June 14 In Park City

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

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

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

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.

Middle of May in the Mountains

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.

Food and Wine Part II

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.

Annual Restaurant Review

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.