While November has been uncharacteristically warm and dry, the weather finally turned cold last week, and all of the resorts are making snow. Snowmaking has been going on continuously since Tuesday, November 20, with Park City and the Canyons having opened last weekend. The forecast is for several small snowstorms to come through this week and continued quite cold. The cold weather is allowing the resorts to open more runs every few days. Snowbird and Alta have scheduled their opening for Friday, November 30.
All of the resorts are gearing up for the winter season with the new lift at Deer Valley fully operational and just waiting for Mother Nature’s cooperation. The Village at Empire Pass is looking very good with three condominium buildings completed and sold out, another under construction with a scheduled completion of next summer, and another having just broken ground. The homes and townhouses are mostly completed. This will be the first full season with this much completed and the members-only Tower Club open, which will give the Village the feel of a wonderful ski community. Bookings for this coming ski season are strong, particularly for all the holiday seasons, and we are all looking forward to a great ski season.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Thanksgiving Week in Park City
It is Thanksgiving week in Park City, the ski resorts are ready to open and all we need is snow. After a very wet September and October, November has been uncharacteristically dry and warm. However the forecast is for colder and snowy weather for the next couple of weeks. If this holds true, most of the resorts will be able to open by this weekend. Thanksgiving week in Park City is traditionally not overly busy. While many years we have excellent skiing, it is always chancy and most people are not planning a ski vacation this early.
I just came back from a National Real Estate convention in Las Vegas where I attended several meetings and classes dealing specifically with resort real estate. In talking with many of my resort colleagues around the country, it was quickly apparent that the Rocky Mountain resorts continue to be the shining star in the real estate market. The northeast and Atlantic coast areas seem to be the hardest hit by the real estate slowdown. Of interest were the resorts in Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, where business is booming. They report that their sales numbers are up 30% over last year in both number of units sold and average sales price. In talking with other resort realtors, it became apparent that the doom and gloom reports in all the news media is more sensationalism than fact. While there certainly are markets that are struggling right now, the majority of the real estate markets in the US are doing just fine.
I just came back from a National Real Estate convention in Las Vegas where I attended several meetings and classes dealing specifically with resort real estate. In talking with many of my resort colleagues around the country, it was quickly apparent that the Rocky Mountain resorts continue to be the shining star in the real estate market. The northeast and Atlantic coast areas seem to be the hardest hit by the real estate slowdown. Of interest were the resorts in Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, where business is booming. They report that their sales numbers are up 30% over last year in both number of units sold and average sales price. In talking with other resort realtors, it became apparent that the doom and gloom reports in all the news media is more sensationalism than fact. While there certainly are markets that are struggling right now, the majority of the real estate markets in the US are doing just fine.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Blowing Snow
All the resorts are getting ready to open! Here is a photo of Bald Mountain at Deer Valley Resort making snow this morning.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Big News at the Canyons!
The headline news this past week is that the disputed sale of the Canyons resort to either Vail or Talisker is closer to being resolved. Both Talisker Corporation and Vail have been battling each other all summer for the rights to purchase the Canyons resort. Earlier in the summer, Talisker had announced that it had reached a deal with American Ski Corp., the current owner of the canyons to purchase the resort for $100 million. Immediately after this announcement, Vail resorts claimed that they had rights to purchase the resort and filed a motion in federal court in Denver to block the sale of the resort to Talisker. At the end of October, after hearing arguments from both sides, the federal court ruled that Vail had lost out in a fair, competitive bidding situation, and that the court would not block the sale of the Canyons resort to Talisker Corp. While there still are some hurdles to overcome, this was a significant step for Talisker to proceed with the purchase. Talisker is hoping to complete the purchase before the end of this year.
As a result, savvy investors are looking to properties at the Canyons resort, either the new developments at the base or vacant land in the Colony, as an excellent investment opportunity. With the federal reserve having cut interest rates again, and the overall real estate market slower than in the past years, this appears to be an excellent time to invest in Park City.
As a result, savvy investors are looking to properties at the Canyons resort, either the new developments at the base or vacant land in the Colony, as an excellent investment opportunity. With the federal reserve having cut interest rates again, and the overall real estate market slower than in the past years, this appears to be an excellent time to invest in Park City.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Ski Season
For the fifth weekend in a row it was a stormy and snowy Saturday. Park City and Deer Valley received another 4 inches of snow, with Alta and Snowbird receiving about 18 inches. Needless to say, the new snow has increased the excitement around town and we are all hoping that this is a sign of a cold and snowy winter.
In real estate, we are experiencing a spike in activity which I expect is being brought on by the early snowfall. It appears that many buyers are taking advantage of the low interest rates and stable prices to pick up a rental ski condo for this season. With rental companies reporting very strong pre-season bookings, buyers have seen that this is a great time to purchase and receive the benefits of a strong rental season. While it’s getting late in the year, a few people are still picking up older condos in original condition to remodel for this year. While becoming fewer and fewer, the older condos around the Park City resort continue to be excellent buys as the remodeled prices continue to attract higher and higher resale values.
It is looking like it is going to be a fabulous ski season, so plan your vacation to Park City, Deer Valley now, before everything is booked!
In real estate, we are experiencing a spike in activity which I expect is being brought on by the early snowfall. It appears that many buyers are taking advantage of the low interest rates and stable prices to pick up a rental ski condo for this season. With rental companies reporting very strong pre-season bookings, buyers have seen that this is a great time to purchase and receive the benefits of a strong rental season. While it’s getting late in the year, a few people are still picking up older condos in original condition to remodel for this year. While becoming fewer and fewer, the older condos around the Park City resort continue to be excellent buys as the remodeled prices continue to attract higher and higher resale values.
It is looking like it is going to be a fabulous ski season, so plan your vacation to Park City, Deer Valley now, before everything is booked!
Monday, October 8, 2007
More Snow
We seem to be settling into a wonderful pattern of storms every few days. Saturday was cold and several inches of snow fell. The mountains are very white with crystal blue sky and the fall colors are at their peak. What a wonderful time of the year to be in the mountains!
In speaking with my friends in the other Rocky Mountain resorts, it appears that resort real estate is definitely not following the national trend. The resorts of Whistler, Jackson Hole, Steamboat Springs, Vail and Aspen are all showing an increase in number of sales, dollar volume, and sold price for this year. Resorts such as Park City, Telluride, and Sun Valley are showing sales volume either even with or very slightly down from last year, but dollar volume is up and sold prices are up. This verifies what we’ve known for quite some time, that the resort real estate market is very different from typical residential real estate. As our mountain towns have a very limited supply of land available for development, the amount of property we have for sale is limited. By supply and demand, if the demand continues to be strong (which it is), and our supply is limited (which it is), then the markets hold strong or continue to increase. While we know that no real estate market is immune to up and down trends, the resort markets seem to be steadier.
Right now we are seeing a flurry of activity as buyers are looking to purchase a rental property for the ski season. All of the property management companies tell me that their bookings are significantly up for this year, and buyers are looking to cash in. This is the perfect time to come out and look for property, before the busy ski season, when you can actually get into all of the units that are for sale, have choices of property to purchase, and find sellers who are more negotiable now than during the height of the income-producing season.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Fall Colors
What a weekend! Snow all day Saturday gave way to crystal blue skies on Sunday. The combination of dark blue sky, white mountaintops, the gold aspens and red maples made Sunday one of the prettiest days of the year. It seemed that the whole town was out hiking or biking on the trails. We have been receiving regular snowstorms this fall with more snow forecast for tonight and later this week. The high peaks are very white, and it looks like the snow is here for the year. This is creating a lot of excitement in town, and an added urgency for the ski resorts to finish up their projects. The new Lady Morgan Express Lift at Deer Valley is taking shape and looks like it will offer some excellent intermediate and advanced skiing. Everyone is talking about the new terrain and we are all eager to get up and explore it.
In real estate news, the new Empire Pass development at Deer Valley continues to be the shining star. The Grand Lodge at the base of the Northside Lift is completed and the wait was worthwhile as it is a beautiful building with the best ski access. There are a couple of resale opportunities in the Grand Lodge on the ski slope level with views up the mountain. New at the base of the Empire Lift, work is underway at a feverish pace for the new Montage Resort Spa. This is going to be a very high-end boutique hotel with over 30,000 square feet of spa area. While it is currently under construction, we do not anticipate that sales of the units to begin until the hotel is nearer to completion, in about two years.
In the Village at Empire, the Silver Strike building is nearing completion with about 12 units available. The new Flagstaff condominium building has just started construction with expected release of units in December. Construction has also begun on the new pool at the Talisker Tower Club.
Along with the spectacular colors and early season snows, there is a lot of excitement going on at the resorts and this is a wonderful time of year to come and see what’s going on!
In real estate news, the new Empire Pass development at Deer Valley continues to be the shining star. The Grand Lodge at the base of the Northside Lift is completed and the wait was worthwhile as it is a beautiful building with the best ski access. There are a couple of resale opportunities in the Grand Lodge on the ski slope level with views up the mountain. New at the base of the Empire Lift, work is underway at a feverish pace for the new Montage Resort Spa. This is going to be a very high-end boutique hotel with over 30,000 square feet of spa area. While it is currently under construction, we do not anticipate that sales of the units to begin until the hotel is nearer to completion, in about two years.
In the Village at Empire, the Silver Strike building is nearing completion with about 12 units available. The new Flagstaff condominium building has just started construction with expected release of units in December. Construction has also begun on the new pool at the Talisker Tower Club.
Along with the spectacular colors and early season snows, there is a lot of excitement going on at the resorts and this is a wonderful time of year to come and see what’s going on!
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