges golf course communities came into existence long enough after Promontory that speculators did not overbuy. We are fortunate enough to have enough diversity in golf course communities with each having its own unique amenity package that I can find the perfect combination of real estate price and amenities for each buyer.

As I alluded to above, if you are sweltering in this summer's heat wave, come out and discover just how delightful summers in the mountains are. And of course when you do, either stop by my office or give me a call for the insider's tips on the best restaurants, what activities are must do, and naturally for the best real estate buys in town.

2011 Mid-Year Real Estate Update

2011-07-20T13:09:00.002-06:00

Well, summer is in full swing here in the mountains which means that we get daily thunderstorms. The days start out clear and warm, some time after noon big thunderstorms start to build, and then we get maybe an hour or so of rain late in the afternoon/early evening. Really keeps things fresh, clean and cool.

Last Saturday evening the Utah symphony performed at Deer Valley and featured the music of the Eagles. The symphony brought in a group whose lead singer was formerly with the group Kansas to perform for us with the symphony as backup. It was really a magical night with the sound of steel guitars combined with the symphony, playing all of the classic Eagles songs. And all of this under the stars at Deer Valley.

As I have been mentioning over the last several months of blogs, this year in real estate has certainly seemed quite busy. Both for my own perspective and talking with other agents, and the statistics are showing this to be true. Single family home sales across the board were up 24% from 2010 to 2011. 291 sales in 2010 versus 361 in 2011. Also, as I have been saying, sales prices have remained flat. Average sales price for a home in the Park City area for 2010 was $885,564 and $882,259 for 2011. For some specific areas: Old Town Park City showed a 25% increase in numbers of sales, 20 in 2010 compared to 25 in 2011 and a 16% decrease in average sales price. $1,220,000 2010 compared $1,019,000 in 2011. Single Family Home sales in lower Deer Valley decreased 54% from 11 sales in 2010 to 5 sales this year. Again average sales price was basically flat: $2,103,000 in 2010 comp to $2,131,000 in 2011. Upper Deer Valley saw a marked increase in home sales from 4 in 2010 to 11 in 2011, and a slight increase in average sold price, $3,300,000 in 2010 to $3,569,000 in 2011 or an increase of 8%. Going away from the resorts to the residential area of Park Meadows, 17 homes sold in 2010 compared to 24 in 2011 with the average sales price up 9% from $977,000 to $1,065,000. While this increase in home sales was occurring, we saw a significant drop in the number of new listings across the board. For the first half of 2010 we had 1,034 new homes come on the market while in 2011 that dropped to 863 or a 16% decrease.

Condo sales have somewhat followed the same trend. Number of sales across the board increased from 267 in 2010 to 288 in 2011 for an 8% increase, however the average sold price of a condo decreased 29% from $955,000 in 2010 to $678,000 in 2011. Taking specific areas near the resorts, let's start with old town which encompasses the Park City resort where we saw number of sales increased from 35 to 52 and the average sales price decrease from $513,000 to $464,000. As with home sales, Deer Valley again was very popular with condo sales. In lower Deer Valley we sold 18 condos in 2010 compared to 38 in 2011. Where once again we saw average sales price drop from $833,000 to $635,000. Upper Deer Valley was one of the few areas where we saw a decrease in condos sold, 16 in 2010 compared to 11 in 2011. And average sales price down slightly 3% from $1,496,000 in 2010 to $1,452,000 in 2011. The Canyons Resort followed this trend with 25 sales in 2010 compared to 37 in 2011 or 48% increase but a 32% decrease in average sold $716,000 to $485,000. Once again, across the entire board the number of new listings also decreased by 18% from 663 to 541 in 2011.

These numbers verify what everyone has been seeing this year. Numbers of sales are up but prices are not. Buyers are here, they are buying, but they are looking for bargains and distressed sellers. It will be very interesting to see how long this trend continues with the numbers of new listings decreasing. These past couple of weeks most every agent that I talk with has said that they are very very busy, both with buyers in town and agents showing their listings. With some of the changes coming to the mortgage industry that I have talked about in earlier blogs, I expect that the remainder of the summer will continue to be quite busy as buyers continue to snap up bargains and take advantage of favorable interest rates.

This coming weekend I will be competing in the Tuhaye Golf Course Annual Member/Guest Tournament in which my partner and I have won our flight the last two years. I will let you know next week how we did, providing of course that we did well. But it is a great event and typical of Talisker, the food is fabulous and there is no shortage of beverages. Forecast is for the weather to be clear warm and sunny for the next week. So if you are in the western US, this would be a terrific opportunity to experience summer in the mountains. As always, for the inside scoop on the best deals in real estate, contact me by phone, email, or drop into my office in Deer Valley. Until next week, I am off to groom my golf swing.

More summer festivals

2011-07-12T05:16:00.006-06:00

Summer is in full swing in Park City, which means that we are awash in various festivals and music events. This past weekend, Park City was host to our annual Food and Wine Festival where vintners from all around the west gather and showcase their wines in a variety of venues. The two most popular events were the Friday afternoon Main Street stroll and Saturday afternoon at the Canyons Resort. For the Main Street Stroll on Friday afternoon, various vintners take over numerous restaurants up and down Main Street. Participants start off on the Plaza at the Town Lift bridge where a variety of food and wine booths start the revelry. Participants then wander up and down Main Street at their leisure, popping in at designated establishments to sample a specific vintner's wares. All of this is done with guidebooks and rating sheets to help everyone remember just which wines it was that they liked, which of course can be a problem after many hours of sampling. This is truly a great time and great people-watching as the streets are packed with festival-goers carrying wine glasses and big smiles. Saturday's event at the Canyons Resort is a little more structured as it all takes place on the Plaza at the base of the Canyons. There the various vintners set up booths around the plaza where participants freely move about the plaza sampling their favorite wines. Again a great event for people-watching and enjoying a beautiful afternoon in the mountains.

Another of the long-standing traditional events in Park City are the outdoor concerts from the Utah Symphony. Each summer Deer Valley constructs a beautiful stage and amphitheater for all of their concerts, and it is a perfect venue for outdoor music. There is nothing better than sitting on the grass on a ski run, surrounded by beautiful mountains, listening to music. As with all Park City events, event attendees are permitted to bring picnic baskets and their favorite beverages. This year the Utah Symphony will continue its tradition of combining pop music with the symphony. Coming up in the next week the symphony will be performing "The Music of the Eagles." Then later this summer, "The Music of Queen." What's fun with these is that as much as possible, the Symphony attempts to have a couple of original group members performing with them. Unfortunately, for the Queen performance, Freddie Mercury is no longer with us as he would have been incredible to see perform. Of course for those of us who grew up listening to the Eagles and Queen, it may not seem quite right to listen to their music performed by a symphony while enjoying a glass of Chardonnay. What happened to the days of whiskey and tequila?

In real estate news, buyers are in town and are both looking and purchasing. Comparing May 2010 to May 2011 home sales were up both in number of sales and average price. 54 homes sold in May 2010 compared to 66 in 2011 for a 22% increase. Average sold price in 2010 was $754,454 and $963,063 in 2011 for an increase of 29%. While the number of condo sales was up 33%, 15 in 2010 compared to 20 in 2011, average sales price was down 50%, $562,427 in 2010 to $277,325 in 2011. Obviously showing the continued trend of buyers looking for and purchasing bargains. Right after the ski season ends buyers start looking for distressed sellers and sellers not wanting to carry their property for another summer...low offers were the norm and buyers made as many offers as needed to get a favorable response. Check in next week as I will have the sales numbers for the first half of the year. Should be quite interesting.

The mountains are as green and lush as I have ever seen for July and the wildflowers are in full bloom in the lower elevations. I expect that it will be August before the flowers bloom in the higher elevations. So come out and experience summer in the mountains.

July 5th in the Mountains

2011-07-06T13:09:00.003-06:00

July 4th has come and gone with all its celebrations, festivals, parades, fireworks, and of course, way too much barbecue. If you haven't experienced the 4th of July in a small town you're really missing out on a slice of Americana. Park City goes all out for the holiday with a de4lightfully funky and quirky parade, followed by music and activities in the City Park, including a Rugby tournament. It really is what America is about.

Being a ski town of course Park City's parade involves the Olympic athletes, luge, the freestyle-team jumping on trampolines and all the kids that make Park City so great. Here are some photos from the parade:

Also, every 4th of July I have a barbecue at my house for clients in town as it is a great place to watch the fireworks. It was a great success last night; I really had a very enjoyable evening reconnecting with clients and friends, relaxing with a few glasses of wine and enjoying great barbecue and sitting on the deck watching fireworks. If you haven't spent the 4th of July in the mountains yet, definitely make plans to do so next year.

In real estate news, we are now in the height of the summer selling season. Visitors are definitely here in town and are looking. Over the past two years buyers have felt little urgency to purchase, however I heard last week that the conforming loan amount is going to be lowered this fall from $729,750 to $600,300. (Typically, the conforming rate is $475,000 but Summit County, UT is considered a High Balance area and qualifies for a higher conforming price). This does make a difference as the interest rate for conforming loans is significantly lower than for Jumbo Loans. If you've been considering purchasing a vacation home this may be the time to act while interest rates and conforming loan amounts are favorable, inventory is high and prices are low.

The mountains are as green as I have ever seen them, so if you have been thinking about vacationing in the mountains, this is a great year and great time of year to visit.

End of June in the Mountains

2011-06-30T12:50:00.001-06:00

How can this be the end of June/first of July when summer just started a week ago? Well I suppose that's life at 7,000 feet. But right now it is so spectacular. There are still patches of snow on local mountains, aspens are bright, bright green, and the sky is the deepest blue that you can imagine. With all of this, a friend of mine skied Snowbird last Sunday and said it was absolutely fabulous. 100"+ base at mid-mountain and he could ski to the plaza at the base of the mountain; unheard of for this time of year. With the arrival of warm weather, all the creeks and rivers are raging with runoff. Everyone is being warned to stay away from the creeks and rivers as they are running high, fast, and cold. So far this spring four children have drowned in Northern Utah's streams and rivers.

As I mentioned in last week's blog, this past Saturday was the Savor the Summit on Main Street. Park City and the restaurants outdid themselves. Savor the Summit has been going on now for five years and the local restaurants now see who can out-do with decorations, menu and food. This year's festival was the largest I've ever seen and the restaurants certainly outdid themselves with their decorations. I was at the Talisker on Main table where they had made a canopy out of aspen trees. It was really quite impressive and seemed to be a focal part for everyone's pictures. Talisker served a 7-course dinner, complete with wine pairings that lasted well into the evening. (Of course, just to be sure, we bought plenty of wine ourselves.) This year, for the first time, when dinner concluded most of the restaurants provided live entertainment inside. This was a terrific addition to an already fabulous festival and kept everyone on Main Street until the wee hours of the morning. The only downside is that I was playing in a weekend golf tournament and had to be up at 6:30 Sunday morning, ready to play. While I was up at 6:30, I can't say that I was necessarily ready to play.

In real estate news, the start of the summer selling season is now here. The weather is perfect, visitors are here, and the opportunity to pick up a vacation home at a terrific price has never been better. While Park City has always had a few name-brand hotels they have been the likes of Holiday Inn, Marriott Hotels, and the Radisson; all mid-range names. Now we have the Waldorf-Astoria and Hyatt at the Canyons, and St Regis and the Montage at Deer Valley. I find this to be a significant change as Park City transforms itself from a mid-level resort to one catering to a more discerning clientele.

This change in Park City started in 1981 when Deer Valley opened. Of course, no one knew it at the time, but the opening of Deer Valley started the town of Park City down a path from which there was no going back. Deer Valley's premise from the beginning was to provide a high-end, exclusive resort, catering to upper-income families who expected the best in services for their limited vacation times. While Deer Valley provided the quality of service required, for several years the town of Park City did not pick up on the change in clientele and continued with the kind of restaurants, quality of food and services that was typical of a ski town in the '80s. It did not take long for the entrepreneurial aspects of Park City to catch on. Higher-end restaurants came in, upscale shops, and quality of service upgraded to the level expected by the new Deer Valley/Park City vacationer. As word spread that not only was Park City easy to get to, the restaurants and guest services were also at a very high quality, but the town itself somehow retained much more of the historic Old West mining town than either Aspen or Vail, I believe it is this combination of the quality of accommodations, quality of restaurants, quality of services, while retaining a small-town charm that has made Park City such a sought-after destination.

So, don't just take my word for it. Come see for yourself why I call Park City home and why so many of my real estate buyers are thrilled to be here.

Summer Solstice

2011-06-20T22:01:00.000-06:00

Tuesday is the summer solstice and the official start of summertime. Which here in the mountains means any snow that fell before the solstice belongs to last winter and any snow that falls after the solstice belongs to next winter. It hasn't snowed since Sunday the 19th, but the national weather service promises that this was the last storm for several months and I'm holding them to this promise. Next week Saturday, the 25th, Park city kicks off its start of summer with the "Savor the Summit" dinner. This is where the various restaurants in Park City line up tables down the middle of Main Street and serve dinner. The evening is filled with music, entertainment, and of course much socializing. This is the start to summer and the event has been sold out now for several weeks.

With all the rain and cool weather of this spring the golf courses are in fabulous shape but the mountain bike trails are still a little iffy. For hiking and biking you need to stay on either the lower elevations or South or West-facing trails as the North and East-facing trails still have a fair amount of snow on them. But with temperatures approaching 80-degrees this week, things will dry out quickly and we'll be in full swing.

The Montage Hotel and Spa in Empire Pass, Deer Valley, today announced their second release. If you've been following my blog you know that the Montage sold out its first release of 15 units last winter and is now on its second release of 15 units. This time, Montage is offering a buyer incentive of a 16% discount from list price. In addition, the Montage will be waiving HOA fees from the time of purchase to January 1, 2012. This is a terrific incentive for buyers wanting to get in on the low prices this summer but not intending to use until wintertime. The 15 sales that occurred during the winter were quite exceptional given the price range (over $2,000,000) and the economy. I think this demonstrates the quality of the construction at the Montage and the power of the Montage brand. If you're not familiar with Montage, they have two other hotels in Laguna Beach and Beverly Hills, California. The Montage is a very small boutique hotel offering very high-end finishes and service. For more information on the Montage, please contact me and I'll be happy to send you pricing and unit spec sheets.

It's greening up very fast in Park City now, and with the oppressive heat around the country this is the perfect time to come experience beautiful summer days in the mountains. Summertime temperatures in Park City are typically in the mid-70s to 80s, but the best part is our lack of humidity, frequently below 20%. As always, when you come out feel free to call me or stop in my office to find out about the latest happenings, restaurants that are a must-visit, and of course the best real estate buys in town.

June 14 In Park City

2011-06-14T12:38:00.002-06:00

Before we get started with today's news in Park City, let's get to the really important thing: today is my birthday! I'd like to say sweet 16 but I couldn't even reverse the numbers and be accurate. Today is supposed to be a beautiful day, so I'm going to relax and enjoy the town. What I'm very tempted to do today is drive up to Empire Pass and ski Deer Valley. Having never done this on my birthday I think it would be very fun. And yes, there is still plenty of snow. If I do this look for a picture!

What I really enjoy this time of year is watching the aspens leafing out and the green line creeping up the mountain. Currently the aspens have leaved out to about 8,000 feet. The town of Park City is 7,000 feet and the tops of the peaks are 10,000 feet. Each day creeps up higher and higher, but high-elevation trees will probably not leaf out for another week or two. This year the highest trees will probably not leaf out until almost July and will start to lose their leaves late September, a very short growing season. You have to really want to be a tree to live at 10,000 feet.

In real estate news, our market continues to improve with strong sales through all aspects of the market. The numbers of sales for the first four months of 2011 in the greater Park City area are up 20% over 2010 with average sales price being for the most part flat. Like most real estate markets there are many subset markets, with each one being very unique and different. For example, the average sales price for single-family homes in Park Meadows is up slightly over 2010, condos in upper Deer Valley are pretty flat while condos at the Canyons Resort do not appear to have hit bottom yet. This year, 51% of all transactions in the greater Park City area were cash; not surprisingly, 88% of land sales were cash transactions. I say not surprisingly because of the difficulty and expense of financing land. 29% of the sales this year have been distressed sales with the golf course community of Promontory accounting for 25% of all of the distressed sales. Notices of default have been steadily decreasing since the first of the year and the number of listings across the board are down 14% for the same period last year. I see this as all pretty positive news for the resort real estate market as we are once again bucking the national trends.

Comparing what's going on in Park City to the national trends nationwide, numbers of sales are down about 30% nationwide from last year. Resort markets seem to be hit quickly when the economy takes a downturn but historically have recovered much faster than residential markets. Even during a downturn in the economy we hear from our visitors that they want to own their vacation properties but are nervous about the timing and perhaps their financial situation. As consumer confidence rebounds buyers tend to look at a vacation home purchase as a good financial investment rather than just pure enjoyment. Right now vacation home buyers appear to be feeling much more confident that the resort real estate market is near the bottom and that with low prices and dwindling inventory, now is the time to act. As I mentioned in last week's article the importance of having a local, knowledgeable and experienced agent working for you can not be overstressed. While prices in Park City are down to about where they were in 2006, offering some excellent investment opportunities, there are certainly specific areas where the savvy investor can find extremely attractive purchases.

Summer will eventually arrive, I promise. So come out and enjoy spectacular summer weather in the high country and of course when you do, be sure to stop in my office or give me a call to find out what's happening around town, the best restaurants, what events are a "don't miss," and where the best real estate buys are.

Early June in the Mountains

2011-06-09T09:17:00.000-06:00

Summer arrived this weekend! With temperatures approaching 80 degrees the golf courses were busy and all the local pools were full of residents enjoying the beautiful warm weather. Driving around town the nursery was doing booming business with people planting spring and summer flowers. Everyone was in their yards, weeding, cleaning up, sprucing up in anticipation that summer will be here to stay. However let's not get too excited as the forecast is for rain and snow most of the rest of this week. After all, it is only the second week of June.

Still pretty early in the year for any big events in town although most of the restaurants have reopened. Last summer Park City allowed the Main Street restaurants to build temporary outdoor patios on the street to allow outdoor dining and take advantage of the nice days. While only two restaurants took advantage of this last year, this past weekend driving on Main Street i saw many more restaurants building outdoor dining decks which adds a nice little flair to Main Street and is a very enjoyable way to spend lunchtime.

This past Sunday one of our newer restaurants, Talisker on Main, started serving Sunday brunch, so I felt obligated to try it out. Typical of Talisker, there was nothing simple, common, or ordinary on the menu but all was fabulous. I felt obligated to try the Eggs Benedict which was very interesting. They served three Eggs Benedict, all differently. The first was the traditional, poached egg on ham on a muffin however it came with shaved asparagus as well. The second one was a fried quail egg on pulled pork on a muffin, and the third was a breaded and deep fried egg over country fried chicken on a muffin. All served with a cayenne hollandaise sauce. Quite interesting and quite delicious.

Real estate continues to be quite active with sales spanning the entire range of homes and condos. As would be expected a lot of sales in the lower end (under $300K) for condos and lots, but we also saw a ski-in/ski-out home in The Colony with an asking price of $7.5 million sell last week. Condos around the ski resorts continue to be some of the best buys. At the Canyons resort we have a new Hyatt hotel and the Waldorf-Astoria. These two very well-known name brands are attracting a lot of visitors to the Canyons and with the money and improvements Talisker has made to the base area, (and perhaps a golf course this summer) we may finally see the Canyons Resort becoming our third world class resort. At Deer Valley the Montage Hotel in Empire Pass sold out its first offering of 15 units. The Montage had offered some terrific incentives as far as pricing and buyer incentives to jump start their sales program. While I expect the second release to come out shortly with additional buyer incentives, I do not anticipate that they will be quite as attractive as the first one was. It will be interesting to see how this plays for future sales.

A very interesting opportunity is in lower Deer Valley in a project called Silver Baron. About three weeks ago there were twelve units that had been owned by the developer and taken back by the bank and were offered for sale either individually or as a lump group. A savvy investor came in and purchased all 12 of them at a phenomenally aggressive price and is turning around and offering a select number for resale.The attractive part is that the price that he purchased them for is allowing him to put them back on the market at a price that is far below what comparable sales were this last winter for Silver Baron. He is offering these with the stipulation of a quick close but to make that attractive he is offering to carry financing until the buyer is able to secure conventional financing. This is an opportunity to acquire a relatively new condo at the base of Deer Valley at a price we won't see again.

Now, this demonstrates the importance of working with a long-time experienced agent who is tuned into the local market and where the deals are to be found. Resort markets are fast moving and when opportunities pop up, they rarely last long.

I hope that your weekend was enjoyable and if you get out to visit Park City this summer, you'll either stop by my office or call to say Hello. Remember I am always available to talk about what events are coming up, new and old standby restaurants, as well as where to go for activities.

Ski Season Wrap-Up

2011-06-01T12:15:00.005-06:00

Well, Memorial Day weekend has come and gone and unfortunately it snowed the entire weekend, which made for miserable barbecues and the beginning of the summer festivities. But today the sun is out and supposed to be sunny and warm for much of the next week; with the occasional snowstorm of course. But what's one to expect? It is only barely June.

Ski Utah announced last week that this last ski season was the second best in Utah's history with about 4.2 million skier days. The record year was 2007: a very snowy year and just prior to the economic downturn. That season we saw 4,249,000 skier days. Deer Valley Resort said it was their 2nd best season ever in terms of skier days and they noticed that visitors were spending more on lodging and lessons. Park City Mountain Resort reported similar trends with revenue from lessons, rental equipment and the restaurants being up from last year. Along with an increase in consumer confidence we also attribute the increase in skier days and skier spending to an abundant snow season. Snowfall for the 2011 season was up 34% over the previous season. What was more significant however was that the snow came early this year with resorts being almost entirely open prior to December 18. Also interesting was that since 2002, the year of the Salt Lake Olympics, skier days in Utah have increased 41%. I find that very interesting and a validation of just how much publicity the Olympics bring to our resort. While the resorts have certainly made numerous improvements in the nine years since Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics, that alone does not account for this significant of an increase in skier days. The worldwide exposure that Utah received from hosting the 2002 Winter Olympic Games has paid off in increased business many times over. Often, people are concerned about the cost of hosting Olympic games, this is proof that it is money well spent.

The arrival of June signals the start of our summer season with numerous concerts, food and wine festivals and a wide variety of outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, golf, fishing, and so on. So, plan your vacation and discover just how refreshing summers in the mountains can be.

Memorial Day Week

2011-05-24T12:22:00.003-06:00

Memorial Day weekend is coming up, the traditional day of the start to summer, barbecues and pools opening. Unless you live in the mountains. A quick look at this week's forecast is calling for Saturday's weather of 47 degrees and rain, hardly makes you feel like summer. People frequently ask if Memorial Day is a busy weekend in real estate and a good time to hold open houses. Anywhere else but the mountains, this holds true. But up here, more people leave than come into town for the holiday.

Last week Thursday I hosted and was moderator for a panel discussion of resort Realtors for three of our neighboring resorts: Lake Tahoe, California; Sun Valley, Idaho; and Vail, Colorado, that was attended by the Park City Board of Realtors. It was a wonderful lunch meeting with over 200 Park City agents in attendance. Not surprisingly, while there are some regional differences, the state of real estate in each of these resorts is very similar to what we're seeing here in Park City. Numbers of sales were up, prices are down and the general feeling is that prices will not be rising anytime soon due to pressure from distressed properties. The differences are in the details for each area. For example, in Vail, high-end condos in the heart of the village have sold at over $2,800 a square foot. Lake Tahoe, where is the real focus of the resort is around the lake (instead of the ski resorts) there are very few condos for sale and prices are around $400 per square foot. Sun Valley is in between but closer to Lake Tahoe with maximum prices pushing but not exceeding $1,000 a square foot. Here in Park City, our high-end ski-in/ski-out hotels on the mountain of Deer Valley sell for between $1,300 and $1,500 per square foot. (Throughout the 16 years I've been involved with the Western Mountain Resort Alliance, prices and amount of real estate sold in Vail have always been the envy of the other resort Realtors.) Each of the resorts reported that skier visits to the resorts, lodging numbers and retail numbers were up 5-10% over last year. Everyone was pretty happy with this gain and gave their confidence that this summer's real estate activity and visitor traffic would continue with upward trends.

This morning I heard a presentation from a lender affiliated with Bank of America. Her news was very discouraging in that the word out of Washington is that starting July 1, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will no longer be purchasing mortgage-backed securities. If this does occur, the already difficult financing market will become even more difficult and we'll see a significant rise in interest rates. The National Association of Realtors and several large lenders are lobbying very hard to prevent this from occurring as it will significantly impact the housing market and thus the economic recovery of our country. I expect that savvy investors will be looking to purchase prior to this happening. My understanding is that purchasers with financing will have to close prior to July 31 to avoid higher interest rates and more restrictive lending requirements. Here in Park City real estate sales are extremely active for this time of the year. In looking at daily activity, I am very surprised at both the number of sales occurring every day and the variety of properties that are being purchased.

I hope you have an enjoyable holiday weekend. It will eventually stop raining and snowing up here and we will get on to summer and all of the activities that we have come to love and enjoy in the mountains.

Middle of May in the Mountains

2011-05-17T20:11:00.001-06:00

Well, it's still snowing. After a beautiful warm weekend woke up to heavy snow falling and about 3" on the ground. Forecast is for snow to continue through Friday, take a break Saturday and start up again Sunday. Oh well, life in the mountains!

This past Friday, the golf course at Tuhaye opened and I joined some clients/friends, for an opening round of golf. Kind of like being on first chair of opening day of ski season, we were first tee time on opening day of golf season. Now, for an unabashed plug for yoga. I started participating in yoga classes last winter and have continued on a regular basis, (for those that know me, the image of me doing yoga is interesting). In spite of all my injuries, that first day on the golf course, I hit the ball further and more consistent than I have for a couple years. So, no matter how humorous the thought of me doing yoga is, I will have to admit that the stretching and core exercises are beneficial. As a benefit of Talisker membership, both yoga and fitness classes are offered complimentary each week. Along with the on mountain lounge, golf course, spa, private fishing waters and jet boats, the fitness classes really make the club stand out.

Other than a break in the weather for a weekend of golf and bike riding, it's pretty quiet this time of year. Very few restaurants open, no visitors in town, and half the locals have left for warmer climates. Probably the most interesting real estate news concerns the new Montage Hotel in Deer Valley. A year ago, March, prior to opening, Montage offered their first release of condominiums for sale. For the first 15 buyers, Montage was offering a 20% discount, Deer Valley ski passes for the family for 2 years, and a free stay for the family at the Montage at Laguna Beach, California. From that point until the beginning of this year's ski season, Montage had sold two condominiums. Once the Montage opened for business last December, to the end of this ski season, they sold an additional 12 condos, which leaves only one more condominium available under the initial incentive program. Once the 15th condo has been sold, I suspect that they will offer an additional incentive program, but not quite as good as the one currently in place. In addition to the Montage, real estate in the Park City area continues to be strong for this time of year with the focus continuing to be on good deals for resort properties. I am also seeing a shift towards the summer business of single family homes in the outlying areas.

So for now, I will just put up with the snow and wait for the warm weather to arrive. On Thursday of this week, my resort colleagues from Lake Tahoe, Sun Valley, and Vail are coming to town to participate on a panel discussion for the Park City Board of Realtors. So next week, look for an update on what's happening in our neighboring resorts.

Food and Wine Part II

2011-05-11T12:29:00.000-06:00

In last week’s blog I talked about new restaurants in town as well as some of my favorites, but no discussion of Park City’s restaurants would be complete without talking about our two newest ski-in/ski-out resorts at Deer Valley: the St. Regis and the Montage. St. Regis has been open for a little over a year now and has quickly become one of the “in” spots in Park City. Locals and visitors alike enjoy riding the funicular (a European-style cog train) from the base of Deer Valley resort to the St. Regis hotel. The Jean George restaurant along with Chef Jean George Vongerichten have created a spectacular and interesting menu as would be expected of a St. Regis. The restaurant overlooks the ski runs of Deer Crest and Deer Valley resort and is a wonderful setting for a very romantic evening out. During the summer months, the outdoor deck is the place to see and be seen. The outdoor deck features an elongated fire pit, water features, and on weekends, barbecue and live music. Not much better than a summer evening watching the sunset, overlooking the mountains with a nice glass of wine. In addition, the sommelier at the St. Regis, Mark Eberwein was named one of the top sommeliers of 2011 by Food and Wine Magazine.

The newest hotel in Deer Valley is the Montage and is located in the Empire Pass area. The Montage is a boutique hotel with hotels in Laguna Beach, Beverly Hills, and now here in Deer Valley. While the Montage has four different restaurants or pubs, the signature restaurant is Apex with Matt Leonard as head chef. The Montage just opened in December of 2010 and as expected has had a few opening season glitches. The Apex restaurant overlooks the bowls and chutes of Empire Pass and was one of the places to be last ski season. To accommodate the guests for the summer, Deer Valley has expanded the lift service for mountain biking to include the lifts at Empire Pass. I’ll be very interested to see if the outdoor deck at the Montage becomes as popular as the St. Regis in the summer. If you are in town for the summer the restaurants at both the St. Regis and the Montage should be on your schedule of places to visit.

The big news in real estate is how busy it is for this time of year. What is really surprising to me is not only the number of transactions occurring right now but that they are occurring across all price ranges, from the very low to the multi-million-dollar homes. What I also find very interesting is that there is one buyer going around buying up the town. This particular buyer is looking for opportunities to pick up undervalued properties in areas that are likely to see strong appreciation in the next couple of years. He has purchased over 20 lots in the golf course community of Promontory, all of the remaining inventory of a new condo project at Canyons resort, and most recently an existing hotel on Main Street. Promontory features two golf courses, spa, members clubhouse, tennis courts and miles of hiking/biking trails. When Promontory first opened for sale it was overrun with spec home builders and lot flippers. As a result of all this overspeculation prices have fallen to about a third or less of the original purchase price for the lots and homes are selling for far below construction costs. The feeling here is that the homes and lots are undervalued for the community, and will rebound in the near future.

At the Canyons resort two significant things have occurred to make it an attractive investment. The first; nearly two years ago now a Canadian company, Talisker, purchased the ski resort and has made significant improvements to the resort and around the base area. However most important from an investment point of view is that construction on the long awaited golf course has started. The investor/speculator that I have mentioned has purchased most of the remaining inventory that borders the golf course. I agree with him, feeling that with the golf course and Talisker’s backing, Canyons resort will move from the “red-headed stepchild” to taking its place among the premier resorts in Utah. Word about this is just getting out and there are still some excellent investment opportunities at the canyons.

Main Street Park City is and always will be the hub of activity. Along with the Silver Queen Hotel at the base of Main St. which was just purchased by this investor, another investor hast purchased the Imperial Hotel at the top of Main Street. The Imperial was purchased several years ago as part of a package of several hotel buildings on Main Street just prior to the downturn in the economy. As a result the hotel was gutted and then work was stopped. The Imperial was purchased as a bank foreclosure and was certainly one of the better investments on Main Street. In looking at daily activity I see that buyers are here and quickly snatching up distressed properties in good locations and anything else perceived as a bargain.

Winter/spring has not let go (it’s still snowing) but there is hope as we have a forecast for temperatures in the 70s over the next couple of days.

Annual Restaurant Review

2011-05-03T14:39:00.003-06:00

May is the in-between season and I thought that this would be a perfect time to review Park City's award-winning restaurants in anticipation of a busy summer. But first, let's talk about what's really important. The sun is shining! After weeks of cold, dreary, snowy weather we woke up yesterday to brilliant sunshine with temperatures forecasted to be in the mid 60s by the end of the week. Could this really be spring? We received about a foot of snow this past weekend and looking up at Deer Valley it doesn't look that different from a typical powder day.There are tracks all over from skiers hiking up. Looking at a pathway going from the Silver Lake Lodge to Stein Eriksen Lodge, the snowbank is still over six feet high. This may be the year that I'm able to ski on my birthday, June 14.

Among the Western ski resorts, Park City is known for having the best ski-town restaurants and deservedly so. I'd like to take a moment to review new restaurants in town as well as some of my long-time favorites. New in town this year is a restaurant called "Silver." Silver is located in what was originally the Utah Power and Light Company building on Main Street; up until the late 1980s this was where locals went to pay their electric bills each month. For a while it was the Phoenix Art Gallery and it opened up as Silver Restaurant this past winter. The restaurant was a big hit as it had a festive atmosphere and often had music and dancing. The menu was typical for Park City, offering a variety of seafood and meat dishes with their distinctive touch. Silver recruited a chef from one of New York's finer restaurants and there is definitely a New York flair.

Another restaurant I'd like to talk about is The Blind Dog. While not new, The Blind Dog moved locations and was closed for the better part of last year and just reopened last winter. Penny and Derek, the owners, hail from the East coast and feature their favorite seafood dishes. Particularly crab cakes and a variety of crab dishes. The Blind Dog certainly specializes in seafoods of all kinds but also has a wonderful sushi bar. The bar area has been expanded from the old location and is quickly becoming a locals' favorite for an evening glass of wine and some sushi or seafood appetizers. While the food at The Blind Dog is quite good the service can be suspect at times. So not a place I would recommend if you're in a hurry.

This past weekend I ate at Chimayo, one of Billy White's three Main Street restaurants. Chimayo bills itself as an interpretation of Southwest cuisine. The entrees are all very unusual and are decidedly Southwestern in flavor. Their tortilla soup is probably the best I've ever had. Some of my favorite appetizers at Chimayo are the duck enchilada and chile relleno. Both are worth visiting the restaurant just to sample. Chimayo is a classic Main Street restaurant, interestingly decorated and again, very festive. It's very small, so reservations are definitely required.

My long-time favorite restaurant and the one I always recommend is River Horse. A classic menu with fish and steaks, but their signature dish is an almond-encrusted halibut. When you visit River Horse, at least one person in the party has to have the halibut so everybody in the party can try it; it's that good. River Horse offers live music on weekends and during the warm summer months offers outdoor dining on a balcony overlooking Main Street. River Horse doesn't take reservations for the outdoor balcony seating (first come, first served) and it's extremely sought-after, so arrive early.

For more of the casual or family-friendly dining, I like Cafe Terigo, which is also the most popular lunch restaurant in town. Main Street Pizza and Noodle, very casual and child-friendly, Cicero's, for Italian, and The Eating Establishment, known locally as the double E. The EE is also one of the best places for breakfast. Zooms, on lower Main Street, owned in part by Robert Redford, is another very popular lunch spot and rivals Stein's for the best burger in town. Easy Street is extremely popular during the summer months when the downstairs patio is open as they have live music on a small stage. A great location with firepit, water feature, and right on Main Street for terrific people watching.

No visit to Park City is complete, however, without enjoying the Sunday brunch at Stein Eriksen Lodge. Featuring a wide variety of egg dishes, omelettes made to order of course, lamb, roast beef, a wonderful selection of fruits and cheeses and then there's the desert table, as only Stein's can do it. Sitting outside on the deck overlooking the slopes of Deer Valley, there just isn't a prettier place for Sunday brunch.

Contrary to popular belief, each of the restaurants I've mentioned have wonderful wine lists. While each restaurant will feature its own favorites, rest assured you will not be disappointed with your options. Another very nice and perhaps unique thing about dining in Utah is that you can bring your own wine with you. The server will open and serve the wine, you'll be charged a small corkage fee, but this allows you to bring your favorite from your own cellar. Up until about a year ago any wines brought into a restaurant for consumption had to display a sticker showing it was purchased from a Utah state store. Fortunately Utah, in its infinite wisdom (sarcasm, sarcasm) has done away with this requirement, opening things up to now enjoy a favorite wine from home while dining out.

While these are several of my favorites, there are many, many more wonderful restaurants here in town and I will continue this discussion in next week's blog. When you let me know you are here in town I will certainly recommend some different restaurants for you to experience.

It's Still Winter

2011-04-28T12:42:00.003-06:00

Winter, winter, go away, come back in October! Woke up with another 4" of snow on the back barbecue and it has been snowing hard all day, probably close to a foot of new snow. As was said this morning, if you are surprised by this morning's snow then you are new to Park City. The big problem yet to come is going to be when it does finally warm up (and it will) and all of the snow comes down quickly. The year 1983 saw a spring like this and it resulted in severe flooding in Salt Lake City. So much so that people were canoeing on State Street (one of the main thoroughfares through Salt Lake City). In late April, the snowpack should be diminishing with warm sunny days, but instead it is at worst staying even and lately been increasing. As I said earlier, it will warm up and when it does there will be a lot of snow coming down the mountain. A week ago, the mountain snowpack was at 140% of normal. This week it has risen to 197% of normal. On Tuesday, Snowbird eclipsed it's previous season record snowfall and has now recorded over 690" of snowfall, with much more to come!

Last week in my year-end recap, I talked about what is happening inside the city limits. This week, let's expand our range to take in the surrounding areas but still within the Park City school district. This will include areas such as Silver Springs, Pinebrook, Jeremy Ranch, Silver Creek, Glenwild, Promontory and Tuhaye. Again comparing 2010 to 2011 first quarter, let's start with single family homes. Inside the city limits we showed a strong increase in the number of sales and this continued in the outlying communities. Outlying areas, not including the city, had 47 homes sold in 2010 compared to 58 in 2011. Adding up the outlying areas with inside the city limits there were 73 in 2010 compared to 99 in 2011. Dollar volume rose slightly from $113,700,000 in 2010 to $117,700,000 in 2011. But as we saw last week, the average sales price of homes sold in 2011 was less than in 2010.

Condo sales showed similar numbers to inside the city limits. In 2010, 41 condos sold compared to 32 in 2011 and in outlying areas dollar volume in 2010 was $12,900,000 compared to $6,900,000 in 2011. Condo sales for the entire Park City school district showed 133 sales in 2010 compared to 121 in 2011 with a total volume of $152,600,000 in 2010 compared to $79,900,000 in 2011.

Does this mean that, for a homeowner, the value of their home has dropped 30-40% over last year and for condo owners close to 50%? Absolutely not. The values of homes and condos are very close to what they were last year but buyers are purchasing at the lower end of the market. What I mean by this is, if we say that home prices in lower Deer Valley range from $1.5 million to $3.5 million, buyers are purchasing more homes closer to $1.5 million than the $3.5 million. Another interesting statistic is that in looking at last week's sales activity, the list to sold price was very close to 95%. Does this mean that prices are rising? Again, absolutely not. What is happening though is that sellers have brought their prices down to realistic levels and buyers are feeling that the prices now represent proper value. Continuing the trend that started at the beginning of the year, we are seeing more and more multiple offer situations. I'd mentioned in previous articles that we are advising our buyers that if they find the property they want and it is priced properly to make an offer as it very likely won't be around long, and this is certainly proving to be the case. What I am also finding very interesting is the level of activity for this time of year. Typically late April/early May is our slowest time for sales, but not so this year. Buyers are in the market for deals and are acting on the opportunities presented to them.

Spring is often described as the time of the year when winter and summer battle for control. Right now, winter is winning but we hope that summer will quickly turn the tide. For now, enjoy your spring and make plans to visit the mountains during the glorious summer months which are filled with music and a variety of outdoor activities.

Year In Review

2011-04-21T08:57:00.001-06:00

This past Sunday was closing day for Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons Resort, leaving only Snowbird, Alta and Brighton resorts still open. Both Alta and Brighton will be closing in the next couple of weeks and Snowbird will stay open through June and possibly into July. If it will stop snowing here in Park City, perhaps the local golf courses can dry out and we can move on to golf season. This is the 'ugly' time of year for the mountain resorts, no skiing, golf, hiking or mountain biking. Time to head South to warm beaches!

As I've been talking about for the last couple of weeks the first quarter stats have come out and are quite interesting. Before I get into the details, here is a little background info.The Park City Board of Realtors Multiple Listing System (MLS) divides our area into 24 separate areas in and the immediate vicinity of Park City. There are more areas which include the outlying communities but for what I'm talking about these are not important. Furthermore, for this report I am only looking at areas 1-10, which includes all areas within Park City's city limits including Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley Resort and also includes the Canyons Resort which lies just outside the city limits.

Comparing single family homes sold in the first quarter of 2011 to first quarter of 2010, there was a significant increase in the number of sales. In 2010, 26 homes sold, compared to 41 in 2011. Very telling, however, was the total dollar volume for these sales. The 26 homes sold in 2010 totaled a dollar volume of $70,612,500, while the 41 homes sold in 2011 had a total sales volume of $72,170,300. Did prices drop that much or is something else going on?

Condo sales showed even more dramatic numbers. Again, using areas 1-10 (Park City limits and Canyons Resort), there were 92 condos sold in 2010 and 89 in 2011. These numbers are slightly skewed as I'll explain momentarily. However, what is most striking is the dollar volume sold. In 2010, the 92 units sold had a sales volume of $139,683,000 while the 89 units sold in 2011 had a sales volume of $72,939,400. In looking at condo sales area by area, nine of the ten areas showed a significant decrease in average sales price from 16-40%. Again, what is going on?

Like with all statistic reports the raw numbers don't tell the entire story. But insight is really crucial to understanding what's going on and evaluating the strength (or lack of) of our Real Estate market. In the first quarter of 2010, we saw the St. Regis hotel open up and close on pre-sales that had been many years in the making. There were 12 closed sales in St Regis, with an average sales price of over $4.5 million, while in 2011 there were only two new sales closed with an average sales price of $2,770,000. A significant decrease both in number of sales and price point of what had sold the previous year dramatically influenced the market statistics. Also in 2010, in the Empire Pass and Silver Lake areas of Deer Valley there were two condo projects, Silver Strike and Lookout, that elected to auction off its units and another project, Flagstaff, which elected to drop its prices comparable to the auction price of Silver Strike. In 2010, 23 units sold compared to only 15 in 2011. Interestingly though in Empire Pass, the 23 units sold in 2010 had an average sales price of $1,733,000 while the 15 units in 2011 had an average sales price of $2,266,000 for an increase of 30%. Of the 10 areas that I'm reporting on, Empire Pass was the only area that showed an average sold price increase. Going back to single family homes, of the 10 areas that I'm reporting on, four of the areas showed an increase in the average sold price and two were basically flat.

Another area that I found very interesting was vacant land sales. Land sales continue to be one of the most difficult and hardest-hit parts of our market. However, one of our golf course communities, Promontory, reported a dramatic increase in number of sales. In first quarter 2010, there were 11 lots sold in Promontory with an average sales price of $119,000; while in 2011 there were 34 lots with an average sales price of $148,000. Once again, if we just look at the raw numbers and not delve into the cause, it would appear that lot sales in Promontory have taken off and it could be switching to a seller's market. Not true. The average sales price of a lot in 2011 was $148,000 and is, at best, 1/3 of what the lot would have originally sold for. We have an overabundance of golf course properties and buyers are looking for and finding incredible deals. For the area golf courses, the same holds true for single family homes, where buyers are purchasing at prices that are significantly below replacement costs. ( I know of one buyer who feels that these lots are so undervalued that he is buying Promontory lots in bulk. So far he has purchased around 20 lots)

So what does all this mean? Buyers are here, they are buying, but they are only buying if they perceive the purchase to be a "deal." In each of the market segments that I'm reporting on, the properties in the lower end of the spectrum tend to be selling, again, what is perceived to be undervalued. Spec buyers have returned and are betting on the strength and desirability of Park City, of Americas infatuation with vacation homes, and a dwindling supply of under valued properties.

This is very strongly demonstrated by comparing the number of new listings between 2010 and 2011. In 2010 there were 254 condos listed in the first quarter, while in 2011 the number dropped to only 175 new condo listings. (again area 1-10). With the number of sales increasing, or staying flat, and the number of new listings decreasing, the competition for value is increasing. Reinforcing this point is that we are seeing multiple offers on well priced properties is desirable locations.

An interesting tidbit is that in 2010, roughly 50% of all transactions across the Park City MLS were cash transactions. This is no doubt a function of today's lending climate but I also feel that it is the very real perception that "cash is king." A buyer who can make a cash offer and close very quickly (many transactions close in less than two weeks) is in a very strong position and can negotiate very favorable terms. More often than not these cash buyers, who are often focused on an area but not necessarily enamored with a particular home or lot, will make offers until they find the right seller.

Is this the right time to buy? This is a question each individual has to answer for themselves and every buyers' situation is different. We are seeing interest rates starting to climb slowly and we are seeing numbers of transactions increase. (I am particularly surprised at the activity this week, with all 3 resorts closed.) What we're telling our potential buyers is that if they find a property that they like and if it is priced properly for the market, the time to act is now as it is very likely that the property will not be here on their next visit. The past two years buyers felt that their was no urgency and the fear was over paying as we did not know if the market had bottomed out. Now I am hearing buyers say that they are afraid of missing out on what could be the best opportunity to purchase at these prices and interest rates.

For more detailed information on specific areas, please call or send me an email. I am always happy to share my 20+ years of experience selling vacation properties here in Park City/Deer Valley.

Closing Weekend at Deer Valley Resort

2011-04-12T11:08:00.001-06:00

Wow! What a closing weekend it was with 27 inches of new snow over the weekend, nobody here, and the most incredible ski conditions. Woke up Friday morning with 15 inches of new snow, then Sunday (closing day), 4 inches of classic Utah "cold smoke." For those of you who are not familiar with this term, it's when snow is so light and dry that you don't even feel it. It's like having smoke on the mountain. That is what Utah is known and famous for: the lightest and driest powder in the country.

So Sunday I was on the first chair, skied until 12:30, and then like most of the country was glued to the TV watching an incredible finish to The Masters Golf Tournament. With the incredible ski conditions and equally incredible finish to The Masters, I just couldn't imagine a better closing day. I would like to say it's now on to golf season but with several feet of snow still on the golf course at my house, it's going to be quite a while before the Park City courses open. I would also like to say now with ski season over, there's no need for it to snow any more; but fat chance of that happening. It's now mud season. Time to travel and prepare for summer.

As of now, real estate sales still strong in town, but I expect sales activity will start to slow down through out the remainder of April and into May. Our March sales numbers come out on April 15, so as promised, I will have a December-March recap of the season next Monday. Until then, I hope you're enjoying your spring, and come back next week for the year-end recap.

Final Week

2011-04-06T20:08:00.002-06:00

This is the final week for Deer Valley's ski season, although Park City and Canyons have extended their season one more week to April 17th.

To get the most enjoyment from spring skiing, one has to plan their day carefully. First of all, come springtime, not all days are worth even skiing. If it doesn't freeze overnight and it is warm and humid during the day you're better off finding another activity, such as snowshoeing, biking, or even going to work. However when it does freeze overnight, you wait a little bit for the snow to soften then head for the east and southerly-facing slopes where you can find good corn snow. Then, as those slopes become too soft and sticky, look for the north-facing slopes and as the afternoon progresses, move to the western slopes. By doing this, you are trying to find each aspect at the perfect time for softness. And there may be times that you just have to quit, have lunch, and call it a day. Spring skiing is for relaxing, enjoying the sunshine, and recapping a great winter.

Closing week this year looks to be very, very good as we received a foot of snow Sunday, it is supposed to snow again tonight, and it looks like more snow Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. If the forecast holds true, it will be a great way to finish the year and we will close with a base of over 120" and powder skiing. It is time for thoughts to turn to white sand beaches and warm Caribbean water. Everyone in ski towns are ready to thaw out and relax.

It's been a pleasant surprise that as we wind down the ski season real estate sales have continued to stay strong. In looking across what has sold in the last couple of weeks, I have seen several multi-million-dollar homes and condos sold including two ski-in/ski-out condos in Deer Valley priced at over $6,000,000 and another ski-in/ski-out home in The Colony at Canyons Resort also priced well over $6,000,000. On the 15th of April I will be able to get the stats for the ski season and will put together an analysis of how this season's activity was and how it compared to the previous winter. So stay tuned for that and until then, enjoy spring and plan your summer vacation to the mountains.

Spring Skiing

2011-03-29T12:12:00.000-06:00

Spring skiing in the Rockies takes on many shapes and forms. When we talk about spring skiing typically the thoughts turn to warm sunny days and soft or even slushy snow. But here in the Rockies, March and April can be very, very snowy, and it seems that the last few years some of the best powder skiing has been at the end of the season with this year being no exception. This is me skiing Deer Valley on Sunday!

It has been a crazy week with snow just about every day since last week Monday and the skiing just can not get any better. Deer Valley is now reporting a 118-inch base and it is snowing hard today with another foot of snow expected. But then the best news is, is that we are expecting warm sunny days starting Wednesday for classic spring skiing, at least until the weekend when more snow is forecast. This is a perfect time to come out and visit your favorite ski resort in the Rockies as the skiing is the best it’s been all year, crowds are down, and you can get great deals on lodging.

In real estate news, real estate sales continue to be quite strong (I’ll be doing an end of the season wrap up in mid April), but all indications are that this ski season's real estate sales are going to be substantially higher than last year. Of particular interest, to me, is the new montage hotel in Deer Valley. This is a high-end boutique luxury hotel located at the base of the Empire Lift with fabulous amenities and of course ski-in/ski-out access. The hotel opened for business December 9th of this year and prior to opening there were three pre-sales of the condos. The condos first went on sale at the end of last ski season. There have been five new sales this ski season with a penthouse for $6,000,000 just being sold last week. In addition there have been a couple of sales in the St. Regis, also located ski-in/ski-out in Deer Valley's Deer Crest area. After the 2009/2010 season with no new sales in St Regis, it is refreshing to see the high end buyer returning to the resort market. In looking at what is selling each day, I am seeing more sales over $2 mil than I have for quite some time. Is this a sign that the resort market is beginning to turn? Before jumping to any conclusions, let's see what the summer brings for sales, but this is certainly good news for resort real estate here in Park City/Deer Valley.

So stay tuned in a couple of weeks for the end of the year wrap-up which I think will be very interesting and until then come out and enjoy the fabulous spring skiing.

Finding the Perfect Vacation Home

2011-03-24T14:00:00.000-06:00

This is the time of the year when many of our visitors, after having a thoroughly enjoyable ski week, consider purchasing a vacation home here in the mountains. When they come to my office asking about vacation properties there are several questions that I ask that help both me and the prospective buyer narrow down just what it is they actually are looking for.

The first question that needs to be asked is: Are you intending to rent the property during the times you are not using it? The importance of this question is that not all properties are zoned for vacation rentals, so if this is an important criterion I immediately eliminate the areas that are not zoned for this or in some cases, though zoned for vacation rentals, may not be practical.

The second question concerns location: Is ski-in/ski-out important? Is being close to the center of town important? Or, is getting in the car to go skiing or into town acceptable? As we spoke of in the previous post, ski-in/ski-out properties, like ocean-front properties, tend to be quite expensive. So if you are willing to put up with the inconvenience of taking a car or public transportation to the resorts, you can find a similar property for considerably less, or a much larger property for the same price.

Now we get into the nuts and bolts questions: How many bedrooms are needed? Would you prefer a townhouse-style condo over an apartment-style condo? And of course, price range. Here in Park City, we are blessed with having an abundance of developable land throughout the area which gives us a wide variety of size and price of vacation properties. We can find one-bedroom condos outside the core area under $100,000 while a one-bedroom near the resorts can easily be $300,000 or higher.

One thing that most people don’t actually think about until we start looking at property is views. Not only are views important aesthetically but also very important for resale. In purchasing in a resort, people are looking for the view as that is why they came here in the first place. This is where a local Realtor becomes invaluable. If you are just looking on the internet at properties and are focused on size and price, proximity to the resorts and the views may be confusing or even misleading. A photo from the deck of a condo may show fabulous views to the resort, when in fact those views could be blocked by a new development going in near by, or perhaps the view is taken from an angle that you wouldn’t normally see. Having local knowledge of upcoming developments, preferred views or preferred locations is information that is best obtained by your Realtor.

So when considering purchasing in a resort, in order to ensure that your Realtor is focusing on the properties that are right for you and your family, there needs to be a discussion on just what it is you’re looking for, what your use will be, and of course, a price range that you’re comfortable with. It is important to have this discussion when you first sit down with your Realtor. Your Realtor will be able to put together a selection of properties that best fit your needs, rather than showing you every property with the right number of bedrooms and right price. You are here on vacation and our goal, while wanting to find you the perfect vacation home, is also to maximize your vacation time and spend time looking at properties to just what works for your family.Hopefully your Realtor will have this discussion with you on your first meeting or very early on, but if not, know the answers to these questions yourself and make your Realtor aware of your needs.

It’s springtime in the Rockies, which means that we’re getting lots of snow. It seems that the last few years some of the best skiing has been at the end of the season and this year is no exception. Strong snowstorms with great powder skiing followed by bright, sunny days. So come experience spring skiing in Park City, bring your sunscreen, warm clothes, as well as spring wear, and be prepared for anything.

Resort Real Estate Musings

2011-03-15T13:34:00.000-06:00

In today’s blog I’d like to talk about two topics that are very relevant to today’s real estate market. First will be financing resort real estate and the second will be an interesting observation about the current market.

In my travels around Park City this winter, whether it be riding with someone on a chairlift, meeting somebody in a restaurant or talking to a prospective buyer on the phone, one of the first questions always asked of me is “Is it possible to get a loan these days?” Contrary to what you hear in the media and popular rumor, financing for resort properties is not only possible but not all that difficult. I believe that a lot of the misconception about financing is coming from a change in lenders’ attitudes. For several years preceding the financial meltdown in 2008, pretty much anybody who was breathing could get a loan on a property without regard to their actual ability to pay it back. Those were the days of the “liar loans,” where lenders would make a loan based on what the buyers stated their income was without the need to verify.

In today’s lending climate, lenders are once again requiring verification of employment, income, and assets, and are looking at the borrower’s debt to income ratio. This is really not much different from when I was selling real estate in the 1990s where buyers had to show they actually had the ability to repay the loan. What a concept! Now with all of the foreclosures that have occurred in the last two years, lenders are looking much harder at buyers documents and are often verifying employment and income several times during the loan process and almost always just prior to funding of the loan.

Another area that has become more difficult but not impossible as a result of all the foreclosures in the resorts is condo financing. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who underwrite the majority of all loans, have tightened their requirements for underwriting. Much to the detriment of the resort markets, is the stipulation that condo developments that are used for vacation rentals are not eligible for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac financing. On the surface this would seem to eliminate almost all resort condo projects from the ability to obtain financing because vacation rentals is what we do. This certainly was the case in 2009 and into 2010 when we saw the condo markets take a dramatic downturn in number of sales which then forced the prices down.

As with any new government regulation, it just took some time for mortgage brokers to understand the laws, understand what was being asked for, and then packaging the loan to meet the requirements. So while it certainly is more difficult to obtain financing in the resorts and particularly for condos, it is certainly not impossible.

But I do want to stress (and I cannot stress this enough) that in today’s lending climate it is absolutely crucial to use a local lender who understands the resort market, understands the various projects and how to package the loan to meet Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines. The days of searching for the internet lender with the best rates is over as far more often than not, despite their promises, they just will not be able to fund the loan and close on the contract. This is where your local realtor will add even more value to your purchase by recommending a good local lender who can get a purchase closed. While the loan process is hateful, time-consuming and annoying, remember that it does come to an end and you will have your property to enjoy.

The second thing I wanted to talk about today is an observation about today’s market. A telling aspect is the number of buyers who are purchasing multiple properties right now. When I say multiple, I’m not talking about two or three, but dozens. These buyers/investors are seeking developments that they feel are under-valued and have a strong up tick on appreciation. When they find one, are purchasing 15, 20, or more properties in a single development. This can be a newly constructed condo, a golf-course property, or a new subdivision. In some of these projects prices have dropped to 1/3 or sometimes even less of the original purchase price. These investors are feeling that purchasing at these prices will give them a strong profit margin if they hold on for a couple of years. With the economy improving and interest rates slowly creeping upward the feeling is that this opportunity may not exist much longer.

It is springtime in the Rockies, which means long sunny days interspersed with frequent snowstorms. Yesterday everybody was outside on the decks enjoying lunch in the sun and today it is snowing, so come out and enjoy springtime in the mountains.

Park City's Version of Beachfront Property

2011-03-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

As the founder and president of the Western Mountain Resort Alliance (formerly the Rocky Mountain Resort Alliance), I had the opportunity to travel to and visit almost all of the western ski resorts in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and California. One of the things that I found that was very unique about Park City is the amount of ski-in/ski-out properties that we have. To most people, the term "ski-in/ski-out" is something they haven't heard before and is unique to ski towns. "Ski-in/ski-out" is pretty much what you would think the term implies: this can be a condo or a home, located directly on the ski slopes of one of our ski resorts. Here in Park City and Deer Valley, we have taken the definition to being right on the slope or at least at the base-area complex. If you have to walk across the street to get to skiing, we don't consider this ski-in/ski-out. As walking across the street to the beach is not considered beachfront prperty.

By far the majority of ski resorts in the western United States are built on forest service land which precludes their ability to have private homes located anywhere other than at the base or in town, thus severely limiting what can be ski-in/ski-out. Park City is very unique in that the ski areas here are all built on private land, mostly owned by the major mining company, United Park City Mines, and therefore is available for development. Particularly Deer Valley, which was designed more of what you would think of as a golf course country club with homes surrounding the resort. The same goes for The Canyons Resort here in Park City. When Edgar Stern first developed Deer Valley, he had the idea of developing it more like a country club and sold off parcels of land adjacent to the resort to private parties to develop homesites and condos. This is very evident as you ski around Deer Valley and ski through beautiful on-mountain homes and condo projects. At The Canyons Resort, the most prominent area of ski-in/ski-out homes is a development called The Colony at White Pine Canyon. This is an incredibly beautiful piece of land, broken mostly into five- and ten-acre homesites, all with direct ski-in/ski-out access to The Canyons Resort.

As with beachfront property, the scarcity and desirability of the product drives the pricing on these properties. For instance, at the Silver Lake area of mid-mountain Deer Valley, the least expensive ski-in/ski-out three-bedroom condo is priced at $1.4 million. If you are willing to walk a block or two to the resort, you can find a three-bedroom condo in the lower $900s. In an area of Deer Valley called Deer Crest, which is almost exclusively ski-in/ski-out homesites, a vacant lot of about one acre will start at $1 million and go up to about $3 million for the most desirable lots. For a finished home in the Deer Crest development, the lowest-priced home currently on the market is around $3.4 million, with the highest-priced just over $19 million. For comparison, there is a section of Deer Crest that does not have direct ski-in/ski-out access and a 10,000-square foot new home with incredible views can be purchased for under $3 million.

Resort real estate is really not much different from real estate anywhere else in the axiom of "location, location, location" is as true here as in any other real estate market. The focus of the location in our resorts IS the resort. And as in all resorts, the further you are from the focus of the resort, the more you get for your dollar. However, as you get farther from the resort, the rentability and the dollar amount that you can command for a vacation rental drops rapidly. So when contemplating purchasing a vacation property at one of our resorts, several questions need to be asked: Do I want true ski-in/ski-out and is the convenience and ambiance of being "on the mountain" enough to justify the price, or am I willing to settle for either a short walk or a short drive to get more of a home at a lesser price. Interestingly enough, these are the same questions that renters ask themselves when looking to book their vacation. One point that I always try to make to potential buyers if they have decided they do not need direct ski-in/ski-out access is that once they have to drive to the resort--that is, pack up the car with all the gear and load the family in--it doesn't matter if you're driving five minutes or ten minutes to get to a resort. But that extra five minute drive can get you a substantially larger property for the price.

In the age of the internet, most buyers are shopping online as there are many terrific websites to help you find properties. What you can't get a feel for online is the location, which translates to desirability, rentability, and resale-ability. This is where the knowledge of a local Realtor becomes invaluable.

It is snowing hard here today with 2-3 feet expected overnight and I am looking forward to an incredible powder day in the morning. Book your vacation to Park City and let me show you our mountains, and the terrific opportunities we have in resort real estate.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow!

2011-03-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

President's Week here in Park City finished as it started: with lots of snow. It started snowing Thursday night, and by Saturday morning we had nearly 30 inches of classic Utah fluff. As you can imagine, every powderhound was out Saturday morning enjoying the knee-deep snow. Very difficult to say whether this past Saturday or the previous Sunday was the best day of the year. But both were fabulous and visitors to Park City during the holiday will be talking about this week for many, many moons. With over five feet of snow during the week, conditions have never been much better. Snow during the weekend, sunshine during the week...everyone was smiling.

I was on Main Street Friday night and couldn't believe how crowded it was. I guess I shouldn't have been as it was the holiday weekend and everyone was in town. Main Street merchants, management companies, and owners of rental properties are once again smiling.

Which brings me to this week's real estate topic: the rental market. As I overtoned in last week's blog, at the conference of resort Realtors from the Western states that I attended in Vail at the end of January, we had a presentation from a real estate consulting and appraisal firm out of Denver, Colorado. The presentation's topic was the trends and future of resort real estate. The final portion of the presentation was on the hotel aspect of resort real estate. Not surprisingly, the past numbers from the hotel industry closely mirror real estate sales. 2005 and 2006 made up the high point for occupancy and rental rates. We then saw a pretty steady drop, and then bottoming out in 2009. Similar to real estate sales, 2010 saw an increase in occupancy numbers but not an increase in the daily rental rates that units were commanding. For anybody that owns a rental property in a resort, this is not surprising news. 2009 was a terrible year for rentals and most property management companies reported a decrease in rental days of around 30%. In 2010, we saw visitors returning, but they were still negotiating very hard on prices. What I find very interesting in this report is the future predictions from Colliers Hotel Industry. They are forecasting a steady increase in occupancy days as well as average daily rental rates through 2014.

Click here to see the report.

If this comes to pass, it will be terrific news for the resorts, for owners of rental properties, and for real estate sales. We know the first thing that has to happen is visitors have to come to our town, fall in love, then they purchase.

Right now, we have the perfect combination of low prices, good supply of inventory, and low interest rates. However, we are starting to see interest rates trending upwards. How long this combination is going to last is the focus of much discussion and speculation. But one thing we all feel is that we may never see this combination again in our lifetime. So, come out, ski, enjoy the mountains, and if you are interested in finding a mountain vacation home or just curious about what the real estate market in Park City is doing, please call.

President's Weekend in Park City

2011-02-24T09:15:00.004-07:00

Snowing hard, blowing hard...it must be President's Weekend! I’ve just seen more often than not that President's Weekend is very snowy, and this one is no exception. We got about 25” of snow from Saturday morning to Sunday morning. Which of course made for incredible skiing. I was out on Sunday which was as usual a sellout day at Deer Valley and everyone had big smiles. The powder was soft and deep and the groomed was perfect soft-packed powder. Just from watching everybody and talking to people on the lifts they will be talking about this weekend for many moons.

At the end of January, I attended the WMRA annual meeting in Vail, Colorado. These meetings give me an opportunity to meet with fellow resort realtors and discuss with them how their market is faring in today’s economy. The overall consensus was that everyone’s market had improved considerably starting sometime during the 3^rd quarter of 2010.

During the weekend’s meetings, we were fortunate to listen to a presentation from a real estate consulting and appraisal group out of Denver, Colorado. This group has been hired as a consultant for many different projects throughout all of the western resorts. The presentation that they gave was extremely positive and enlightening and quite encouraging. Looking at resort numbers from 2007-2010, a trend became quite obvious. 2007 (and for some areas 2006) was definitely the high part of the market with 2009 the low point. Pretty much every resort showed the same trend: high dollar volume and high number of sales in 2007, trending downward in 2008, bottoming out in 2009, and starting to recover in 2010.

Two other interesting statistics came out during this presentation which I also found very relevant. First was the number of active listings per single family home and condos for each of the Western resorts showed a sharp decline from 2009 through 2010. The second was that the average sales price for homes and condos was at the peak in 2007, declined through 2008 and continued to decline through 2009, then remained relatively flat in 2010. Anyone familiar with economics would find this interesting in that if the number of sales are on the increase while inventory is decreasing. Logic would state that prices should also be on the increase. More demand, less supply, causes higher prices. I believe that we still have enough downward pressure on prices from bank foreclosures and short sales that we will not see prices increasing quite yet. However if the trend of increasing demand and decreasing inventory continues, prices will have to follow.

Click here to view the presentation. (It's a rather large file, so please be patient. It's an excellent read!)

There was another section of this presentation regarding resort hotel occupancy, but I’ll save that for next week. In the meantime, come out to Park City and enjoy the incredible winter we’re having; the skiing is fabulous!

I'm Back!

2011-02-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

After some time off from my regular blog I am back and will be blogging on Park City, what's happening in Park City and real estate on a weekly basis again.

First, let's talk about what's been happening in Park City this winter. It's been a very busy winter, first with very early snow beginning in November, and heavy and regular snowstorms right through Christmas. This gave ski resorts one of the best openings that we've seen in many years and great skiing for the Christmas holiday.

January was unusually dry but no one seemed to mind skiing with sunny, bright blue sky conditions. The Sundance Film Festival came at the end of January and from all accounts Sundance visitors were once again spending. Restaurants and Main Street shops all reported that their business was up significantly over 2010's Sundance Film Festival.

Earlier this month, Deer Valley and Park City hosted the Freestyle World Championships. A fabulous weekend starting with the Parade of Athletes down Main Street and three days of competition ending with the dual mogul event under the lights of Deer Valley. As is typical for Park City (which is ready to party at the drop of a hat) the whole town turned out for the events, particularly the mogul event Saturday night. One of the great things about living in a world-class resort town like Park City is the opportunity to see the best athletes in the world competing in international events. Throughout the remainder of
the winter there will be many more competitions here in town: skiing, snowboarding, bobsled, luge and jumping events taking place now through spring.

Onto the world of real estate. 2010 saw a return to better times. While prices are still low and have not yet begun to rise, the number of sales in 2010 was up about 30% over the number of sales in 2009. This increase occurred mostly in the second half of the year and particularly from early fall through Christmas. What we observed was a change in buyers' thinking. In 2009, the prevailing thought was "if I see something I like, it will still be here when I come back (and probably at a better price)." In the last half of 2010 the thought process changed to "if I see something I like and it's priced correctly, I need to put in an offer now because it will not be here when I come back." Buyers seem to be saying that they feel we are either at the bottom of the market or so close to it that they do not want to miss out on this opportunity.

From my observations and in talking with other agents in Park City, this same sentiment is holding true for the first 5 weeks of the new year. Another interesting aspect we're seeing is the number of active listings available to purchase has decreased significantly from 2009. Conventional thinking would tell us that when demand increases and product availability is decreasing, prices are soon to rise. However, I think we still have enough downward pressure on prices from distressed sales that this may not happen for a while yet. On the other hand, we are beginning to see multiple offers on some select properties. It will be very interesting to see just where this ski season ends up with sales numbers and prices. Check back frequently for more updates on this.

But for now, come out and ski! The skiing is terrific and we are entering the warmer months.

End of Season Wrap-Up

2010-05-14T17:01:00.002-06:00

This is a recent press release from the Park City Board of Realtors:

Real Estate Market & Economic News
Buyers No Longer Waiting . . . Home Sales Continue at Increased Rates

2010 Q1 Statistical Report
Monday, April 26, 2010 5:00 am

Park City, Utah - April 26, 2010 -

Overall real estate sales dollar volume for first quarter 2010 was $303 million, up 107% from first quarter 2009 figures of $147 million, according to the Park City Board of REALTORS. The number of sales for the first quarter was 325, an increase of 95% from 167 sales in the first quarter of 2009. Sales increased across the board for almost all property types.

"It is good news for area homeowners and homebuyers that the bleak market conditions that we experienced a year ago have now ended" said Mark Seltenrich, President of the Board of REALTORS. "The primary reason that sales have increased is because many sellers have reduced their prices to the new market conditions, although better general economic conditions and increased consumer confidence have also helped" Seltenrich said. Prices today are on average about 20-30% lower than they were at their peak, which was in late 2007 and early 2008.

"We hit the bottom of our market in terms of the number of sales in February of 2009", Seltenrich said, "and have now had three consecutive quarters of increased sales". "It now appears that we may also be bottoming out in terms of the price declines that we have seen over the past two years" Seltenrich said. Prices have not yet started to rise, but appear to have stopped falling. Buyer activity is steady, and properties that are priced correctly have a good chance of selling. In addition, low interest rates along with the lower prices are making real estate more affordable than ever" he added.

Sales of Single-Family Homes
Sales of single family homes increased 73% for the first quarter of 2010 compared to the first quarter of 2009. Distribution of sales has shifted slightly from year-end figures for 2009. In 2009 sales of single family homes as a percentage of volume was 56% while condo sales held 39%. For the first quarter 2010, single family home sales were 44% of the market, with condo sales assuming a 51% share. "These numbers are expected to flip-flop by years‟ end with single family home sales regaining their position as the strongest part of the market" Seltenrich said.

Median Price of Single-Family Homes
The median price of single-family homes sold within the Park City limits for the year ending March 31, 2010 was $1,352,500, down 27% from the year ending March 31, 2009, which was the peak of the market. For median sold price information, comparisons are for the one year period of April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010 compared to April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009.

Median sales price for a single family home in Snyderville Basin for the year ending March 31, 2010 is $651,750, which is down 6% from the previous year figure of $692,500.

Heber Valley median home price was $305,000 for the year ending March 31, 2010, down 10.5% from $341,000 for the previous year.
Kamas Valley also saw a decrease for the same time frame with a median home price of $275,000 down 26% from the prior year.

Sales of Condominiums.

Condominium sales for the first quarter of 2010 increased 118% over the first quarter of 2009.

Median Price of Condominiums

Prices of condos in the Park City limits were up 20% for the year ending March 31, 2010. The median price for a condo inside Park City limits was $925,000. However, Seltenrich was quick to report that prices are not going up but rather this increase was caused by a large number of high end condo sales in the Deer Valley area, causing the median price to rise. In fact, many of these high end sales were at prices 30-40% below where they were priced a year ago.

Median price for a condo in the Snyderville Basin for the year ending March 31, 2010 is $329,450, down 15% from $388,000 for the same period in 2009.

Looking Ahead

Inventory levels have stabilized since fourth quarter 2009, remaining below 3,000 units for the year compared to 3,500 on the market a year ago. However, inventory will remain at about this level for some time due to a sizeable "shadow inventory" of properties that have not yet come on the market. This "shadow inventory" of homes includes delinquent loans and real-estate owned (REO) property that has not yet reached the market. REO properties are foreclosed homes taken back by the bank for liquidation. In addition, in more broad terms this "shadow inventory" also includes non-distressed properties whose owners are waiting for improved market conditions before they will sell.

Seltenrich adds that for sellers, "pricing is still the most important aspect of getting their property sold". Correctly priced properties have a good probability of selling, while properties priced just a little high for the market will most likely sit. As for buyers, Seltenrich warns them "not to wait too long, as many of the best priced properties have already sold and at some point these great prices will be gone". In addition, interest rates are beginning to rise, making any purchase with a loan more expensive.

Springtime in the Mountains

2010-03-19T15:38:00.002-06:00

It is the middle of March and the days are getting longer, the sun is shining and spring skiing is on. Spring skiing means not having to bundle up like you are in the arctic, sitting outside on the deck for lunch and après ski outside looking at the mountains.

One of the great joys of spring skiing is corn snow. When snow first falls it falls in a very crystal like state, everybody is familiar with the classic snowflake pattern, and through the cold winter months the snow tends to retain this crystal like structure. However, as spring approaches and the days warm up, the melt/freeze cycles destroy the crystal shape and the snow crystal takes on a shape more resembling a kernel of corn, thus the term “corn snow”. Perfect corn snow is when the snow has softened to about a 1-2 inch layer and is smooth and consistent. Corn snow skiing is a treat that only occurs when it warms to well above freezing during the day but still freezes at night.

One of the crucial things to remember for an enjoyable day of skiing is to follow the sun. First thing in the morning ski to the south and east exposures, then as the sun shifts go to the western slopes and then finally the north face will soften last. If you hear someone complaining about a day of spring skiing, it is usually because they did not understand how to follow the sun around the mountain.

Real Estate continues to move right along here in Park City with about another 3 weeks left to the winter selling season. While March is typically a very busy month here in Park City, it seems a little quieter than normal, possibly because of the severe winter that the mid-west and east coast experienced. But if you are looking for some beautiful warm spring skiing in an incredible mountain environment, plan to visit Park City/Deer Valley in the next few weeks. And oh yes, bring lots of sunscreen as at this elevation the sun is very strong.

Olympics in Park City

2010-03-04T10:59:00.002-07:00

The Olympics have come to an end and it was amazing to hear all the mention of Park City, the Park City athletes, and the training center’s here. While Vancouver, B.C and Whistler were of course the focus of the attention but the number of times Park City was mentioned and the publicity that we received would be hard to quantify in dollar terms. Park City really has become known as the training center for the winter Olympic athletes.

In Real Estate News, a few days ago I toured the Lookout at Deer Valley, which is a development that is going to auction off 7 of their remaining 13 units at the end of March. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see that a couple of the units that will be auctioned off were prime units in location and floor plan. Three of the units in the auction are stand alone units living more like a home than a condo and one of them, unit #10, has outstanding views looking west towards Flagstaff Mountain and Empire Pass. For a buyer possibly needing a condominium with more space and does not mind that the home is not directly on the mountain or ski/in-ski/out, I think there will be some exceptional buys during this auction. The Lookout at Deer Valley condos offer terrific views and have on-site concierge to shuttle guests to and from the mountain. This is going to be a project worth looking at and bidding on and I expect that they will ultimately sell for significantly below the retail prices.

In looking at real estate numbers for the first two months of 2010 I am very encouraged. The number of units that sold during January-February, 2010 was double the number of units compared to January-February, 2009. In looking back to January-February, 2009, I realize those two months were about as bad as the real estate market could have ever been so just about anything would be an improvement. But to see the numbers double is very encouraging! What will be telling will be how the rest of the ski season stacks up. So, stay tuned for the “End of the Year Wrap Up” which will be available towards the end of April.

Since the middle of January we have had consistent small snow storms that have kept the skiing really quite good. All three resorts, Park City Mountain Resort, The Canyons Resort, and Deer Valley Resort, are reporting over a 6 ft base so the rocks are covered and now it is just the snow surface that matters. With several snow storms a week, like we have been receiving, the show surface stays quite soft and delightful. With no big powder dumps this year we are fine tuning our groomed slope techniques as well as the bumps. March is here with a much higher sun angle, warmer days, and truly delightful skiing. Come out and visit Park City and enjoy spring skiing in the Rockies.

Early Season Real Estate Activity

2010-03-01T10:50:00.002-07:00

The first 7 weeks of this year have been quite active for real estate sales. Particularly in Empire Pass at Deer Valley. This is largely due to developer's slashing their prices and offering incentives to encourage buyers to buy now. In the development called Silver Strike, there were 19 units available January 1st. At the end of January the developer auctioned off 8 units with prices averaging around $760 per square foot down from $1200 per square foot at the original listing price. The auction was extremely successful with all 8 units selling in about a half hour and as a result the developer lowered the price on the remaining 11 units to slightly above the auction pricing. Since that time 6 more units have sold leaving only 5 units out of the original 19 left unsold.

Another new development, Flagstaff, has seen similar activity. The Flagstaff building was completed this past November 2009 and the developer had tried to pre-sell as many units as he could during the construction phase. During the two years of construction 7 units sold. Because of the auction at Silver Strike the developer of Flagstaff offered buyers a 30% discount off the list price. In the past month I have, heard that the developer is seriously looking at offers even below the 30%. As a result, since January 1st 7 additional units have sold in the project. The obvious message here is that there is a price where these new condo’s become so attractive that buyers are stepping up and purchasing. This is a message that most real estate agents in Park City are trying to get across to all sellers.

The difficult part now is that buyers are coming in and expecting to discount the asking price even more. We, the Park City agents, are telling our sellers that if they want to get their property sold they need to price it at X price. While many are not enthused with this, they do understand the current economy and are listening to our advice. However, they are then not agreeable to discounting further. This is becoming a little bit of sticking point between buyers and sellers and as we educated our sellers on pricing we now have to educate our buyers on pricing. This is beginning to happen as properties that are priced extremely well are receiving multiple offers and selling very quickly. The buyers that come in and find what they are looking for and at a great price but still come in with a very low offer, are finding that sellers are unreceptive and more often than not they will loose the property that they wanted to someone who understands what is going on.

For the month of January the sales numbers are quite encouraging. While for only one month the numbers are small and a couple of sales can skew the averages but the big picture is promising. In 2009 for the month of January we saw 23 homes sell compared to 27 in 2010 for a 17.4% increase. Interestingly, the average sales price dropped 37% from $1,410,000 in 2009 to $888,000 in 2010. During January 2009 there were 4 sales of homes over $4,000,000 while in 2010 the highest price was just over $2,000,000. Condominiums faired even better; in 2009 22 condo’s sold compared to 44 in 2010 and the average sales price jumped over 150% from $663,000 to $1,695,000. As I mentioned earlier, with only one month's numbers a few sales can easily skew the numbers and in the case of condominiums the opening of St Regis, Silver Strike and Flagstaff condo’s greatly changed the market mix. For example in 2009 there were 0 condo sales in Deer Crest but there were 8 in 2010 with an average sales price of over $5,000,000. What is very interesting to me is that the number of vacant land sales more than doubled in the month of January from 4 in 2009 to 10 in 2010. The average sales price however was way down from $1,359,000 in 2009 to $381,000 in 2010, however as with condo sales, one sale can greatly skew the numbers and there was a large acerage parcel for nearly $4,000,000 that sold in 2010. Without that sales price the average sales price in 2009 would be very close to the number in 2010.

So while the early numbers are promising, they are just that, early numbers. However from what I have seen in February, I expect that the numbers will just be stronger. This all bodes well for 2010 and we will eagerly await the next few months.

Auction Season in Park City

2010-02-22T11:05:00.003-07:00

Following the very successful auction of 8 high end condos in Empire Pass it seems auction fever has struck in Park City. Two new projects have just announced their intent to auction their remaining units.

The Westgate at the Canyons Resort has been a mix of fractional and whole ownership units but has been moving more towards the whole ownership side instead of fractional. I toured this project last November and told the sales team that I felt their prices were unrealistically high. After going through the Christmas season and the first six weeks of 2010 with no sales, it appears that they have seen the light. However, instead of just lowering their prices to a realistic level, they have chosen to jump on the auction bandwagon and auction off their remaining units with opening bid prices where I feel their sales prices should be. They are obviously hoping for an auction frenzy to bid the prices up. This is the same philosophy that Silver Strike at Empire Pass had but the reality was the prices did not get bid up much above the minimum bid. As Silver Strike in Empire was, in my opinion, a far more desirable location, I will be very interested to see, first, how many units in Westgate sell during the auction and second, if the prices are bid up at all.

The second project that is going to auction is a development called The Lookout at Deer Valley. This is a 30 unit development-townhouse style in the Silver Lake Village at Deer Valley. While the Lookout does not have ski-in/ski-out access, it does feature stunning views towards Flagstaff Mountain, Empire Mountain, and Jupiter Peak at Park City. When the project was first released four years ago, sales were brisk. Since the stalling of the economy and the real estate market in park city, sales in The Lookout have abruptly stopped. As a result the developer has decided to send the final 7 units to auction at the end of March. As with Silver Strike and the Westgate, the initial bid prices will be in the neighborhood of 50% below list price. Unlike Silver Strike where the developer auctioned off 8 of the remaining 19 units and selected the most desirable units for auction, the 7 remaining units at Lookout may not be the most desirable units in the project. Once again it will be very interesting to see if all 7 units sell and for what price.

An interesting note is that after the initial 8 units were sold at Silver Strike at auction the developer lowered the remaining 11 units to near the auction prices and since then has sold 6 of the remaining 11. What this demonstrates is that buyers are actively looking and ready to purchase but will only do so if they feel they are getting a bargain. The other thing that the auctions have brought about is a reduction in prices in similar competing developments. In Empire Pass the newly completed Flagstaff building has been accepting offers at least 30% below list price and I have seen dramatic price decreases in re-sale units in other buildings such as Arrowleaf. I expect that the auction of Westgate at the Canyons will have a similar result in lowering of prices in competing developments. What this all means to you, the buyer, is that if you are in the market to pick up a ski vacation home, prices are down and developers are negotiating.

As a side note, while we have not had many large snow storms this year it has been snowing regularly since the middle of January and the conditions are excellent.

Montage at Deer Valley

2010-02-12T15:15:00.001-07:00

The big news this week is the first release of condominium units at the new Montage Resort Spa and Hotel in Deer Valley.

While the Montage is still under construction with an expected opening in Christmas 2010, the developer is releasing 15 units for sale now. The Montage Hotel will have 171 hotel units on the first 7 floors which will not be available for sale. But, there will be 81 residential units on the upper 6 levels which will be for sale and eventually privately owned. The Montage will feature 3 restaurants, a 30,000 sq ft spa area, and direct ski-in/ski-out access to the Empire and Lady Morgan lifts. The Montage developer is offering some special incentives for the first 15 buyers. The initial release will offer pricing below the St. Regis hotel in Deer Valley, will offer the first 15 buyers 20% of the list price, and family season passes at Deer Valley Resort for the next two years. The developer will also be offering participation in Deer Valley’s “1st tracks” program. The first tracks program is consists of a group of skiers that go out with a Deer Valley ski host 30 to 45 minutes before the lifts open to the public. The first track skiers have the earliest access to pristine powder and/or the best corduroy skiing. For more information about the Montage Hotel or other Deer Valley/Park City real estate, please contact me for the most up to date information.

This weekend is the “Presidents Holiday Weekend” and typically is one of the busiest times in Park City. Even though we do not have our typical snow totals for this time of year, we still have a 6 ft base (instead of the normal 8-9ft base) and the skiing and weather are terrific. What will be interesting is if our east coast visitors are actually able to fly out of the eastern airports to take advantage of our wonderful ski conditions. February and March tend to be very snowy months and with the higher sun angle, the non snowy days are warm and inviting.

Plan your ski trip now. If you have never experienced western skiing, you will be taken by the quality of the snow and the beauty of the mountains. While you may be hearing that the Rockies are not having the greatest snow year, the conditions in the Utah resorts are much better than the Colorado resorts and most ski resorts would consider our conditions to be absolutely fabulous!

Park City Real Estate Year In Review

2010-01-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

While today I want to talk about the 2009 real estate year lets first talk about what is really important, IT’S SNOWING! This season has been one of the driest on record but we received about 18 inches in the last couple days, it is currently snowing, and the forecast is for snow for the remainder of the week.

This week also begins the annual Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival is the largest festival for independent film producers and always draws a huge crowd. The opening weekend is always the busiest with Main Street in Park City turned into a snowy version of Hollywood complete with star sightings. The Sundance Film Festival parties are the hottest ticket in town with locals using every connection they have to gain entry. Other than the traffic and that the restaurants are full, this is a great time to ski as the slopes are quiet and this year the snow is great.

I think that everyone here in Park City, real estate agents, merchants and lodging companies are thrilled that 2009 is over and that they survived. While 2009 was a very poor year for real estate sales the final numbers are not as bad as it felt. For instance, if we look at single family homes in all areas of our MLS the # of sales were up 2.2% and the average sales price was only down 3.7%. However, home sales in town and near the resorts are a different story. Old Town homes and in the vicinity of the Park City Resort showed a 30% increase in the # of homes sold in 2009 from 30 compared to 23 in 2008. But, the average sold price for a home in old town was down 12.8% for the year. Homes in lower Deer Valley saw a 57% decrease in the # of sales, 6 homes sold in 2009 compared to 14 in 2008, but a 29% increase in the average sold price. Deer Crest, a high end ski-in/ski-out community attached to Deer Valley saw 4 homes sold in 2009 compared to 1 in 2008 or a 300% increase but also saw the average sales price drop 43% to just under $3,500,000. Deer Crest is a newer community with spec homes still being built and it appears that several spec home builders just wanted out and lowered their prices to a point where the deal was just too good to pass up. In upper Deer Valley 9 homes sold in 2009 compared to 4 in 2008 for an increase of 125% and once again we saw a decrease in the average sold price of 28.7%. Other area’s around town were similarly mixed for example, Park Meadows, a mostly residential community saw prices drop 12.8% and the # of sales drop 21.7% but near the Canyons Resort, again a mostly ski-in/ski-out community of 2nd home owners, saw sales increase 25% and the average sold price increase to 45%.

Condominium sales for 2009 were generally hit harder than single family homes. For all condominium sales across all areas of the Park City board the # of sales dropped just over 18% and the average sales price dropped 6.6%. However, as we saw with single family homes, to get a true picture we have to look at specific areas and in some cases the reasons for the change. Old Town and the Park City Resort saw the # of sales for condominiums drop 55% last year and the average sales price drop over 33%. I think that this shows that our buyer is now looking for a newer, more modern and updated condo and is willing to buy further from the center of town to get more square footage for their buying dollar. I suspect that we will see this trend continuing for some time. If we look at condominium sales in Deer Crest we see that the average sold price increased over 64%. At first glance this seems very strange as condo sales prices throughout the rest of Deer Valley was significantly down but we have to remember that the St. Regis Hotel started closing it’s condo’s in November so this number reflects the beginning of very high end sales of condominiums in Deer Crest and is not a true reflection of the market. In upper Deer Valley while the # of sales was down 10.5% of 17 sales in 2009 compared to 19 in 2008 the average sold price dropped 28.1% in upper Deer Valley. In the newest area of Deer Valley, Empire Canyon, the number of sales dropped 38.5% which is easy to understand as in 2008 a large condo project was completed and closing. Where in 2009 the condo projects that were completed did not have the advantage of the pre-sales that occurred in the earlier strong part of the market. Also in Empire Canyon, the average sold price dropped 28.8% as investors who purchased earlier with idea of flipping their property and never occupying it were forced to lower their prices in many cases to below where they purchased it in order to get property sold.

Last Sunday was the much anticipated auction of the 8 Silver Strike condominiums in Empire Pass. I attended the auction and was pleased to see that all 8 units offered sold in about 30 minutes of bidding. The 8 units generally sold for 15 to 20% above the minimum bid and averaged $760 per square foot. In addition to the 8 units that sold during the auction a 9th unit was sold just after the auction was concluded. The developer has another 10 units in the project to sell and I am hearing that he is going to price these remaining units in the neighborhood of $760 per square foot. This will make Silver Strike the least expensive condo project in Empire Pass with direct ski-in/ski-out access and full Talisker club membership.

As with all real estate markets the numbers alone do not tell the entire story and the importance of a long time knowledgeable agent is dramatically illustrated.

This weekend I am traveling to Crested Butte, CO to meet with other resort real estate agents from the western ski resorts. Come back next week for a recap of resort real estate from resorts in California, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and British Columbia Canada. I expect that our discussions will be lively, interesting and very revealing.

This Week In Park City

2010-01-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting a new restaurant in Park City, Talisker on Main. This restaurant is operated by the Talisker Club which has the club facilities at Deer Valley Resort and the golf club facilities just outside of town. The restaurant is very small and offers an intimate dining experience for Talisker members and the general public. The restaurant is designed to showcase Talisker’s award winning chef, John Murcko, and the amenities that Talisker offers. The menu offers a pleasant variety and the meal was absolutely delicious. I was there with several clients and everyone agreed that it was one of the finest meals we have had in Park City. This should be must visit restaurant on your next trip here.

Last weekend was the Visa Freestyle World Cup at Deer Valley. This event featured the best men and women freestyle skiers in the world in aerials and mogul competitions. This was a great preview for the upcoming Olympics in Vancouver BC next month. Thursday, the weekend kicked off with a band and street dance on lower Main Street. Friday, under the lights was the men’s/women’s aerial finals. This is truly amazing to watch as these young kids soar 60 to 70 feet straight up in the air while performing numerous back-flips combined with twisting rotations. And then trying to land on a steep snow covered slope. Saturday night featured the men and women duel mogul contests. This event is skier vs. skier in a head to head single elimination run down a steep mogul field with two jumps interspersed on the hill. The skiers are judged on speed, form, and their turning technique on the bumps. As speed is one of the major criteria in selection the winner of each run, by the time of the quarter finals, the skiers are almost straight running the bumps. This is quite a spectacle and the crowd really get’s into it! The events both Friday & Saturday nights drew large crowds from visitors and locals and has become one of the “must attend” parties of the winter season.

In Real Estate News this Sunday is the much anticipated and talked about auction of 8 Silver Strike condominiums in the Empire Pass area of Deer Valley. For the last few weeks the upcoming auction has been the talk of the town and almost everyone I meet on the ski-lift has heard about it. It is going to be very interesting to see what happens. I expect that all 8 of the auction units will be sold, but at what price remains to be seen? Come back next week for an update on the Silver Strike auction!

In other Real Estate News the St. Regis Hotel in Deer Valley continues to close on its units. Prior to opening the doors in early December there were 59 units sold which represent about 2/3rds of the entire development. So far 23 of the units have actually sold with a remaining 36 anticipated to close within the next 4 to 6 weeks. The St. Regis at Deer Valley has been the most successful condo/hotel project in the US for 2009. The fact that the buyers, many who have had their unit under contract for 5 years, are closing at record high prices approaching $2000 per square foot is a testimonial to the quality of the St. Regis and a renewed confidence by the consumer in the Park City real estate market.

Next week I will have the final numbers for real estate sales in 2009 and will provide a re-cap of the year. I expect that this will be very interesting and probably a little bit of a surprise to see what our final numbers are.

The 2009-2010 ski seasons have been the driest season since 1976. The fact that the skiing at Deer Valley is actually quite good is a tribute to the snowmakers and grooming crew. Without their efforts and expertise we would not be skiing yet this year. My hat is off in congratulations on a job well done to the Deer Valley snowmaking crew! The one benefit to a low snow year like this is lots of sunshine so if you are in the frigid east come west and replenish your spirits in the beautiful rocky mountain sunshine.

Early January In Park City

2010-01-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

While the eastern half of the U.S. is locked in a deep freeze, we in the Rockies are basking in warm sunshine. Even at 8000 feet today’s temperature is approaching 30 degrees. While the warmth certainly feels good, and it’s nice not having to clear the driveway every day, we would all be much happier with more snow. I would call the skiing “adequate”, but then I am a fanatic skier also. While for us we would refer to the current ski conditions as marginal, most resorts would be thrilled with our current conditions. All of the resorts have around 95%, or more, of the mountain open. And anywhere that the resorts make snow has very good coverage. So while we certainly are not showing off our Sunday best dress, the skiing is quite good and the weather is spectacular. The great thing about January is with a low sun angle, even on warm days such as today, the snow stays cold and crisp. Plus, the slopes are nearly empty. The first two weeks of January are traditionally the slowest time of the season, following Christmas break, and then here in Park City, the Sundance film festival is the last 10 days of the month. During Sundance the traffic is bad, restaurants are full, and the ski slopes are empty. If you are willing put up with a busy town it is a great time to ski.

In real estate news the two weeks of the Christmas holidays were pleasantly busy. People were stopping in at open houses and the questions they asked were indicative of serious buyers. It was enjoyable to have my phone ringing with agents wanting to show my listings. We are certainly still in a buyers market but I see signs of a change. As the great deals get picked up and inventory dwindles, we will start to see sellers holding much more firm to their prices than they have in the past. Right now the hot commodity is as expected, properties on or very near the slopes. Almost everyone who has an interest in Park City real estate has heard about the upcoming auction of the Silver Strike condo’s in Empire Pass. This auction is the talk of the town and around 200 people have already registered. Interestingly enough, we are now starting to see serious buyers who realize that the odds of getting one of these auction properties is slim, so they are taking advantage of some terrific opportunities in other ski developments. For example, a new condo project called Flagstaff, also in Empire Pass, is discounting their list price 30% for the next 3 to 4 buyers. The Grand Lodge located at the base of the Northside lift at Deer Valley Resort has only one developer unit left, a beautiful 5 bed penthouse unit looking straight up the mountain. This unit is listed for $3,800,000 and I suspect that the developer is willing to make a great deal on this to get the last condo off his books. While there are great deals like this all over town and in every price range, you have to know where they are and which ones truly are good deals. This is where working with a local and experienced real estate agent is so important.

Come out, take advantage of empty ski slopes and great weather. If you are in the market for a ski home be sure to call me….and send the eastern snow to the west!!!

A Retrospective Of Park City

2009-12-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

Going in to this Christmas week we were all very curious and a little nervous to see just what the real estate activity was going to be. While certainly not back to the good ‘ole’ days, everyone is reporting a dramatic increase in activity over last year. Open houses are busy with people seriously looking to buy this season. This is such a welcome change from last year and the mood in town is so much more upbeat than it has been for a long time.

A year ago the global financial crisis had begun just as we entered into the busy winter season and almost every financial decision was placed on hold as the nation watched the crisis deepen. This year is a very different story as now the U.S. is beginning a real recovery as the winter season begins. The stock market has regained much of its loss and even though unemployment remains high consumers are feeling more confident that the recovery is real. Proof of this is exemplified by the numerous closings of sales and the opening of the St. Regis Hotel and Flagstaff condominiums in Deer Valley. While most of these transactions were contracted nearly three years ago the fact that these owners are closing on the transactions is a demonstration of their confidence in the recovery and that their expectations of the product has been exceeded.

Park City is nearing its final build-out as we near 2010. With the exception of the two main parking lots and base areas of all three ski resorts, the core area of Park City is all built out. The physical constraints of our small valley make for a very limited amount of future development. Inventory’s of listings in the Park City area are diminishing again and with continued low interest rates combined with low prices I expect to continue their decline. At some point in the very near future we all anticipate that interest rates will start an upward decline as we enter a more inflationary period. This is what makes buying now such an unusual opportunity…some may say the “perfect storm” for buyers. Many of us remember the two previous recessions when interest rates were over 17% simultaneous with an economic downturn, which makes this downturn so unusual. Buyers now have the opportunity that they have always wished for, to wind back the clock on prices and low interest rates.

An important element of this point in time is that is has humbled all of us and we have to push the reset button, however it also helps up refocus on what is important and that is the lifestyle that we live here in Park City and all the good things it brings. If you have already established a beach head here in Park City I hope that you can take this winter to visit and remember just what brought you here in the first place. For those of us who live here this past year has been an opportunity to do the same thing. There may never be a better time to own a piece of what you always wanted. Whether it is for the first time or to see it with fresh eyes, I am here to show you around and help you discover what makes Park City such a special place to live.

I wish everyone a happy and safe New Years and a welcome end to the roller coaster ride of the first decade of the new millennium. Here is to a prosperous 2010-Happy New Year Everyone!

Christmas Eve Day In Park City

2009-12-24T10:24:00.001-07:00

It is a bright, sunny, beautiful and cold Christmas Eve day here in Park City. We have received about 5 inches of new snow this week, just enough to put a sugar-coating on the trees and homes. The joy of living in the mountains is that we get these crystal clear winter days with the deepest blue sky you have ever seen, unlike the Salt Lake valley where an inversion has set in and at best it is hazy and very foggy.

Visitors and skiers are in town, the shops are busy and the restaurants are full. The new snow and sunshine has everybody’s spirits up and in a Christmas mood. From my own observations and from speaking with my fellow agents, our visitors are once again looking at real estate. All reports that I have received are that open houses have been busy with people seriously looking to purchase.

The upcoming auction of 8 condos at the Silver Strike Lodge in Empire Pass at Deer Valley is creating quite a buzz around town. Silver Strike has been advertising in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal so most of our visitors have heard about it and are very curious as to what is going on. It talking with clients of mine who may potentially be bidding, we all feel that the 8 units will sell during this auction but will sell for lower prices then what the listing agent/developer/auction company are hoping for. As a result of the auction I have seen some sellers in Empire Pass dramatically reduce their prices significantly below their original purchase price. This is making for some excellent opportunities to pick up a ski-in/ski-out vacation condo at very favorable prices. I think that this next week and a half will be very telling for how real estate business is going to be this winter.

Sunny and I wish you the merriest of Christmas’s and a happy and very prosperous 2010….THINK SNOW!!

Christmas In Park City

2009-12-18T15:49:00.001-07:00

This is the start of the Christmas Holiday and the Park City resorts are ready. After a week of bitter cold, followed by a two day blizzard, this week has been quite warm with temperatures in the upper 30’s. Fortunately it is colder up on the mountain so the resorts have been able to make snow non-stop, even this week. Park City and Deer valley have been able to open new runs and lifts daily and as of today over half of the mountain is open. I expect both resorts to open new runs throughout the next couple of weeks.

The town is festive and decorated to bring out the holiday spirit in everyone. One of the great fun things in Park City is how all the condominium projects and private homes light up the trees. A nighttime drive around town with snow still in the tree branches and Christmas lights twinkling is really quite magical. Along with skiing we have many other activities such as sleigh rides and snowmobiling in the back country of Utah. Christmas is a special time of year and to spend it with family and friends in a place like Park City is simply the best.
I wish everyone the happiest of holidays and a prosperous 2010.

Good Old Fashion Utah Snow Storm

2009-12-15T14:43:00.006-07:00

After a week of bone chilling cold this weekend saw a good old fashion Utah snow storm. From Saturday morning to Sunday evening the Utah ski resorts received 3 to 4 ft of new snow just in time for the Christmas holidays. I skied at Deer Valley yesterday with knee deep powder and new runs were opening up as the day progressed. With continued cold weather and snow making as well as more snow forecast for later in the week, most of the mountain should be open later this week. If you have been waiting to see what the conditions would be like before booking your vacation to park city, wait no longer! The conditions are excellent and the skiing is fabulous so come on out!

Latest Happenings In Deer Valley

2009-12-11T15:28:00.003-07:00

While there has been a lot happening in real estate here in the last week or two, let’s start by talking about just how cold it is. Yesterday morning it was -9 and warmed up to a balmy 15 degrees. This was actually quite pleasant as earlier in the week the high temperatures stayed in the single digits. This has been one of the coldest December’s that I have seen in a long time, and it feels much more like January than December. While everyone has been running around complaining about the cold and many of the people in the older historic Park City homes are dealing with frozen water pipes, the ski resort snow makers are having a field day making snow. Last weekend before it got really cold I spoke with Bob Wheaton (president of Deer Valley) who said that Deer Valley is pumping 7000 gallons of water per minute in snow making. That was before it got really really cold, so that number has increased this week. The snow making has been so good that Deer Valley is opening up new runs and lifts every day. Even without natural snow, we will have the majority of the mountain open for the Christmas Holiday. HOWEVER, the forecast is for 2 to 3 ft of snow this weekend! The skies are already starting to cloud up and the south winds are blowing strong, indicating a major change in weather. If the forecast holds true, we should have almost all of the mountain open by next weekend…just in time for Christmas!

Now back to real estate. As I mentioned last week the St. Regis hotel in the Deer Crest area of Deer Valley has opened. I took a tour of the hotel last Wednesday. Riding the funicular to the St. Regis was just the start of an incredible tour. The bar, lounges, restaurant’s and lobby’s are all spacious and beautifully decorated with spectacular views from every window. The highlights are the ski out patio, which will be the new “beach” for the Deer Valley après ski scene and the outdoor pool which even without the setting of the ski run’s and the mountain back drop is beautiful. But no visit to the St. Regis would be complete without a visit to the spa. The massage rooms invite you to relax and unwind but what will be most enjoyable is the couples massage room with private whirlpool. The waiting room for the spa has a stream flowing through it with river rocks for the bed. A must visit on any trip to Deer Valley will be the St. Regis, either for lunch or après ski, or for a romantic dinner in a beautiful setting.

The St. Regis has now closed on 10 units with a low price $1,040,000 for a 991 sq foot for a 1 bed/1 bath unit to a high of $5,454,000 for a 2947 sq ft 4 bed/5 bath unit. Along with this there are 49 units under contract and getting ready to close. These range in price from a low $1,540,000 for a 1502 sq ft 2 bed/2 bath to a high of $8,916,550 for 6229 sq ft 6 bed/7bath unit.

Another new development in the Empire Pass area of Deer Valley is a condominium project called The Flagstaff. This building has just been completed, as was the St. Regis, and they have just started closing on units. Flagstaff had pre-sold 8 units prior to completion and 5 of those have closed. These range from a low of $1,902,000 for a 2140 sq ft 3 bed/4 bath condo to a high of $2,322,000 for a 2140 sq ft 3 bed/4 bath unit. There are 3 units with contracts waiting to close and range from a low of $2,710,000 for a 1749 sq ft 2 bed/3 bath to a high of $3, 020,000 for a 2324 sq ft 3 bed/4 bath condo. The Flagstaff development is at Empire Pass and is part of the Talisker Club with direct ski in/ski out access and in the common area features a children’s game room, an adult pub and a wonderful outdoor fire-pit.

Another condominium building that was completed a year ago, called Silver Strike in Empire Pass, is trying a novel approach to jumpstart the market. 15 out of 34 units have closed to date, but there has only been one sale in the last 18 months. In order to generate interest the developer of Silver Strike is going to auction 8 of the best units in January. The units will have a minimum bid which will be more than 50% off of the current list price. The developer is hoping that there will be sufficient interest so that the bidding will increase prices from the minimum. It will be very interesting to see how this transpires and at what price the condos will actually sell for. This could be an interesting venture and be aware that all condo’s will come with the full Talisker Club membership. Should you have an interest in registering for the auction, you will have to be pre-registered so contact me and I will set you up. It could possibly be a way to pick up a brand new ski-in/ski-out condo in Empire Pass at a significantly reduced price.

As you can see there is a lot going here in real estate and it is very exciting. I skied this morning and despite the lack of natural snow the skiing is quite good so come out to Park City, enjoy some terrific skiing and let’s go look at some fabulous real estate opportunities.

Big News In Park City

2009-12-04T16:03:00.016-07:00

This past week the new St. Regis Hotel at Deer Valley opened to rave reviews. The bar, lounge and restaurant are spectacularly decorated and many people felt that it looked just like the St. Regis in Manhattan. Owners have begun closing on their units and with prices approaching $2000 per square foot; a new standard has been set in Deer Valley. What is very telling is that the first buyers wrote contracts 4 years ago and even after the economic downturn of the last 2 years, only two buyers are attempting to get out of their contracts. This is very telling about the quality and perceived value of the St. Regis. From speaking with the listing agent they expect to have closed on 20 units prior to the Christmas vacation at which time all of the available units will be rented out.

The second piece of big news this week is that Deer Valley will be opening Saturday December 5th.This fall we have only seen about half of our normal snow fall but fortunately it has been cold so Deer Valley will have a decent opening of man made snow. Even better is the forecast for snow…beginning this Saturday and continuing at least through next Wednesday. This is much needed and should get the mountain ready for the Christmas holidays. Part of the opening ski weekend tradition at Deer Valley is a two day celebrity ski race. This is always a fun event with many Hollywood celebrities running around mid-mountain Deer Valley.

In real estate news our real estate market continues to move along and is showing some signs of strengthening. While we are still definitely in a buyers market and I see many price reductions on properties every day I am beginning to see a few price increases. Is this a sign of things to come? While I do not think that we are out of the woods, the light at the end of the tunnel just might be a bit brighter.

The first couple of weeks in December and again the first couple of weeks in January are relatively quiet times here in park City and are an excellent time to visit and enjoy less crowded ski slopes and restaurants. Whether it is during these more quiet times or later in the year, make your plans to come visit Park City and experience for yourself why this has been my home for the last 25 years.

Culinary Adventures In Park City-Part Two

2009-11-25T14:55:00.011-07:00

This is Thanksgiving weekend and the official start of the ski season. Park City Mountain resort and Snowbird opened up last Saturday. Alta and Snowbasin opened today and the Canyons will open tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day. Deer Valley Resort always opens the first Saturday in December, which this year falls on December 5th.

With the upcoming ski season it is always fun to review the new restaurants in town. As I travel around to different resorts, when I mention that I live in Park City a frequent reply is how good the restaurants are in Park City compared to other resorts. This year we have four new restaurants in town, Spruce at the Canyons Resort, High West Distillery on Park Ave, Talisker on Main Street and a restaurant in the new St. Regis Hotel at Deer Crest.

Spruce is a very high end restaurant located at Dakota Mountain Lodge just below the base area at the Canyons Resort. Dakota Mountain Lodge features a Golden Door Spa and is operated under the Waldorf Astoria brand. As one would expect from Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the décor is exquisite and quite contemporary. The bar overlooks the hotel swimming pool and is very comfortable. The restaurant itself is beautiful and the menu is delightful with a variety of fresh seafood’s along with unique presentations. I highly recommend this restaurant for a romantic experience during your stay here.

For a fun and informal dining experience, the High West Distillery on Park Ave is a must visit. The restaurant is a restored historic building on Park Ave and only seats around 40 people. Built in 1907 by E.J. Beggs, the broad wooden building started out as the Beggs & Buckley Livery. When the horseless carriage was replaced with the automobile, Beggs and Buckley began servicing cars and changed the name to National Garage. The High West Distillery menu is a more casual “mountain” cuisine and along with sampling their local whiskey’s they will also be offering a variety of wine flights. For more information on the historic building and the distillery visit highwestdistillery.com.

Talisker on Main Street is scheduled to open early January and will feature a small dining room with a maximum of 40 guests. The chef, John Murko is preparing the menu which will be excellent judging from the other Talisker restaurants. This restaurant will be open to the public however Talisker club members will have preferred reservations, for more information visit talisker.com.

The St. Regis will offer, as expected, a five star dining experience. I will have an opportunity to experience a sampling from the menu in about two weeks and will give a review at that time.

While these new restaurants are certain to be worth visiting, I cannot leave out my long time favorites. Always consistent and excellent on my list of recommended restaurants are Riverhorse on Main, Chimayo (an interesting take of southwestern cuisine), Wahso (Asian/Pacific Rim), The Seafood Buffett @ Deer Valley (a must for families and groups) and the Fireside Dining in Empire Lodge at Deer Valley. For an intimate and romantic dining experience, the Mariposa at Deer Valley is not to be missed. For more casual or family style dinners, Windy Ridge and the Wasatch Brew Pub located on Main Street are my favorites.

While these are a good sample of restaurants to visit, Park City offers many more restaurants and when you are in town give me a call and I will be happy to recommend other restaurants that I really like.

With the ski season upon us start planning your trip to Park City now. You can always call me for the current ski conditions or restaurant/ lodging recommendations. I hope to see you this winter!

Is This the Right Time to Buy?

2009-11-20T11:34:00.005-07:00

If you have been following this blog for the past few months you have most likely noticed a reoccurring theme that I feel that this is the time to buy resort real estate. As I have been showing buyers property over the last few weeks and talking to other buyers on the phone, they are asking me why I feel this is the time to buy. Another great question that somebody asked is, what do I tell people who purchased at the height of the market two or three years ago? These are both excellent questions and I would like to address them in this blog.

First, what do I say to people that purchased during the height of the market and have seen their property values decline over the past 2 years? As would be expected, I have several clients in this situation and I have talked with them at length about this. The first response is that while yes the property value has declined, they have had a wonderful vacation home to enjoy with their family and friends. It is impossible to put a value on the quality time that a family is able to spend together. Time spent reconnecting with children and a grandchildren who may have scattered around the country is priceless. Second, I frequently hear my clients say that had they not purchased their vacation home and instead invested that money in the stock market they would have lost more money than the value of their real estate has declined. While not overly pleased that the values have declined, everyone understands that it is a function of the global economy and are comfortable with their decision to have purchased. As long as the intent of the purchase was to actually use the property and not just flip it for a quick profit, my buyers are generally pleased with their decision.

So, why do I think now is the time to buy? After watching real estate values decline over the last 18 months I am beginning to see some sign of stabilization. However to best answer this question I need to ask two questions, first, “do you think real estate prices in a resort such as park city will increase in the next 3 to 5 years?” Second, “do you believe that interest rates, which are at historic lows, are going to go up in the near future?” If you answered yes to both of these questions, as I did, then combined with low real estate prices, strong inventory, and sellers willing to negotiate you can see why I feel that this is the right time to purchase.

It fascinates me to observe that in a “buyers market” as we are currently experiencing, buyers are reluctant to buy. However when the market is hot, as we saw in 2006, everyone wants to jump in and purchase property, even though the sellers have the advantage.

Are we at the bottom of the real estate market? Maybe… maybe not, I don’t know of anyone who can predict the bottom; however we are most likely close enough to the bottom that it makes sense to act on the desire to own a ski vacation home. This is exactly what I have been seeing for the past few months. The savvy investors who are looking for bargains have moved from the “wait and watch” to “buy”. This is now drawing the buyers who have wanted a ski home in to the market. With the stock market having regained most of its value, from the low point last March, and now seeming to fluctuate around the 10,000 mark there is widespread feeling that we may be coming out of this recession. The segment that still needs to come around is the employment market. With unemployment running around 10% it is hard for the American consumer to fully regain their confidence and to feel comfortable making a large purchase such as a vacation home. Not “if” but “when” lenders open up their credit and start lending on new construction we should see a decrease in unemployment and renewed confidence by the consumer. Whether this begins to turn around this year or next year, we will most likely see more buyers returning to our market which usually causes sellers to become less negotiable. So for these reasons I feel that there is an opportunity to purchase resort real estate at prices that we may not see again for some time, yes I feel prices will be going up in the next few years, yes I feel that interest rates will be going up and yes I feel that institutional lenders will start freeing up money.

However if you have been looking for a vacation home lets go back to the first point that I brought up and that is having a gathering spot for your family and friends to spend quality time together and to reconnect is the biggest benefit that you will receive.

NAR Real Estate Convention In San Diego

2009-11-16T15:06:00.004-07:00

This week the National Association of Realtor's (NAR) is holding their annual convention in San Diego, which I am attending. This annual event is attended by over 20,000 realtors from all over the world. The convention is a source of education featuring top real estate speakers from around the country and is a terrific opportunity to meet and network with agent's who deal in a wide variety of markets, not just resorts, which I typically work with. I feel that this is an opportunity to get a better feel for shat is happening nationally in the real estate market. Of course, I still spend quite a bit of time talking to my fellow realtors from the western resorts.

This morning we had our Fall meeting for the Western Mountain Resort Alliance, of which I am the founder and president where we discussed along with business issues what was happening in our respective resorts. The consensus was that while this past year has been the worst that anyone has seen there is some optimism that the markets are turning, or beginning to turn, and that this ski season may see buyers re-entering the market. To give you an idea of what happened to our market last year, see the graph attached. As you can see from this graph, most of 2006 was the high point of the market, with a slight decline in 2007 and 2008. This year we saw a drastic drop in number of sales as well as dollar volume. This has been reflected in home prices in our resort as well as the length of time properties are listed before selling.

As a result of lower home prices which are being perceived as, “bargains”, everyone is seeing buyers getting back into the game. One of things that we have seen over the last year and a half with the slow down of the market was that buyers were still out there and still wanted that vacation ski home but were reluctant to act on their wishes as the U.S economy was spiraling downward. Now that the economy appears to be stabilizing, or hopefully recovering, there is a pent up demand of buyers once again looking for resort real estate.

The Good News Is That It Is Snowing Here In Park City! It started snowing last night, turned very cold and more snow is expected tonight and tomorrow. The resorts have all resumed their snowmaking operations and with a forecast of rainy and snowy cold weather for next week, it is looking very positive for thanksgiving skiing!

Come back next week! I will have further updates on what I have learned here in San Diego and further updates on the resort openings. Also upcoming will be my annual restaurant review of what’s new in Park City.

Snowmaking and Real Estate

2009-10-30T13:10:00.010-06:00

This week winter arrived in earnest with snow and very cold temperatures. With the arrival of the cold weather all of the Utah resorts have begun making snow in preparation for the upcoming ski season. Snow making puts down a very dense layer of snow which is perfect for building a base and virtually guarantees that the resorts will be open on their individual scheduled dates.

Surprisingly, the concept of making snow was first discovered in Florida of all places. A method that the citrus growers in Florida used to protect their crops during cold snaps was to spray a fine mist of water over their citrus trees. This would create a layer of ice over the fruit, thereby insulating the fruit from cold temperatures. As the story goes, on one particularly cold snap as the farmers were spraying this mist over their fields it was cold enough that the mist froze coming out of the nozzle and fell in the form of snow. While not particularly useful for citrus growers, the ski resorts in the northeast immediately saw the potential that this had and thus snowmaking was born. Snowmaking systems are very sophisticated and resorts use a combination of two different methods for making snow. One is using compressed air and water and the other is known as “airless” system.

The compressed air/water system was the first system developed and is still used extensively at most resorts. The air/water system is composed of two pipes buried deep in the ground with a “hydrant” spaced at intervals up the mountain to which hoses are connected to along with a snowmaking “gun” on the other end. With the two pipes under ground one contains water and the other pipe has highly compressed air. One hose is hooked to the water outlet and the other to the compressed air. The pipes feed the water and air to a mixing chamber in the snowmaking gun and force it out at a very high speed through a narrow nozzle. This breaks the water into a fine mist or small droplets. When this hits cold air it freezes into snow crystals and consequently falls as a very dense piece of snow. A big advantage that this air/water system has is that as the air/water mixture is forced out of the nozzle and the air expands rapidly. As a result of this expansion the air also cools. The air temperature in the vicinity of the gun is significantly reduced making for more efficient snow making and allowing for snow to be made at temperatures in the mid to upper 30’s.

The “airless” system, which is shown in the photos taken today at Deer Valley Resort, consists of a large tube with a fan at one end and a ring of water nozzles at the other end. The fan blows a large column of air through the tube to which water is injected with the same result; the water droplets freeze and falls snow. This kind of system is capable of making large quantities of snow over a very short period but also requires lower temperatures below freezing, as there is little cooling effect from air expansion. With both systems the density of the snow is controlled by the amount of water that is mixed with the air. In early season snowmaking the desire is for the largest quantity with the most density possible, so the snowmakers inject as much water as they can. The amount of water that can be injected is determined by the air temperature and humidity. The lower the temperature and the dryer the air, the more water that can be injected and still fall of snow. If the snowmakers inject too much water or if temperatures start rising the water droplets are too large to freeze and instead come out as a liquid drop and freeze on the ground, which creates ice instead of snow. So the snowmaking crews are constantly monitoring the air temperatures and adjusting the water/air ratio’s to make the largest quantity of snow possible.

A few years ago Sun Valley Resort installed a state of the art computer driven snowmaking system. This is an air/water system which is operated by a computer that monitors the air temperatures and humidity’s as well as constantly adjusting the air/water ratios. This is very efficient and Sun Valley is known for having a layer of “fresh snow” most mornings for their skiers and boarders to enjoy.

Moving on to real estate news, here are some of the latest statistics pulled from the Park City Board of Realtors:

• Starting from January 2009 the average list price for all property types has dropped 14%.
• The number of contracts written and accepted has increased each month beginning in March.
• The average sales price for a single family home is nearly $1,000,000.
• Total dollar sales volume from January-September is $576,401,594.
• We will end up the year just shy of $1 billion dollars in total sales volume. The highest sales volume was in 2006 totaling just over $2 billion.

Bargain hunters are taking full advantage of the decrease in sales price and the decrease in sales activity. All of the real estate agents in Park City are saying the same thing, sales are increasing, but only for properties that are well priced or for properties that sellers are willing to sell at a perceived bargain price. If you have been at all considering purchasing a mountain property, I can not stress enough that now is the time to buy.

Western Mountain Resorts Real Estate

2009-10-23T13:42:00.003-06:00

This week I traveled to Whistler B.C. and participated in a conference put on by the Western Mountain Resort Alliance, known as WMRA. The panel was composed of a representative from Vail, CO, Jackson Hole, WY, Whistler B.C., and of course me from Park City, UT. The purpose of the panel was to discuss the current market and what has transpired during the past 12 months. Our secondary purpose was to look around Whistler and see how the preparation for the upcoming winter Olympics is going.

The markets in Vail, Jackson Hole and Park City were remarkably similar this past year. We all saw a dramatic downturn beginning last October 2008 which lasted until sometime between March-May depending on the resort. Park City seems to have been the first resort to emerge from the recession with our market turning around in March 2009. Vail and Jackson Hole did not really experience a turnaround until May 2009. All three resorts did not experience a booming summer in real estate but certainly saw sales increasing. All three resorts reported that while there have been some sales at the high end, the majority of buyers are looking at lower end properties and by lower end we generally mean under $2,000,000.

Whistler, B.C. has seen a slightly different market as a result of the upcoming Olympics winter games this coming February, 2010. Like all of the other resorts, their fourth quarter of 2008 and their first quarter of 2009 were depressing for real estate sales. But the second quarter of 2009 in Whistler, while still slow, was significantly better and their third quarter of 2009 was back to normal. They are expecting this fourth quarter to be equally as strong, but then as a result of the Olympic games the Whistler realtors expect that the 1st quarter of 2010 will again be very slow. Having experienced the Salt Lake Olympics and the affect that it had on Park City’s real estate, I explained to the Whistler realtors that while they really should not expect any real estate activity through the games March will pick up and most importantly real estate business in the subsequent years should be stronger.

When driving around Whistler evidence of the upcoming Olympics is everywhere. Streets are being widened, the finishing touches are going in on all the venues, and the town is alive with excitement. Interestingly, security appears to be even tighter than it was for the Salt Lake games. Last night we could only get within a half a mile of any of the venues. We attempted to go to the sliding track where the bobsled, luge, and skeleton events will be held but were turned away by security. The same was true for the cross country venue. As we saw in Park City in October 2001, the village center has an Olympic store and posters/ banners are everywhere welcoming guests to the 2010 Olympics. I learned recently that when the resort of Whistler was first proposed in the early 1970’s it was conceived with the intent of hosting the winter Olympics during the 1980’s. This did not occur, however the village was designed and built with idea of hosting an Olympics so it is very pedestrian friendly and beautifully laid out.

If you have ever thought of going to a winter Olympics the Vancouver/Whistler B.C. Olympics this upcoming February would be a great one to attend. Canada is very easy and friendly to U.S. visitors and the drive from Vancouver to Whistler is one of the most beautiful drives anywhere in the world.

Interesting Times in Real Estate

2009-10-15T16:29:00.004-06:00

Most real estate markets throughout the U.S. are struggling to reach some stability and the rocky mountain resorts including Park City are no exception. While the general trend in number of sales has been on an upward trend since March, getting in to specific sales I find the numbers are all over the place. If we compare September 2009 to September 2008 the number of accepted contracts written were up 21% from 105 in 2008 to 127 in 2009. However, the number of units that actually closed was down 7% from 121 units in 2008 to 112 in 2009. I suspect that there are several reasons for this, the first is that in August 2009 only 85 accepted contracts were written and the second is a reflection on the difficulty buyers are having obtaining financing. In the past, from time of acceptance to closing for a property subject financing 30 days was common. With the current lending climate the days needed to close a contract has increased to at least 45 days and can often take longer than that.

Another interesting part of the Park City Real Estate market is the “seller’s mentality.” While we have been in a declining market for at least the past 18 months, this past year has been more like a free fall. Depending on when a property was purchased, sellers are now finding themselves selling their properties for the amount they purchased it for or in some cases less than the original purchase price. After many years of a steady increase in selling price this has been a very bitter pill to swallow particularly knowing that Park City is a highly sought after resort. For the past year Park City real estate agents have been working very hard to educate their sellers on where the market is and to price their properties to sell rather than be in a “chasing a declining market” game. Then the issue becomes that even though we have convinced the seller to price their property correctly, buyers are still coming in and expecting the seller to come even further off of the price. So the education now switches towards the buyer to explain where the market is and the true value of their vacation home. As consumer confidence increases I expect that we will see the number of sales continuing to increase and will be significantly higher than last winter. This could increase the differences in the mind set between buyers and sellers. With all of this said… this winter should prove to be very interesting.

Next week I will be in Whistler B.C. participating in a panel discussion with agents from Vail, CO, Jackson Hole, WY, and Whistler, B.C. Check back next week for what should be a very informative report.

Peak Fall Colors & Snow

2009-10-05T14:22:00.006-06:00

After a warm and glorious September winter arrived yesterday with snow. It is very rare to see both the peak fall colors and snow at the same time. Enjoy these photos taken this morning October 1, 2009.

Click here to view the photos, or copy and paste this link into your browser:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33891876@N04/sets/72157622495363498/show/

Snow, Snow, Snow

2009-09-30T14:23:00.004-06:00

This September was the most beautiful that I have seen here in Park City. Every day was bright blue skies and warm balmy days. With some early cold weather that we had in August and all of the rain in June, the trees turned a little earlier than normal, but were particularly vibrant this year. Then today arrived, September 30, 2009 and we were reminded that we do live in the mountains. A very strong cold front arrived during the night with thunder, lightening and howling winds. We woke up this morning to rain which quickly changed to snow. It has been snowing all day here in Park City and while it is not sticking to the ground here in town the mountains are certainly white. The extended forecast is for more snow off and on for the next week. A certain reminder that winter is on its way and ski season is not far. While the resorts generally open in mid November, I have seen excellent skiing on Halloween…perhaps this will be one of those years.

In real estate news the real estate recovery seems to be continuing here in Park City. After a dismal start to the year the summer months were stronger than last year and the trend is continuing. For example, the number of properties under contract but not yet closed is down this year from last. There have been 750 homes pended this year and 912 in 2008. The number of pending sales increased for the month of August, 116 this year compared to 110 in 2008. Year to date, condos and land pending sales were down 16% and 42%. However during the month of August, condo sales were up 79% and while land sales were still down compared to last year they were down less than 30%. In numbers of actual closed listings year to date, we are off about 34%, 635 closed this year compared to 969 in 2008. The number of single family homes sold in the month of August was even last year and condo sales were off about 15%. The big drop in sales so far this year compared to last year is in vacant land, only 9 parcels closed this year compared to 22 in 2008. This reflects the caution of spec builders right now. With the lack of new home starts here in Park City and the likelihood that there will not be many for the next year to year and a half, newly completed homes are a rarity and are sought after if they are within the city limits. In the Deer Valley area there are less than a handful of newly completed homes for buyers to choose from. Everything else is either an existing older home or at best an older home that has been remodeled or updated. I expect that as a result of this new homes may be in demand this ski season. Scarcity has always been a significant driving factor in real estate.
With the new snow in the mountains as a backdrop for the bright gold’s and red’s, if there is any way to come out to the mountains this is the time to do it.

The Mountains are on Fire

2009-09-25T10:48:00.003-06:00

The mountains are on fire with color right now. The oaks and maples are brilliant red and the aspens are just starting to turn gold. Contrasted against the deep blue sky when driving or walking around town everyone’s gaze is captivated by the scenery. This weekend looks to be the last warm weekend until next summer so we will all be outside enjoying a variety of activities.

In real estate news two new projects in Deer Valley are just about completed. The St. Regis in the Deer Crest area is scheduled to start closing on units later in October. The St. Regis is the first true five star hotel to be built in the area and we are all eagerly awaiting its opening. Another project in the Empire pass area of Deer Valley called Flagstaff will also be completed for the ski season. Now that it is nearing completion sales have picked up with three new transactions in the last two weeks. These were 3 bedroom units selling the $3 million range.

With the ski season rapidly approaching I am getting more calls for buyers looking to pick up a ski home for this year while prices are still low. We have an excellent selection of homes and condos both on and off the mountain and most sellers are still willing to negotiate on their prices. This is the perfect combination for buyers and the savvy ones are taking advantage.

Still #1

2009-09-17T14:13:00.004-06:00

While it has not hit the newsstands yet we have heard that the next issue of Ski Magazine will show Deer Valley Resort as the #1 rated ski resort in North America for the 3rd year in a row. The rankings are the result of a survey that Ski Magazine sends to its readers each year. Readers are asked to rate the resorts that they have visited on the quality of their experience in a number of key areas. The survey asks readers to rank their experience in areas such as; customer service, snow quality, variety of terrain, run’s, on mountain food service, and proximity to night life and other amenities as well as their overall experience. For the 3rd year in a row the readers of Ski Magazine have rated Deer Valley as their #1 favorite resort in North America. Given the number and quality of western ski resorts, this is quite an accomplishment and Deer Valley is justifiably proud that its commitment to their guests is acknowledged and appreciated. While I have not seen the rest of the survey, Park City and The Canyons Resorts are usually ranked in or near the top 10.

In looking at real estate pended sales for each month the trend that I noted that began in March continued through August and has strengthened. Each month since March the number of pended sales has increased from the previous month and is now similar to where we were in September 2007.

There is still much debate as to whether the economic recovery that we are seeing is real and sustainable. On one side, the feeling is that the continued high unemployment rate remains to be a detriment to the recovery and that as a result the economy is destined to grow weakly. The feeling is that until more Americans are employed consumer spending will continue to be slow. While there will certainly be spikes in spending brought on by stimulus programs such as “Cash for Clunkers”, these are temporary spikes and not sustainable.

On the other hand, optimists say that the rebound will help kick start a self- sustaining recovery where improved confidence leads to consumers and business’s starting to spending more. Time will tell which of these scenarios will come true, or will it be somewhere in between?
What I have seen in Park City is that in many areas the number of sales from January 1st through August 31st comparing 2008 to 2009 there were more sales in this time frame in 2009. However, the average sold price was generally down in 2009 compared to the same time frame in 2008. This reinforces my statements several weeks ago that the bargain hunter buyers have moved from a “wait and see” to a “buy” position. It is certainly true that if a property is not perceived as a bargain, buyers are rarely interested in it right now.

I do believe that as the bargain properties are removed from the market we will see a slow and gradual return of prices. I am already seeing some signs of this as sellers are beginning to not give away quite as much as they were a month ago. Fall is typically a transition month for sales where we start to see more investors and 2nd home buyers looking to pick up a ski property for the upcoming ski season. I think that the next two months are going to be very telling whether the recovery of the market in Park City is real or is just a temporary correction.
September has been particularly spectacular with warm days, cool nights, and right now the mountains are full of red oak and maple trees. Most everyone feels that this is the best month of the year so come out and visit us and experience fall in the Rocky Mountains.

Fall In the Mountains

2009-09-11T16:55:00.003-06:00

Last week I spoke about the Miner’s Day celebrations here in Park City, the parade, festivities in the park and the mucking and drilling contest.

September is a magical time of transition between summer and fall. The days are still quite warm and the nights are noticeably cooler. Because of the cold weather that we had in August, the oak and maple trees have turned and are dotting the hillside with reds and oranges. Hiking and mountain biking are the best right now, the trails are un-crowded and the contrast between the bright blue sky and colorful trees is something to behold.

The three Park City ski resorts are feverishly working to complete summer projects before the first snow of winter arrives. While the economic recession of the past year prevented any of the resorts from significant expansions, there is still much to do over the summer months. The resorts spend the off season doing maintenance on all the chair lifts, clearing aspen growth from ski runs, and general maintenance around the resort to ensure the best quality of experience for our guests. Starting around October we will see the influx of seasonal workers arriving in town. This is a fun time because there is a lot of energy in anticipation of the upcoming ski season.

The real estate market here in Park City continues to improve on a monthly basis. This past week there were two very strong condominium sales in the Empire Pass area of Deer Valley in the high 2-3 million dollar range. In addition, the Dakota Mountain Lodge at the Canyons has just been completed and buyers that have purchased there in the last two years are now closing in their units. This is particularly interesting, as one might expect buyers to be very nervous to be closing on a property that they wrote a contract on two years ago. Fortunately we are seeing the values hold and the buyers are realizing that their investment is still financially sound.

This past week I was asked to help a client find a ski-in/ski-out rental condo for the Christmas-New Years holiday week. I was very surprised at what few choices were still available. There were only about 6 condos still available with ski-in/ski-out access. This is great news, as it looks like visitors will be coming out again and are making plans well in advance.
Next week I will have the most recent statistics from August to share with-you so look for this information in next week’s blog.!

Miners Day Weekend

2009-09-02T11:14:00.006-06:00

This coming weekend most everyone is the U.S. will be celebrating Labor Day with parades, festivities and BBQ’s over the 3 day weekend. Here in Park City we celebrate our mining history and consequently re-named the holiday Miner’s Day.

Like everywhere else, we celebrate this with a parade, BBQ, music and festivities at the City Park. We add in the mining twist by bringing out old pneumatic mining drills and have mucking and drilling contests throughout the day. The drilling part of the contest involves taking the extremely heavy and awkward drills and drilling a series of holes in a slab of granite. This is a timed event with the person completing the drilling the in shortest amount of time the victor. The mucking involves an ore cart on a set of tracks and a pneumatic powered shovel in front. The miner lowers the shovel and powers the cart in to a pile of waste rock from the mine, hoists it up and dumps it into the cart. He then backs the cart up and moves in forward into the pile, repeating the process until the cart is full. Again this is a timed event. The contestants are past and current miners from Park City and the surrounding area. One of our other long standing traditions has unfortunately fallen by the wayside. This was the traditional wake up call on Miners day. Until recently at 6am on Miners day the town would light dynamite and explode for about 20 minutes to wake the town up. There was never any chance of sleeping through this as windows and walls shook from the concussion causing family pets to dive for cover and new residents to wonder what was going on.

In Real Estate news the real estate market continues to improve with each week seeming to be stronger than the last in the number of contracts written. This past Monday several Prudential agents were discussing the possibility that we may have passed the bottom of the market. Interestingly in talking with a good friend of mine who is an investment advisor with Smith Barney about downturns in the market, I made the comment that by the time the buying public realizes that we have reached the bottom of the stock market, it is already too late and the bottom has already passed. His reply surprised me when he said that studies have shown that investors who purchased 6 months after the bottom historically have made the largest profit. Can we apply the same analogy to real estate? Most probably so and if both are true that we are past the bottom of the market and are on the upswing and that investors purchasing in the next 6 months are most likely to realize the largest gains, this should be an interesting fall and winter season.

I recently found an article online about pending home sales rising for six months in a row. Click here to read this very interesting article or copy and paste this link into your browser: http://rismedia.com/2009-09-01/pending-home-sales-on-a-roll-up-for-sixth-straight-month/

Fall?

2009-08-27T09:40:00.004-06:00

In an earlier blog I mentioned that August in the western mountains tends to start cooling off unlike much of the U.S. which is still sweltering underneath the summer sun. This August in particular has been quite cool with an early snow already and several early mornings of frost. This past weekend the mountain oak tree’s started turning and we are just beginning to see hints of red leaves spotting the mountain sides, a sure sign that Fall is near.

This past weekend Deer Valley Resort was the host to the annual Park City Jazz Festival. This was three days of great music, food and too much wine. Deer Valley is a terrific host in that they allow patrons to bring in picnic baskets and their favorite beverage. The headline act this year was Al Jarreau. While he is certainly getting up there in years, he can still perform with the best.
Now on to Real Estate news. Fall through early winter is quite active here, unlike Spring when the town is quiet and interest in real estate drops off dramatically. Buyers are looking to purchase their ski condo early enough to start booking rental reservations for the upcoming ski season. Sellers understand this so they are now putting units on the market so there is an excellent selection of properties to choose from. While we are certainly still in a buyers market I am beginning to see the first hints of a change. Several sellers recently have felt that the market, if not having already turned, is about to and are prepared to stay closer to the original asking price. I think that this fall and winter season may be quite interesting as buyers will still have the mindset of a bottoming real estate market and sellers may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Click here to read an article about the real estate "turnaround" or copy and paste this link into your browser: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/27/could-the-end-be-near-housing-guru-shiller-senses-home-price-re/

First Snow

2009-08-20T12:07:00.002-06:00

For the first time in my 25 years here in Park City it snowed in August. Last Saturday August 15th an unusually strong cold front brought the snow level down to mid mountain or about 8000 feet. While here in town at 7000 feet it was just a cold rain up at 10,000 feet an inch of snow accumulated. THIS IS WAY TO EARLY, particularly after a cold and rainy June. Six weeks of summer just is not enough. This was the second strong cold front to come through northern Utah in August with another forecast of cold weather to arrive this weekend. Hopefully this is a sign of a cold and snowy winter.

Ski resort towns are a different animal in that we actually look forward to snow storms during the winter months and the larger the storm the better. As Park City receives over 300 inches of snow per year we are very equip to handle snow and it generally takes a storm of upwards of 2 feet overnight to close schools or snarl traffic. It is not uncommon for storms to last a week or more.

But on to cheerier subjects….Real Estate. Comparing July 2009 vs. July 2008, this year 53 homes sold compared to 50 homes in 2008. Condominium sales saw an even larger change with 43 sales in 2009 compared to 33 in 2008. In addition, the average sales price rose from $645,000 in 2008 to nearly $738,000 in 2009. Interestingly, vacant land sales which have been on a decline for the last several years saw an increase from 18 sales in 2008 to 19 sales in 2009. See the graph posted above for sales trends for the last 14 months courtesy of the Park City Board of Realtors.

As fall approaches and buyers start looking for their ski property for this winter the upward trend that we have seen since late winter is very encouraging. I am hearing from many buyers that they feel now is the opportunity to pick up ski property while there are still bargains to be had. While the U.S. economy is certainly not out of the woods yet, it does appear that we are on a road to recovery. If the upward trend that we are seeing continues through the fall we may, by mid winter, be looking back to this time as the end of the bargains.

While it is certainly too early for autumn colors already, with the unusually cold weather I am expecting an early fall. September is one of the most beautiful months in Park City and if the leafs do start to change next month it will be a time not to miss.

New Developments

2009-08-17T11:59:00.007-06:00

In spite of the struggling but improving economy new developments at the ski resorts here in Park City continue to move forward. This past week Dakota Mountain Lodge at The Canyons opened for business. Dakota Mountain Lodge features a Golden Door Spa and is operated under the Waldorf Astoria flag. As one would expect with these marquis names, the rooms are spectacular. The spa is both beautiful and comfortable and the dining rooms/lounges boast beautiful views of The Canyons Resort. During the construction period of this property almost all of the units sold and are now closing. Since the grand opening last week the occupancy rate has been extremely high.

At Deer Valley Resort the St Regis hotel is nearing completion and is about 2/3 sold out. St Regis is built directly on a ski run in the Deer Crest area of Deer Valley and boasts stunning views of the Jordanelle Reservoir, Deer Valley Resort, and downtown Main Street in Park City. The St Regis is expected to open for business this December and early walk-through’s indicate that this hotel will easily live up to the St Regis standard. St Regis has raised the bar for prices with units selling for around $2000 per square foot.

In the Empire Pass area of Deer Valley there are two new projects under construction. Right in the heart of the village at Empire Pass is a project known as Flagstaff located directly on a ski run and across from the members Tower Club Lounge. The Flagstaff building should be completed and ready for occupancy sometime this ski season. Flagstaff is part of the Talisker Club offering both golf course amenities at Tuhaye and private restaurants on Deer Valley for the owner/members. Flagstaff had the unfortunate timing of coming on the market right as the resort market started slowing down followed by the economic meltdown last September. In spite of this, 7 out of the 24 units have sold and I expect that with the building completion scheduled this winter we will see more activity.

Also under construction and scheduled for completion for the 2010/11 ski season is the Montage condo hotel located at the base of the empire lift in Deer Valley. Montage is a boutique hotel/spa and is only the 3rd hotel built in this new emerging chain. Montage will feature about 30,000 square feet of spa and restaurant area with magnificent views of the empire pass ski runs. The condominium units at Montage have yet to be offered for sale and we eagerly await details on pricing, floor plans and finishes. Montage should easily rival the St Regis for quality and will have a superior location. Stay tuned for further updates on Montage.

It seems that this may be an early fall or a very short summer. This past weekend an unseasonably strong cold front came through Utah dropping daytime high temperatures into the mid 50’s. While it has warmed up very nicely this week, another cold front is expected to arrive tonight once again dropping temperatures into the 50’s or low 60’s tomorrow. After having lost summer weather in June which was the rainiest June on record, to now start loosing summer weather in August just does not seem right. Summers in the mountains are short enough to begin with! While summer may be quickly coming to an end we still have a couple of large events remaining. Next Thursday is the start of the Park City Jazz Festival under the stars at Deer Valley, and then we close out summer with Park City’s Miners Day celebrations (Labor Day for the rest of the country) in early September. The cooler but still warm days of September are a magical time of the year and would be a terrific time to visit us.

Art Fest & More

2009-08-06T14:54:00.001-06:00

This past weekend was the 40th annual Art Festival in Park City which draws artists from every corner of the country. Main Street is closed to traffic as artists set up their tents and display their wares up and down the street. This event typically draws around 100,000 people over the weekend and with the hot weather in Salt Lake we probably had more this year. The best time for the fair is Friday evening which is referred to as “local’s night” where entry is free and most of the merchants have already set up shop.

This is a great time to visit the merchants in an un-crowded and much more relaxed atmosphere as well as to visit with friends that you might not have seen for a while. It seemed that the entire town turned out this year for the Friday night local’s party. In conjunction with this several of the nicer restaurants in town were offering dinner specials. A group of us visited Whaso where they were offering $5 appetizers and $10 entrée’s. Somehow we still managed to spend $70 per person, perhaps cocktails and wine had something to do with it? All in all a great event and the quality of the fair continues to increase each year. When speaking with the artists late Saturday night they were quite pleased with the sales they were making, particularly in light of the economy.

The Park City Arts Festival is one of the more desirable art festivals during the summer months for the artists with many more applications submitted than can be accommodated. This allows the festival organizers the luxury of being able to choose the best in each category and to not have too many duplicates.

In real estate news the “Golf Course Wars” are on. Two of our newer courses, Tuhaye and Red Ledges, are offering amazing incentives to attract buyers. Tuhaye is offering golf course frontage lots for sale starting at $350,000, they will carry the financing for 3-5 years at an extremely favorable interest rate, will make the first years interest payments on the loan, and will pay two years of club dues. Also included in the purchase price is the club membership currently valued at $100,000.

Red Ledges, the newest of the golf course communities, is including the club membership of approximately $100,000 in the purchase of a lot are also including a $95,000 Mercedes.

These incentives are being offered right up front by the developer, before we start negotiating and asking for other concessions.

As the U.S. and World stock markets continue to perform well we have to ask, “How long will this last?” With consumer confidence increasing and a large supply of properties to choose from, this summer is the time to be a buyer. Prices here in Park City have dropped back to about 2005 price levels so there appears to be a strong probability of an upside for real estate purchase this year. While I have said this many times before in these blogs, I cannot emphasize enough that we are approaching the time when many buyers will kick themselves and say “Why didn’t I buy in 2009?”

In the Western Mountain Resorts unlike most of the country August is a time when the weather starts cooling. Our hottest month of July is behind us and both daytime and nighttime temperatures become noticeably cooler. If where you are is still smoldering in the summer heat plan a vacation to the Rocky Mountains and experience warm days and cool nights with Park City only a 30 minute drive from Salt Lake international airport we are the easiest resort to reach.

The Future of Real Estate

2009-07-23T11:51:00.000-06:00

During these uncertain times everyone wants to know what is going to happen with the real estate market and their investments in particular. My crystal ball has been very cloudy lately but I can confidently say that the resort real estate market will rebound and it will most likely be before the metropolitan markets. Now just what is it that I see that causes me to make such a statement? I am seeing several very positive signs that indicate a recovery in the real estate market, if not already occurring, it is not far off.

First is the stock market. The stock market tends to be an indicator of what will be expected six months from now rather than a single snapshot of the economy at the moment, so while the unemployment numbers are very high the market feels like the turnaround may be near.

Second, the number of new real estate contracts written in Park City has steadily increased each month beginning last March. It is true that the majority of these buyers are bargain hunters but the fact that they feel that we are close enough to the bottom or to get off the fence, is very encouraging. What is interesting to me is that the increase in activity covers all ranges of the market. Again, an indicator that confidence in our market has returned.

Third, for the past year I have shown property to many buyers who stated that “We are in no hurry and want to wait for the bottom of the market”. This waiting creates a lot of pent up demand. It is often said in a market that is moving downward that no one wants to be first but no one wants to be third either. So when the real estate market does start to rebound, as we are seeing, the pent up demand often causes a flurry of activity. Barring any new economic or political disasters, this initial flurry of activity can be the catalyst to a sustained increase in market activity.

While we are still in the middle of summer, oddly enough, buyers are thinking of the upcoming ski season and are thinking that now is the time to start looking for ski investments. As we get closer to the ski season there are more buyers looking and as a result of this sellers are feeling less pressure to accept drastic price cuts. Savvy buyers understand that the best deals are to be found from mid spring through mid summer.

Resort real estate is always speculative and subject to the whim of the economy but Park City is in a unique situation with its proximity to Salt Lake City. No other major ski resort destination in the west has the convenience of an international airport that is an easy 30 minute drive away. Another unique aspect of Park City is that unlike any other western resort Park City is not surrounded by national forest but rather land that was prospected for silver and privately owned. While other resorts have a scarcity of developable land witch puts upward pressure on prices we seem to have an over abundance of land, which helps suppress prices. The ski resorts certainly have their share of expensive properties but we are blessed with an inordinate amount of very affordable homes and condos (for ski resorts). This allows me to help buyers find a property that fits just about any budget and need.

So what does all of this mean? While nothing can ever be said for certain, my confidence is very high that Park City will come out of this downturn sooner than most and today’s buyers will be very pleased with their purchases.

Summer in the Mountains

2009-07-16T15:38:00.002-06:00

After the wettest June on record the month of July arrived and with it came summer. Since the 1st of July the weather has been hot and sunny with just the occasional afternoon thunderstorm. As a result of the early rain and warm sunny days the mountains are a symphony of color. When out hiking, mountain biking, or even driving over some of the mountain passes, one can not help but be amazed by the array of flowers and all of the various colors. Both visitors and locals can’t stop talking about how beautiful the mountains are right now. Another welcomed benefit to the rain is that the hiking/biking trails are well packed down and not thick and dusty like in many years past. This is certainly a year to come out and see for your self how spectacular summertime in the mountains can be.

Last weekend Park City hosted its annual Food and Wine Classic. Friday was the Main Street Wine Stroll where vintners from around the world displayed for participants to sample. The event started on the plaza of the Town Lift right on lower Main Street and then continued to the top of Main Street where various restaurants and galleries hosted a stop. At each stop a group of vintners poured samples of their wine while the restaurant or gallery provided a delicious array of food. The event, always popular, was a huge success and my group finished off the evening with an outdoor dinner at a local restaurant (owned by Robert Redford) where Rich Wyman performed. Rich Wyman is a local recording star who frequently travels to Ireland and northern Europe for concerts. His music is both entertaining and exciting and at the end of his show we all toasted each other to a delightful evening in Park City. Visit www.richwyman.com for more info on this wonderful artist.

In Real Estate news the market turnaround that we first saw starting in March has continued through the month of June. We saw the number of real estate contracts written and accepted begin to increase in the month of March and each following month has been stronger than the previous month. While we are certainly still in a “buyers market”, I am beginning to detect a bit of urgency on the buyer’s side as the exceptional deals are being snatched up. Even though the news that we hear every day indicates that the nationwide real estate market has yet to bottom out, the western resorts are a different animal. For the past 18 months we have seen numerous buyers wanting to purchase a vacation home here in Park City but felt that they were better off waiting for the real estate market to correct itself. Now that the market correction seems to have occurred, this pent up demand is the driving force behind our market turnaround. The word about the continued monthly increase in sales has filtered down to our buyers who are seeing the writing on the wall. During this recent real estate downturn it is often said that no buyer wants to be the first to leap into the market but they but they certainly don’t to be last either.

While I would still say that the majority of transactions are in the $1 million and under price range we continue to see a number of purchases above $3 million also. An interesting home that has just come on the market is a 20,000 square foot home situated on 60 + acres near mid mountain Deer Valley and is listed for $55,000,000. While the home is spectacular the setting on over 60 wooded acres makes this a one of a kind property. For more information on this property type this link into your internet browser : http://pcmls.com/Pub/EmailView.asp?r=1298536824&s=PKC&t=PKC.
While this number appears astronomical, and it certainly is, an estate home in Aspen just sold for $40,000,000. As always, there are buyers willing to pay for the unique property that cannot be duplicated.

One of the unique attributes of Park City/Deer Valley is the amount of developable land not only directly on but high up on the mountain. Because most western ski resorts are on national forest land, we are unique in our ability to build ski homes directly on the upper elevations of the resorts.

This is the summer to visit us and when you do, take some time and let me show you what is so unique about Park City and Deer Valley.

4th of July and Golf

2009-07-09T16:20:00.002-06:00

This past weekend was the 4th of July here in Park City (and everywhere else). Park City has the quintessential small town 4th of July parade. Entries this year included the Park City junior kid’s hockey team, who periodically broke into fights on main street. The People’s Health Clinic with people walking down main street on crutches and hospital gown’s open in the back. The junior luge team with kids coming down main street on luges. Several local breweries with beer taps on the back of the float. And the girls gymnastic team performing handsprings down the road. The parade was followed by a town party in the City Park with music, children’s games and the annual rugby tournament. As expected, this was capped off with a fireworks display at 10pm (sundown in this part of the world). Parade’s in small town America are a must see and Park City’s is one of the most enjoyable I have seen.

The rains of June have ended and summer has definitely arrived. The sunshine and heat have brought the wildflowers out in such a dazzling display of colors that it is breathtaking just driving around town. The mountains the greenest I have ever seen and the golf courses are plush and in superb condition. This past weekend a new golf course just outside of Park City, called Red ledges opened for play. This is a Jack Nicklaus “signature” course and is one of the prettiest courses I have seen. It is set amongst the red rocks, just southeast of park city in the town of Heber. Typical of a Jack Nicklaus course, it also very difficult with narrow fairways and long 2nd shots to small greens. However the setting and the scenery keep the experience extremely enjoyable.

Several other private golf courses in town are Tuhaye, Promontory, Glenwild, Jeremy Ranch and Park Meadows. Both Jeremy Ranch and Park Meadows are older courses that have been around since the early 80’s. While these are private courses, membership is open to anyone, not just homeowners in the neighborhood. Of the two, I find Jeremy Ranch more scenic and interesting. Winding through a broad valley the course has a lot of elevation changes and beautiful views of the Wasatch Mountains.

Glenwild, which was the first true golf course community in Park City and designed by Tom Fazio, is the course for serious golfers. While the clubhouse is beautiful, and the fitness and spa rooms are excellent, Glenwild is really all about the golf. This is where Michael Jordan has a home and plays golf.

Promontory, the second golf course community in Park City, has two 18 hole golf courses. The first course which has been open for several years was designed by Pete Dye. Their second course, which is going into its second season, is a Jack Nicklaus designed course. While Promontory certainly has a strong golf presence, I consider it more of a family oriented community. Promontory features the best children’s center in the area, a beautiful pool and spa, small lakes where children can fish and sail, and an outfitters cabin for hiking and biking in the summer, snowshoeing and cross country skiing in the winter. Promontory also has an excellent tennis facility with a beautiful stadium center court. For someone looking for golf, and activities for the entire family, Promontory is the best in the area.

Tuhaye, one of the newer golf communities around Park City, is best suited for golf enthusiasts who are also avid skiers. Tuhaye features a Mark O’Meara designed course and in the works is a Fazio course as well. While Tuhaye has an excellent spa and arguably the best pool in the area, the member’s clubhouse has yet to be built. What is unique about Tuhaye is that club members enjoy the golf facilities and a member’s clubhouse called The Tower Club, located on the mountain at Deer Valley Ski Resort. The Tower Club, which has ski-in/ski-out access, features a lounge where members can get lunch during their ski day avoiding the crowded Deer Valley restaurants or stop in après ski for a snack and favorite beverage. While Promontory has a member’s lounge located in the village at Silver Lake at Deer Valley and Red Ledges plans to build a clubhouse at the bottom of the gondola in Deer Crest, Tuhaye is the only club that offers a true ski in facility, on the mountain, where members can dine.

Victory Ranch is a golf and fishing community with the golf course scheduled to open later this summer. This is a spectacular course set high on a bluff overlooking the Jordanelle reservoir and the Wasatch range. I have driven this course and from the looks of it the views are going to be stunning and the course extremely enjoyable. What victory ranch offers that is unique is the Provo river running through it with world class trout fishing. No other course or community in the area can offer this amenity.

For the golf enthusiast Park City offers a total of 14 public and private courses each with their own unique characteristic. Whether you are a serious golfer, a golf/skier, golfer/fly fisher, or golfer/spa person, there is something for every taste. Come enjoy Park City in the summer, see how much father your ball flies in our thin mountain air and take advantage of the activities we have to offer.

Western Mountain Resorts

2009-06-25T16:33:00.000-06:00

This past week I hosted a conference for real estate agents of the western ski resort communities in Jackson Hole Wyoming. We had representatives from Sun Valley, Idaho, McCall, Idaho, Park City, Utah, Vail, Colorado, Breckenridge, Colorado, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Winter Park, Colorado, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Lake Tahoe, California. As president of the Western Mountain Resort Alliance my job among others was to moderate a panel discussion of all the resorts. Questions were asked of each representative about their current real estate markets, sales activity, prices, activity on new developments, and sales activity in their golf course communities.

While there were some striking differences between the resorts, the overall market activity was very similar. All of the resorts reported that sales numbers and dollar volume was down around 45-50% comparing this past ski season to the previous ski season. The big differences were apparent in average price and price per square foot in homes and condos sold. Vail grabbed everyone’s attention with new slope side condominium development’s selling for up to $2900 per square foot while Winter Park, CO said their new slope side development’s are selling for around $500 per square foot. Park City falls somewhere in the middle with new slope side development’s selling around a $1000 per square foot. However, Park City does show a penthouse condo in the Empire Pass area of Deer Valley under contract/pending at $1900 per square foot.

McCall, ID, home of Tamarack ski resort, reported that their prices have dropped low enough that nearly every property sold is receiving multiple offers. Several of the other resorts, particularly Breckenridge, are also experiencing a return of multiple offers being written for exceptional properties. Pretty much every resort is experiencing signs that the real estate market is turning for the better.

Near unanimous were the resorts reporting that home sales under $1.5 million and condo sales under $700,000 were the strongest parts of their market. Also unanimous was that vacant land sales were the weakest. The lack of land sales can be attributed to a lack of vacant land near the resorts and the unwillingness of lenders to make loans for undeveloped land.

We discussed at length how golf course communities were doing at each resort. Nearly unanimous was that vacant land and home sales in private golf course communities was extremely slow. Everyone felt that in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s too many golf course communities were developed and that there was just not enough demand for all the supply that came on the market. It appears to us that the resorts, in an effort to become a Four Seasons resort rather than just a winter resort, developed too many golf course communities. For instance, in the Vail area which encompasses an area from the Vail valley and continues west along I70 for about 70 miles there are now 13 golf courses and many of those are real estate communities also. That number got everyone’s attention until Park City announced that we now have 14 golf course communities in and around the immediate area. Jackson Hole only has 5 golf course communities. North Lake Tahoe has 4 golf course communities, all put in many years ago and now North Lake Tahoe is enforcing a moratorium on any new golf course communities. As a result the North Lake Tahoe communities have sold out of all developer product and re-sales are fairly strong. Perhaps the rest of the Western Resorts should pay attention to this lesson.

In final comments almost all of the representatives were optimistic that the increased activity we have seen in the last couple months will continue through the summer months and in to next year.

Has Summer Arrived?

2009-06-18T16:28:00.000-06:00

After 4 weeks of rain every single day, the sun came out this afternoon. Could this really be the start of summer? While the calendar tells us summer starts this weekend you never really know living in the mountains. But based on the calendar Park City begins the summer season this Friday. We will be kicking off the summer with a dinner and Jazz Festival on Main Street Friday night. This is knows as “Savor the Summit” where we close Main Street to traffic and put tables end to end from the top of Main to the bottom of Main. Our local restaurants all participate with a special menu to serve. And several Jazz bands will be performing along Main Street while people dine. This is a great event and really gets everyone going!

Next week on Wednesday the free concerts begin at Deer Valley Resort. These occur every Wednesday through August and have become the social event of the week. Everyone gets lawn seating, brings their favorite beverage, dinner and music is def secondary to the party.

In real estate happenings May was a very strong month for sales (considering the economy) with the number of contracts written surpassing July, 2008. This was really good news and hopefully a start to a solid recovery of our real estate market. June typically begins the home selling season as most people prefer to wait until school is out to move their families. Right now buyers have an excellent selection of homes to choose from in all price ranges and when combined with the historically low interest rates, I am optimistic that the home buying season will be good. Historically resort condo sales do not pick up again until about August, when the approaching ski season rekindles interest. We should start to see interest in golf course property now that summer has arrived and with the competition among all of the golf course communities there are some opportunities that we may not see again for a long time (more on the golf courses next week).

Rain Rain Go Away

2009-06-11T14:36:00.001-06:00

This has been the wettest June on record, 10 out of 11 days this month have seen rain. On the positive side, I have never seen the mountains so green and lush, the reservoirs are full and the fire danger is extremely low. This all bodes well for the upcoming hot months of July and August. Fortunately, the snow level has been above 10,000 feet so we have not had to deal with snow.

In real estate news, the market turn around that I first noticed in March, continued through April and really picked up some steam in May. Beginning last September we experienced a steadily declining number of sales here in Park City. March saw the first significant increase in both closed sales and the number of pending contracts written. As an example: in February 2009 the Park City Board reported 42 pended transactions. In March that number jumped to 70, increased again in April to 83, and in May the Park City Board reported 98 pended contracts. The same held true for closed transactions. In February there were 50 closed transactions, in March there were 63, April saw 60 closed transactions, and May jumped up to 73 closed transactions. This is particularly interesting because April and May tend to be very slow months with fewer sales than the traditional busy ski season months (December-March).

What does this mean? Anybody’s guess at this point. Is this a beginning to the recovery? Or is it just a false spike brought on by low prices and low interest rates? Only time will tell at this point, but here in Park City we are experiencing more optimism then we have for quite some time.
This Sunday the “Park Silly” market held on lower Main Street begins its summer season. This is an eco-friendly market featuring artists, crafts, music, locally grown produce and food booths from local chefs. There is always a lot of fun energy and it is a great way to end your week. Don’t worry, the sun will come out and it will warm up so plan a vacation to Park City and experience summertime in the mountains.

New Developments

2009-06-05T14:21:00.002-06:00

The weather this first week of June is cool and rainy with a forecast of snow for this weekend, which is pretty typical this time of year. However, the last two weeks of June are historically the driest two weeks of the year, so we eagerly await the expected precipitation this weekend.
The past year has seen a flurry of activity at the ski resorts with new condominium project developments. In the Empire Pass area of Deer Valley a new condominium project called Flagstaff is well under way with an expected completion date of late fall /early winter 2009. Flagstaff offers 3 and 4 bedroom condos with direct ski in/out access and ranges in price from $3,300,000 for a 3 bedroom to $6,000,000 for a 4 bedroom penthouse unit. Flagstaff is a part of The Talisker Club which offers a “members only” lounge on the mountain at Deer Valley Resort as well as access to the Mark O’Meara designed Tuhaye golf course which includes a clubhouse with a restaurant, spa and pool.

At The Canyons Resort several new condo projects are under construction or nearing completion also. Most noteworthy is The Dakota Mountain Lodge which features the Golden Door Spa which will be managed by the Waldorf-Astoria chain. With Talisker Corporation (the developer of Tuhaye Golf Course and the Empire Pass developments at Deer Valley) recently taking ownership at The Canyons resort and the addition of the Golden Door Spa and Waldorf-Astoria, it appears that The Canyons Resort will rightfully claim a spot as our 3rd world class destination resort.

In addition to Dakota Mountain Lodge other new projects at The Canyons are Sunrise @ Escala which features 1-2 bedroom condos starting at $695,000 and Juniper Landing which features 2-3 bedroom condos starting at $825,000. These condominium developments are all located in a new village just below the base area of the resort and will be connected to the ski area with a new chairlift that will be under construction this summer. Also planned for this development is a resort golf course that will wind among the condominium developments.

Park City is continuing to grow and prosper and this would be a terrific summer to come out and see what is new here to get a feel for where we are heading. It will not be long before the resorts are completely built out and the only properties available will be re-sale properties.

Memorial Weekend

2009-05-28T10:40:00.001-06:00

While the Memorial Day weekend is the traditional start of summer throughout the country, Park City and other Rocky Mountain Ski Resorts have some time yet before summer really begins. Summer really begins in the mountains around the middle of June at which time we rarely see anymore snow, until fall. As is very typical more Park City residents left town over the weekend for warmer locations than visitors arrived.

Much of the Memorial weekend was cool and rainy (no snow!) but Memorial Day turned out to be quite pleasant. This week temperatures are near 70 degrees with only a few puffy clouds around, a great time to get outdoors and enjoy the mountains. While temperatures in the upper 60’s to low 70’s does not sound particularly warm at an elevation of 7000 feet and thin air the intensity of the sun is much more than at sea level. In June and July, when temperatures are consistently in the 80’s and even approaching 90, the intensity of the sun makes it surprisingly hot. Fortunately, even during these “hot” months the nighttime temperatures drop into the 50’s to make sleeping very pleasant. No air conditioners needed.

Summer concerts and other outdoor events will start about the middle of June and that is our official start of summer. By the middle of June all of our local restaurants have reopened and the town is bustling with visitors and activities. This is the perfect time to visit the mountains.

On the economic side while our country is certainly not out of the woods yet, each day I hear some positive news. This was not the case 2 months ago when everything from the news emphasized how bad the economy was and little hope for a quick recovery. Whether or not you agree with the approach that President Obama has taken, his aggressive action appears to be turning the tide, at least in the short term. This appears to have translated to buyer confidence which has translated to an increase in purchase contracts being written. This morning’s news was that home sales across the country increased in April 2009. This is the first time that home sales have shown an increase for quite a long time. Many real estate analysts are coming out and saying that while there will still be area’s that are slow to recover, the U.S. Real Estate market may have bottomed out. Time will tell but it sure feels like that here in Park City.

The Bell is Ringing

2009-05-20T14:05:00.001-06:00

For the past couple of months I have been talking about how this is the time to be purchasing resort real estate (you are probably getting tired of hearing this from me). However, for those of you who are waiting for a bell to ring to signal the right time, the bell is ringing loud and clear. Now just what makes me say this??? Springtime in the mountain resorts is typically a very slow time of the year. But for the last few weeks I have seen the number of sales increasing each week, which is contrary to the spring buying season. I have observed that the bargain hunters have moved from a “watch and wait” position to a “buy” position. This past week was particularly striking as the sales numbers for our office for the past week totaled over $21,000,000 in sales. This is reminiscent of the good ole’ days of 2005 and 2006. When investors and bargain hunters move to a buy position they are sending a strong signal that if we are not at the bottom of the market we are so close that now is the time. Copy and paste this link in your web browser to view the number of pended sales in Park City from July 2008-April 2009: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhanlon532/3548952415/.

Last weekend was the warmest weekend of the year so far with temperatures approaching 80 degrees. All of the outdoor enthusiasts were outside biking, hiking and playing golf. With the first warm weather of the spring the aspens suddenly leap out with their bright green and fresh leaves, it is a truly a magical time of year to watch the hills go from brown to green in just two days. Right now the aspens have leaped out to an elevation of 8000 feet with the higher elevation aspens still covered in snow. It will be another few weeks for these higher elevation aspens to leap out.

This weekend is the memorial holiday and all of the local pools open and it will be a time when parkites fire up the bbq’s and enjoy the warm days of spring. Happy Memorial Weekend!

Spring, Finally!

2009-05-15T11:40:00.002-06:00

Even though we still get some cold nights and occasional snow storms spring has arrived. The days are noticeably warmer and everyone is out and about. Driving around town I am seeing mountain bikers, road bikers, tennis courts are full and golf courses are busy. Afternoon BBQ’s are back in and people are out just generally enjoying the sunshine.

The economic news these days while still quite mixed seems to be more positive than negative. Every day we are hearing more stories and outlooks that reflect a positive attitude and a hint of recovery from the recession. I recently ran some numbers comparing January-April for the past 3 years and after steadily declining numbers this March actually showed an upturn for the first time. Click here to view graph http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhanlon532/3533334599/.

This is encouraging as it is the first time since 2006 that we have seen any increase. These numbers confirm what many brokers here in town have been feeling. The general consensus is that the signs are showing that we may be nearing the bottom of the market. Historically low interest rates combined with low home prices and an abundance of properties to choose from is giving the savvy buyer opportunities that rarely occur in the resort real estate market. In speaking with agents from the other western resorts of Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho they echo the same feelings.

With the summer calendar full of activities, great concerts and festivals, plan now to spend some time in the mountains. Come visit and experience the clean mountain air, cool nights and gorgeous scenery!

QTR

2009-05-08T11:20:00.001-06:00

Last week I attended a presentation where the topic was “Quality Time Remaining”. The thought behind this is that all too often we put off doing something or purchasing something that we really want and suddenly it becomes too late to enjoy it. This is particularly true in real estate and even more so in resort real estate. As our families grow and our children go on with their own lives, we often think about that vacation property where our families can gather and enjoy each other’s company again. However, it is so easy to say, “Now is just not the right time” or perhaps, “prices will be lower next year” or “the perfect property will come along in the next few years”. While we wait for that perfect opportunity or perfect property to come along we have lost the time with our family and loved ones that can never be recaptured. We all know that we only have so much time to really enjoy our lives and what value can we place on this?

Many of my clients have come to realize just how important this is as they spend more and more time enjoying their vacation home in park city with family and friends. Frequently my clients tell me that while they had only intended to use their vacation property occasionally during the ski season they end up spending quite a lot of time during the summer months as well. When deciding if now is the right time for you to purchase your vacation home or even go on a vacation, remember QTR and take advantage of it.

Shoulder Season in the Mountains

2009-05-01T17:03:00.003-06:00

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!

End of Season

2009-04-14T14:42:00.002-06:00

Now that another ski season has ended it is a good time to reflect back on the past 4 months, and what an interesting time it was! Let’s first start with the easy part, the ski season. November was warm and dry. Everyone was quite nervous as December approached and there was very little snow on the ground. The early part of December wasn’t much better but at least it turned cold and snow makers were able to work their magic and the resorts opened on time.

Fortunately, about a week before the start of the Christmas holidays it started snowing and we were able to open up most of the mountain with excellent ski conditions. As seems to be the norm for the past few years, the Christmas Holidays saw a continuous stream of storms roll through, the strongest on Christmas Day when 2 feet of snow fell. Needless to say, the skiing for the Christmas-New Years week was fantastic, with visitors enjoying all the new snow and a few sunny days. January, February and March were a nice mix of warm sunny dry spells and snowy periods. The last two weeks of March and beginning of April seemed like one continuous snow storm with over 8 feet of snow here at Deer Valley.

With the economic melt down in the U.S., the excellent ski conditions saved the season. While final numbers have yet to be tallied, preliminary reports from Deer Valley are that they will end up with similar numbers to the 2006/2007 ski season. The property management companies (who definitely struggled this past year) are also saying that their numbers are similar to the Deer Valleys skier days. While property management companies are reporting about a 30% decrease in revenue from last year, the actual number of visitors staying in their properties was only down 8% and up 8% from the previous year. One result of the lagging economy was that while visitors still came to Park City, they tended to stay fewer days and spend less money while they were here. Restaurants in town are reporting similar numbers to the lodging companies, which is their revenue is down 20 to 30% from the last year. Taken as a whole, I look at these numbers in a very positive light. I spoke to a lot of skiers who were here for the first time, and were very impressed with what we have to offer, and said that they would definitely return. Along with the new visitors, our past guests continue to come back although they were more frugal this year. If we can show these kinds of numbers during a strong recession I feel that the future of Park City/Deer Valley is very bright.

Now for the tough part….the real estate market. From late fall through late winter it seemed that anyone who had an interest in purchasing real estate all said the same thing, “I’m in no hurry and I think the market is going lower, ill just wait”. Around the middle of March it seemed like we may have come close to the bottom of the market and buyers started buying again. Beginning in the middle of March and continuing through today, everyone has noticed an increase in activity and contracts written. Properties are being purchased all across the board from the very low end to multi-million dollar ski homes. Looking through our rose colored glasses we are seeing signs that consumer confidence is returning and that investors are feeling that this is the right time to buy. Interestingly, this morning I saw an interview with Donald Trump who could not stop saying that this was the best time to be buying real estate in the U.S. and that he was buying as much as he could. Over and over again he stressed that for anybody that could “Now is the time to buy real estate.” Other investors that I speak with have echoed the same sentiment.

Now that the ski areas are closed, this is a great time to take a deep breath and get ready for what we hope to be a busy summer!

Is Now The Time To Buy???

2009-04-07T14:28:00.003-06:00

As a long time REALTOR® in a destination resort, wherever I go around town residents and visitors always want to know what’s going on with the local real estate market. Residents are always interested to know if their property values are going up or down while visitors wonder if this is the right time to purchase. For this discussion let’s concentrate on the 2nd Home/Vacation Home buyer.

In a recent NAR survey of 2nd home buyers they reported that the number of 2nd homes/vacation homes purchased in the United States was down 30% for 2008. While this seems shocking at first it is not surprising. 2008, particularly the latter half, was a very stressful time for most Americans and a 2nd home/vacation home purchase was not a necessity. These purchases were put on the back burner. While not having seen any hard numbers for the first quarter of 2009, my observations are that the first quarter of 2009 numbers will be very similar to the numbers for the last quarter of 2008. During the first quarter of 2009 buyers were inquiring about vacation properties but were understandably nervous and not ready to pull the trigger. We have just begun the 2nd quarter and it appears that buyers are now feeling a little bit more confident and are once again purchasing. My guess is that a combination of the following factors has come in to play: Along with a drop in the number of home sales came a drop in home prices, interest rates are at an all time low and the stock market seems to be calming down.

While the stock market has certainly not settled on a particular direction the wild roller coaster fluctuations of last fall seem to have evened out. Lower prices combined with low interest rates seem to be attracting buyers who are fearful of loosing out on a terrific opportunity to invest in a resort vacation home. Many buyers remember 2003, which was the low point for the market after the 911 terrorist attacks and the Gulf Wars. Many buyers sat on the sidelines in 2003 not sure if it was the right time to purchase and then watched the markets escalate through 2006. Is this a repeat of 2003-2006? While no one can say for certain, I do feel confident in saying that this window of opportunity will end and there will be buyers looking from the wrong side of the window.

The past few weeks here in Park City I have seen a pronounced increase in interest and contracts written. What is very telling is that well priced properties are receiving multiple offers. This is telling in that buyers are out there and ready to purchase but only for homes they perceive to be an exceptional deal. This is not the time for sellers to test the market. If sellers are serious about selling, their property must be perceived as a “deal” not just competitively priced.

So, is this the right time to buy a resort vacation home? That is certainly an individual decision but the stars may be lining up to make now an opportunity that we may be wistfully looking back to.

Springtime

2009-03-24T15:34:00.005-06:00

Spring has often been described as a battle between winter and summer. No where is this more true than here in the mountains. Last Saturday was a picture perfect day with record high temperatures in the 60’s and yesterday we received 28 inches of new snow at Alta. Spring is the time of the year where one day you are skiing in a turtleneck and windbreaker and the next day hat, goggles and full winter gear. This is what makes spring skiing so fun.

For the past year I have been saying that we may be looking back to this time as the opportunity to have purchased resort real estate at bargain prices. With the stock market slowly heading upward for the past two weeks and news reports that new housing starts were up in Feb and sales of existing homes were very strong, this prophecy may be becoming true. While it certainly continues to be a buyers market here in Park City as well as the other western ski resorts, I have definitely seen an increase in activity. Here in Park City I have seen the number of contracts written and accepted slowly increase. I have also been receiving calls much more frequently to show my listings and for information regarding them. While we certainly have not turned the corner to becoming a sellers market, we very well may be nearing the bottom of this buyers market. One of the signs that we may be nearing the bottom is that I am seeing a large increase in purchases by investors. These investors have been sitting on the side lines waiting for the right moment and their move tells me that this is the right time to purchase. Time will tell. But with the extremely low interest rates, a good selection of properties on the market, and sellers willing to negotiate, we could be looking back to this spring and saying “Why didn’t I purchase then?”

All three of the park city ski resorts, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons are scheduled to close on April 12th. With just 2 and ½ weeks left to our ski season come out visit us and take advantage of these days.

Spring Skiing in Park City

2009-03-18T10:46:00.002-06:00

This is the time of the year that we change over from the cold winter snow conditions to spring skiing. The joys of spring skiing are skiing corn snow and spending the afternoons on “the beach” at Deer Valley. Click here for fun photos.

We are all familiar with the typical star-shaped snowflake that falls, for which Utah is so famous for. However, come spring the snow going through constant melt-freeze cycles and changes to what is referred to as “corn snow”. The snow crystal melts during the day, refreezes at night, melts again the next day and freezes once again. After several cycles of this, the snow has lost its crystal shape and resembles more that of a grain of corn. Very sought after skiing occurs just as the surface starts to soften and has about an inch or two of soft snow over a firm base. The skiing in these conditions is smooth, consistent and completely delightful. Experienced spring skiers know to go to the east or south exposures first thing in the morning where the snow softens first, and then work their way around to the west, and finally the north exposures as daytime heating progresses. All too often I talk to visitors who do not understand the sun and its effect on the snow and try to ski north or west exposures first thing in the morning, which can be rock hard and very unpleasant. When spring skiing, look for the sun first thing or follow the locals, who know where to go, and you will find your day extremely enjoyable.

In real estate news, a concern that everyone is hearing is the ability, or non-ability to obtain financing for vacation properties. While financing is certainly not as easy as it was a few years ago, financing is available. In the past few years stated income, non-verification loans where easy to obtain. And it is largely responsible for creating the financial mess that we are in right now. As is typical, the pendulum has now swung strongly the other direction where lenders require verification of everything. When financing a resort property, particularly a condo or condo-hotel, I feel that it is imperative to use a local lender. One who knows the property and knows how to package the loan in such a way that the underwriters will fund it. Too many times I have seen buyers search the internet for what they think is the best rate, or use a lender in their home town. Experience has taught me that these loans rarely go through. One of the first questions an out-of-state lender asks is, “What percentage of the condo development is non-owner occupied?” In a resort town, such as Park City, the answer is frequently, “Nearly 100% of the properties are non-owner occupied.” This will often kill any possibility of the lender funding the loan. Local lenders understand that these wholly owned condos are used by their owners for vacations and know how to package this so that the underwriter is comfortable with the loan. Frequently, experienced Realtors® will ask the buyer’s agent who the buyer is using for their loan. If the property being purchased is a condominium which is used for vacation rentals, it is not uncommon for the listing agent to require that the buyer submit a loan application with a local lender as well as their out of state lender. What we are trying to accomplish here is to increase the sellers confidence that the loan will go through. So my advice when purchasing resort real estate is to rely on your Realtor® for advice on financing. Our local lenders know how to work with out-of-state buyers and the peculiarities of resort property. This helps make the loan process as smooth and painless as possible.

Questions a Buyer Should Ask

2009-03-13T15:10:00.002-06:00

Very often when I am showing property to buyers who have never purchased in a resort community before, I am asked a very interesting question. “What questions should we (the buyers) be asking you, our agent?” This is a terrific question and one that should be asked of a buyer’s agent more often. This begins a dialogue between the buyers and myself. Questions that need to be brought up in the beginning are:

“If we are looking to rent this property when we are not using it, is the area that we are looking in suitable for that? Or should we be looking in other places?”

“Do the neighborhood covenants (CC&Rs) allow for vacation rentals? Or do they have restrictions as to the minimum number of days a rental has to be, such as 30, 60 or 90 days?”

“If I am not looking to rent my property, is the neighborhood that I’m looking in popular with vacation rentals, and possibly very noisy with groups who are here on vacation?”

I feel that these are the first and most important questions that need to be asked right away as they will dictate what areas or neighborhoods that I take my buyers to. In any resort community there are areas that are high in demand for rentals and other areas that are more suitable for primary residences.

Once this has been established, then we can get into more specifics. When we find an area or development that is of interest (assuming we are looking at a rental property) questions such as:

“What is the proximity of this property to the resort?”

“Can there be other developments nearby that could affect the views, resort access or rent ability of this project?”

These are really very important questions, as all too often a buyer purchases a home or condo with beautiful views of a ski resort or beach only to find that a new development goes in next to it, completely blocking their view! Other developments, such as new or planned commercial developments could have a negative effect on property values or, in some cases, may have a positive effect.

Another great question to ask is if the property you are interested in is not within walking distance of the resort:

“Is there public transportation?”

“How close is the transportation to your vacation home?” “Is there a fee for this transportation?”

And “What are the hours of operation?”

The availability of free or low- cost transportation can have a strong impact on the rent ability of your vacation property.

Now we start getting into more details:

“What size property is best for rental? A one bedroom, two bedroom or three or more bedrooms?”

“Should I be looking for a property with amenities, such as pool or tennis courts?”
“Should I be looking for a property with a private hot tub?” (This is a big plus in ski resort rentals.)

“Should I be looking for a property within walking distance of the resort or restaurants and shopping of the town?”

“In this particular resort are newer properties more desirable than older?”

The answer to many of these questions comes with a price tag. In almost all cases, the closer your vacation home is to the resort, whether be it the beach, mountain, lake or village, the higher the price is. More often newer properties also come with a higher price tag. So finding a balance between what price range your comfort zone is and what makes the most sense for rental income is a discussion that you and your REALTOR® should have early on in your search.

Asking these questions up front will save you a lot of time and frustration. The worse thing that can happen is to be looking for properties, find what you feel is absolutely perfect, only to discover that the CC&Rs will not allow you to rent, or that its location greatly limits your rental income potential. While you may not know the resort or what is available at what prices, you should know your objectives and make sure that you and your REALTOR® are on the same page. With these questions, your time with your REALTOR® will be productive and efficient and you will find a property that best fits your and your family’s requirements.

Culinary Adventures in Park City

2009-03-02T15:30:00.003-07:00

Last night I joined some clients for dinner at the Viking Yurt at The Canyons. For anyone visiting Park City during the ski season, the Viking Yurt dinner should be high on their list of places to go.

The meal begins with a sleigh ride from the base of The Canyons resort to mid-mountain at about 8,300 feet in elevation. The sleigh holds about 30 people and is pulled up the mountain by a Snow Cat. This in itself is quite enjoyable, cruising up the ski runs after dark, enjoying the lights from the town below. After about a 2- minute sleigh ride we arrive at the Viking Yurt. The Yurt is a round, tent-like structure, with wooden support beams, a pot-bellied stove for heating and a small kitchen. The Yurt has no electricity or running water, so it is lit by gas lanterns and the meal is brought up by Snow Cat during the evening. Coming in from the cold to the warm Yurt, we are warmly greeted by the hostess, who presents us with a steaming mug of hot grog. There are 4 tables in the Yurt, each seating around 10 people. So unless you have a large group, you will enjoy your meal with soon-to-be new friends. As most are visitors from around the country, conversation is lively and topics range from the day’s skiing to current events. We are treated to a 4 course dinner and the meal is always extraordinary, and last night was no exception. At the end of the meal, and several bottles of wine, we board the sleigh for a beautiful trip down the mountain to the base. This is such a different and relaxing way of dining, a far cry from the hustle and noise of Main Street.

Another dining experience not to be missed is the Fireside Dining at the Empire Lodge at Deer Valley. The Empire Lodge is located at about 8,500 feet up on the mountain, but is accessible by car. The Empire Lodge, which is one of Deer Valley’s Day Lodges, is transformed from the day cafeteria style meal to this fine dining experience. The Empire Lodge boasts five very large stone fireplaces and all of the meals are prepared at the fire places, thus the name “Fireside Dining”. The first station is Swiss Raclette. For this several large bricks of cheese are hung by hooks in front of the fire. The heat of the fire melts the cheese and it drips onto plates, which the quests will then pick up and add to it all of the condiments one would expect for raclette. The second station is hearty stews and soups. Here, several large cast iron pots are hung from the fire with a variety of delicious soups and stews. At the third station, a leg of lamb is hung in front of the fire and slowly spun to cook evenly and deliciously. The fourth and final station is my personal favorite…dessert of course. Here we have several fondues, chocolate, white chocolate and caramel with a variety of fruits and Deer Valley cookies. During the dinner your group can take a short break and go for about a 20 minute horse drawn sleigh ride around the base area and some of the ski runs. On a snowy night this will be a memorable experience.

Other adventures around Park City include early morning hot air balloon rides, snowmobile tours in the back country, and cross country skiing or snowshoe trips in either the Park City Mountains or the surrounding Uinta Mountains. These can either be guided, or for the adventurous, you can strike off on your own. Being a true destination resort, we understand that not everyone comes to ski, or wants to ski everyday. The days are getting longer, the sun is higher in the sky, so plan your trip to Park City. But leave time to try something different.

Spring is in the Air

2009-02-26T13:21:00.001-07:00

This last week of February has certainly felt like spring is just around the corner. Temperatures have been in the mid forties and grass is beginning to show on the more exposed areas of town. However, I have lived here long enough to know that the snow is not done. March tends to be a very snowy month, intermixed with warm sunny days. A perfect combination for great skiing.
Thoughts on the real estate market… These are very interesting times as prices are low, inventory is up and seller’s are looking to sell. One would think with these combinations that sales would be strong as buyers would take advantage of their strong position. However, just the opposite seems to be true in that everyone seems to be waiting. I definitely understand that there is a lot on uncertainty and nervousness, but there may never be a better opportunity to make money in resort real estate than there is right now. Interest rates are extremely low but everyone I speak to expects interest rates to start creeping up this summer. While the timing of this buyers market is certainly not the best for some buyers, for others it may present an opportunity that we may not see again for many years.
If nothing else, come and take advantage of great skiing with few crowds. Unheard of during the ski season, several Park City restaurants are offering two-for-one coupons for dinner and lodging companies are offering deals on accommodations. These are normally only found during the off months of May through October. And remember that you can ski free the day you arrive. Go to my website for details. http://www.dennishanlon.com/.
While I would refer to this as an average snow season, we still have a base of nearly 100 inches, most resorts in the country would refer to a season like we are having as epic. So come out, take advantage of the many deals that are being offered in town, and enjoy spring skiing at its finest.

Presidents Week in Deer Valley

2009-02-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

We are in the middle of Presidents Week in Deer Valley. And while busy, it feels a little slower than normal. Some of this may be attributed to the stormy weather that we have been receiving. We have received between 3-4 feet of snow since Saturday with a couple of sunny day breaks in between. Skiing is incredible. I went out both yesterday and today and when I came back yesterday I announced that it was “the best day of the year”. However, I was wrong. Today is the best day of the year. We woke up yesterday morning to a foot of new snow and then received another foot during the day yesterday and this morning. Some of the resorts here in the Wasatch received over 2 feet of snow yesterday for a storm total of over 3 feet. With 2-3 feet of new snow over the last 48 hours, you can only imagine what the skiing is like. The powder was knee deep here at Deer Valley today and as I classify it, “soft on soft”. What I mean by this is when new snow falls over freshly fallen snow you do not feet the harder snow down deep. All you are skiing on is soft, creamy powder.
As is expected, inquiries into real estate have picked up this week. But not as much as in past years. Buyers are here and they are looking. But no one seems to be in any hurry. Everyone is hoping that the efforts of our new President and government will install some confidence that things will turn around in the near future. Time will tell. In the meantime, come out and ski and enjoy an incredible time here in Park City. The long range forecast is for regular storms through the middle of March.