New census estimates shows that Utah has the youngest population in the country.  This bodes well for the real estate industry because of the demand for housing this growing population will require.

          Census figures show that nearly one third of Utah’s population is under the age of 18, and one tenth is under age 5.  The facts that Utah has a large population of women in childbearing years, and that they have more children than average, result in a younger total population.

          University of Utah research economist Pam Perlich also adds that the State of Utah’s economy has been strong in recent years, usually ranking in the top ten percent nationally.  This means that more jobs are available keeping the young people in State and even attracting younger families to Utah for jobs that are available.

          A young population and strong economy also supports the State’s largest industry……tourism and recreation.  This brings us to the long-term benefits that a growing population, strong economy, and growing dependence on tourism and recreation have on the strength of the real estate market in the Utah resort areas, and specifically Park City.

          For now, Park City’s future growth may be dependent on the continued success of the Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, and The Canyons ski areas, but Park City has other reasons to attract home buyers.  Among these are: a hospital set to open in 2009 that will attract new professionals, the new home of the U. S. Ski and Snowboard Association, more than 1500 registered business, 250 retail stores, a new high school building, and the proximity to Salt Lake City and an international airport.

          For current market information on vacation homes or investment properties in the Park City area, use the “Contact Us” button on the top of the web page.  You can expect a response within hours from one of the http://www.youinparkcity.com/  real estate experts.    

Submitted by Ken Drummet, 8/29/2008

           A recent video on the web shows an interview by Hilarie Barsky of Good Morning America Now speaking with Donald Trump about the real estate market. Mr. Trump is quoted as saying that the time to buy is now through next year and that those who don’t may be wishing they had in the future. Trump feels that we are currently at “about the bottom of the market”.

          We see and hear reports pointing in all directions about which way the market is going. Mr. Trump may have some good insights, but can he call the bottom of the market? Only time will tell. He also states in the interview that “the country is obviously in big trouble” and that the banks have failed the people. Buying while home prices are down is good if you can find a way to finance it, and time will probably show that Trump seeing buying signals now was a good call.

            How does all of this relate to the Park City market? The President of the Park City Board of Realtors recently said that prices in the Park City area are holding steady while inventories are on the rise. Economics 101 tells us that this can’t last and the likely solution to drive up demand is to lower prices. Recent sales in the Park City, UT area indicate that prices are falling. The YouInParkCity.com group feels that most of the homes that have sold recently represent aggressively priced houses and condominiums that were a true value. We have recently added a Park City Best Buys page to our website. In its first week, 2 of the 12 properties we identified were put under contract. We will continue to update the site with Park City homes we think are a strong value and monitor the results. The Park City market may not have reached its true bottom, but we are seeing some great values.

          A couple of other things from the Donald Trump interview do ring true in the Park City market. Mr. Trump states that real estate is a local business and that you need to know what you are doing. This idea has been a common theme in the www.YouInParkCity.com/blog. We know what we are doing and we are here to help you with your Park City real estate needs.

            To see the Donald Trump interview go to: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5576708 or search ABC News Donald Trump 8/13/2008.

Posted by Todd Anderson

          Let the bargain hunting begin.  Home prices may still be falling, but they are getting low enough for some investors to be buying and selling to pocket a tidy profit, or buying investment property that actually returns a positive cash flow.

          Rock-bottom prices have finally begun to lure real estate investors into the fray with the effect that prices may be stabilizing in some markets. For example, in south Florida where home prices have dropped nearly 27% a broker bought a three-family home for $195,000 that had been listed at $350,000.

          Quick flips are in. Even in the Seattle area, where prices are down just 5% (similar to Park City) from a year ago, an investor purchased a 2700 square foot home for $330,000 and quickly sold it within 3 months for $415,000 (a 25% profit).

          Many of these transactions involve a “short sale” (see blog dated 5/13/2008 entitled Short Sales in Park City, Utah), where the seller owes more than realistic market value, and the lender is willing to accept a low offer. But, in the Park City market, some transactions just reflect the lower market value. In other words, there are some real bargains on the market right now!

          This week, I talked to representatives of the three ski resorts in Park City: The Canyons, Park City Mountain Resort, and Deer Valley. They are all reporting that advanced sales of lift tickets and skier services are substantially ahead of last year already. It looks like another great ski season in Park City, UT is just months away.

          And more good news was reported in the Salt Lake Tribune this morning.  A new survey by Ball State University’s Bureau of Business Research ranked Utah the second best state in the country for manufacturing success. Previously, Forbes.com and CNBC placed Utah in the top five states for its business climate. Today, the Nation’s Unemployment Rate was announced at 5.7 percent for July with a loss of 51,000 jobs while Utah gained 1.3 percent jobs and listed unemployment at just 3.2 percent.

          For current market information on vacation homes or investment properties in the Park City area, use the “Contact Us” button at the top of this page. You can expect a response within 24 hours from one of the http://www.youinparkcity.com/  real estate experts.

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Submitted by Ken Drummet, 8/2/2008

            The second quarter of 2008 has come to an end and the statistics are out for the Park City, Utah real estate market. It is always interesting to see how the numbers stack up to what your gut feeling about how the market is doing. A quick look at the numbers can show that my gut feeling is both right and wrong, as usual, the numbers can be spun to show whichever story you want to tell. Well, almost…

There is almost no classification in which it can be shown that sales volumes are up. Single Family home sales for the first 2 quarters of the year were off by 45%.  Pricing though was effectively flat (up 1% in town, down 6% in the Snyderville Basin, up 1% in the Heber Valley). Bright spots can be found in single family home sales if you look at Woodland and Francis, sales prices were up 80% from the same period last year. 

          Over-all condominium sales showed a drop of 24% in sales volume, but prices were up by 18%. There were a few newly completed projects that skewed the numbers (please note that it can be argued that this is almost always true in the Park City real estate market). Sales at the Newpark Hotel in Kimball Junction totaled over $24 million and gave the Kimball Junction area a 95% boost in sales volume and a 131% boost is dollar volume of sales. Similarly, the Old Town area shows remarkable numbers unless you remove the sales of Silver Star (new ski-in / ski-out property at the Park City Mountain Resort) which showed over $54 million in sales. 

          Vacant land showed a 60% decrease in unit volume sold while overall pricing was up 14%. The telling number here might be that there are over 1300 active listings for vacant land on the Park City MLS and 109 sold in the first 2 quarters of 2008 leading to a 6 year supply of inventory at the current sales pace.

          There are bright spots and dim spots throughout the sales report for the first 2 quarters of 2008.  All real estate is local down to the block, side of the street, which ski run you’re on, or on which hole of the golf course your home sits. For a more complete analysis of the Park City real estate area that you are most interested in, give the YouInParkCity.com Group a call at 888-968-4672 or email us at info@YouInParkCity.com.

Submitted by Todd Anderson

Statistics herein were derived from the Park City MLS. Numbers are deemed accurate and reliable, but not guaranteed.

           The 123.1 Million dollar sale of The Canyons Resort is reported to have been completed yesterday June 30, 2008.  The purchase price is reported to have been $52.1 million in cash and $71 million in senior secured notes to American Ski Company.             The sale should put an end to Vail Resorts attempt to purchase the resort although Talisker does retain an option to sell the resort at a future date.  Talisker will assume responsibility for pending litigation by The Canyons Resort’s former owner Wolf Mountain which claims that American Ski Company defaulted on its lease and that the property should go back to Wolf Mountain.

            Talisker plans to keep the current management team of The Canyons Resort in place with Mike Gore as the managing director.  There are no plans currently for any major upgrades to the mountain as it is already too late in the summer and planning process to start improvements for the 2008-2009 snow season.  There are currently plans for some access lifts to be completed this summer.

            Talisker officials stated that they will begin looking at the resort’s development master plan soon. The sale of the resort includes as much as 3 million square feet of developable real estate located at the base of the resort as well as mid-mountain.  Talisker will run the resorts 3700 acres under a lease agreement with Wolf Mountain (this lease is a major portion of what Talisker has purchased from American Ski Company).

            Talisker is a privately held corporation that owns over 10,000 acres in and around Park City.  They are the developers of the luxury residences at the Empire Canyon area of the Deer Valley Resort as well as the Tuhaye golf resort just outside of Park City.  The Canyons Resort has made great strides in recent years opening new terrain and offering new real estate opportunities in the Park City area.  The sale of the resort to a luxury resort owner/operator should benefit the area and its surroundings.

           For information on how this may affect your property or future property aquisitions usr the contact us button at the top of the page.

          One of the most commonly asked question a Park City REALTOR® gets asked is “how is the market?”  We’ve written about this before in the YouInParkCity.com blog, but we think it deserves to be said again.  “It really depends on where you are and what you are trying to accomplish in terms of buying, selling or investing, but most important is the idea that all real estate is local.

          We’ve noticed some recent Park City numbers that reinforce this point on a local neighborhood level.  The Silver Springs real estate area in Park City, Utah currently has 19 active single family home listings.  During the month of May, 7 single family homes were put under contract and 1 sale closed (given the average under contract / pended times, the others should close in June).  This represents quite a lot of activity in this neighborhood.  So the answer to the “how’s the market?” question could be “great” or “hot”.

          To the contrary, we can look at the available homes, new pending sales and closed transactions for the Promontory neighborhood in Park City:  There are currently 63 active single family home listings in this real estate area, zero went pending in the month of May and only 3 have gone pending this year.  So, the answer to the “how’s the market?” question might be “tough”, “slow”, or “a Buyer’s market”. 

          These two real estate markets are both part of Park City real estate and tell very different stories.  The idea that all real estate is local can be narrowed even further than this may suggest.  It may be the perfect view of the ski run, access to a great running trail, or proximity to a local school that makes a home “perfect”.  These limiting factors bring about scarcity and drive demand.

          The “perfect home” that you want may be represented by only a few possibilities in a given neighborhood, and the fact that one is currently available may make it the right time to buy. 

          “How is the market?” is really determined by what is available in a given local area.  Think of this in terms not only of a state, county, or city, but down to specific neighborhoods and even streets and which side of a particular street.

          For information regarding your present or future home in the Park City area; contact http://www.youinparkcity.com/ .

 submitted by Todd Anderson

Data mentioned herein was taken from the Park City MLS on May, 30, 2008 deemed accurate and reliable, but not guaranteed.    

          Admittedly, when I read the article, “Don’t Fear Falling Prices”, published in Daily Real Estate News back in February 2008, I had a knee-jerk reaction (although I consider myself rather open-minded).  My initial reaction was one of seeing this work as just another suspect notion on the elaboration to justify the “falling” real estate market.  However, something prompted me to go ahead and bookmark this piece into My Favorites file allowing me to weigh on its content at a later date.  For the last three months, this article has continued to “nag” me like a missed birthday, and I find myself continuing to go back to reevaluate it.  You may by now be asking about its content, so let me insert it here for your reading pleasure:

 Daily Real Estate News  |   February 22, 2008

Don’t Fear Falling Prices
Yale Professor Robert Shiller, whose Case-Shiller 20-city home price index has become an industry standard, says people shouldn’t fear gradually falling home prices.”There’s nothing troubling about a gradual correction of home prices. If we keep our incomes at the current level and home prices go down we are richer, we can buy more housing,” Shiller says.But if home prices fall suddenly, Shiller says that could undermine housing as well as consumer confidence and the economy.There has been a misperception that houses will constantly appreciate, Shiller says. “Sometimes people will try to imagine that we can have both high home prices and affordable housing. But I can tell you that doesn’t add up,” he says. “You either have high home prices or lower home prices. And lower home prices are what we want, and people shouldn’t be afraid of that,” Shiller says. “Most of us care about our children and grandchildren, and these people have to buy houses so why would we want high home prices? We want economic growth, we don’t want high home prices.”

Source: Reuters News, Lynn Adler (02/21/08)

          Now for my surrender announcement: After talking to agents in both the Park City real estate market and in the markets of the Southern states (where I spend my spare time), I’m finding a variable that basically ties into this article.  This variable is the first time home buyer, first time “second” home buyer, and the first time real estate investor into rental property.  These are the folks that are emerging onto the “new” real estate scene.  The “why” and “how” behind this increase is (you’ve guessed it) lower home prices and the overall lower mortgage interest rate available.  There is indeed substance behind what we realtors are seeing as a “slower” market.  With that said, if you’re considering your first adventure into the real estate market know that we’re here to serve your needs at http://www.youinparkcity.com .   I’ll close by saying, I’d like to thank Professor Robert Shiller, for forcing me to expand my evaluation methods of looking at the glass “half empty/half full” theory, therefore allowing me to become a better real estate professional.  

by Cathy Ritchie

 Park City Real Estate Market First Quarter 2008 results are in.

          Utah and Park City have been some of the last areas to feel the decline of the U.S. real estate market.  Recent Board of Realtor statistics show that Park City real estate prices have held steady during the first quarter of 2008. During the first quarter, the number of listings has doubled and actual number of sales have fallen 45%. Single family homes sales fell from 209 in the first quarter 2007 to 113 first quarter 2008.  Condo sales fell from 247 to 136 in 2008. 
          While all these numbers can be very discouraging, you must look at each area independently.  Many of the larger developments have seen sales decline, while some of the established areas sales have held steady.  Several areas like Jeremy Ranch, Pinebrook and Silver Spring that have the ability to attract buyers who want to live in the Park City area but commute to Salt Lake City as well as those who want to live here for the skiing, hiking biking and golf have shown great resilience to the recent market changes.
         For Buyers, things have never been better.  There are more choices today than ever before (note the increased inventory mentioned earlier). Financing is currently very attractive for qualified buyers (current interest rates remain very low). Additionally, the maximum conforming loans limits have recently been increased to $749,750 for Summit County.  These new limits will revert back to the old limits at year’s end. 
          Sellers today, on the other hand, do need to be realistic and flexible in their pricing expectations.  While the market has softened, we have found that properties that have been priced to reflect today’s market have been selling.  The average “Days on Market” of sales have been less than 45 days recently for Mike and Ken’s listings with http://www.youinparkcity.com/   
         Experts suggest that while Park City and the state of Utah were some of the last real estate markets to feel the decline and are projected to be on of the first to recover and that declines will not be as sharp as many other areas in the nation. 

          Short sale and foreclosure property always seem to catch people’s attention.  The idea of really getting a “steal” on property peaks investor and home-buyer interest.  While a short sale can be a great deal, there are a few things to consider before you go searching for that “steal”. 

          First we should define a short sale.  A short sale is a sale of property in which the sale price is less than the value of the loans against the property.  Short sales can be initiated by the seller (property owner), but must be approved by the parties with loans which are using the property as collateral.   The purpose of the short sale is to try and sell the home before it is foreclosed upon (lenders tend to lose more money in a foreclosure sale than a short sale).

          The parties on the selling side are losing money in the deal.  The seller is losing whatever equity they had in the property (unless they got in with some type of “exotic” loan with no money down or cash out at the original loan origination (in this event the seller may not be losing real money, but is still damaging their credit)).  The lien-holders are losing whatever money that was their original loan less the sale price.  Secondary lien-holders stand to lose nearly all of their loan amounts.   All of these parties have to agree to take their losses.  None of them wants the loss and few of them want to admit they made a bad loan.   The loss that a 1^st mortgage holder is willing to accept is generally about 20%-40% (they usually stand to lose as much as 60% in a foreclosure).   Second or junior lien-holders also have to approve the sale.  If in anyone’s judgment the sale price is too low, they can refuse or send a counter-offer back to the Buyer.

          Timing may be the most confusing and frustrating issues that short sales present.  Unlike a normal offer and acceptance type of negotiation, once the offer has been accepted by the seller, the contract must be approved by all parties holding liens on the property.  These parties do not respond in a timely manner.  There is often quite a bit of bureaucratic “red tape” to get through in approving a short sale and just finding the correct representatives that can approve the sale can be very frustrating.   And while this process may take months (this is not an exaggeration) for the “third parties” to get approval back to the buyer, they will then ask for a closing within days. 

          This timing issue means that as a Buyer, you need to keep from getting emotionally attached to the property and have no need to move quickly into owning the property.   On the other hand, the Buyer needs to be able to move very quickly through their due diligence, evaluations and approvals as the third parties may ask for the sale to close within 10 days of their approval (in a “normal” sale this would be a 25-30 day process).

          Another curve that is thrown into the short sale is that the seller can (and will) keep marketing the home while the Buyer’s offer is awaiting approval in hopes of another or better offers.  So it may be months before you find out that your offer was bettered by someone else and you should have been trying to find something else instead.

          Buying a home can be very stressful and buying a home in a short sale situation is even more stressful.  That being said, there are some short sale properties available in the Park City area (though not nearly as many as in areas where the housing market is “depressed”) and they may represent a good value for the Buyer.  If you want to know more about the short sale process and whether it is an option that works for your Park City real estate needs, contact us at http://www.youinparkcity.com/

           Park City real estate, like else where in the country, is experiencing a buyers market.  Most of the people I have been working with lately are in search of a “great deal”.  To many people this means a property that is priced below previous sales.  This is certainly one element to consider but we have also been finding value in another area; the remodeled property that is priced at or just slightly above previous sales.

           When the market was in its frenzy with multiple offers and not enough sellers many people saw the increased equity in their Park City home or condo as an opportunity to renovate their home.  Investors jumped into the market with the intent to buy, fix and flip a unit.  But markets change and some investors entered the market at the end of the cycle.  As a result there are properties in most areas that have undergone extensive renovations and can be a much better value than one that is just “priced to sell”.  You may be able to buy that “fixer upper” at a discount but after your remodel will you still come out ahead?  The answer is often no.

          We think you can find some strong values in investor owned properties.  These people, while seeking to maximize their returns, may be willing to break even or sell at a loss in an effort to free up their cash and “keep their money working” via other investment opportunities. Some people, myself for instance, who have remodeled their primary residence will usually decide to stay put unless they have to relocate for work.  See blog post of April 21, 2008

          The advantage of buying remodeled homes and condos is two fold.  If you decide you want to own it long term you don’t need to do much to bring it up to today’s standards; it already has the granite counter tops, fresh paint, new carpet and nice cabinetry.  So, when the market moves up and you decide to sell the property it will be positioned ahead of those that have not undergone the renovation.  In the interim, you don’t have to do the work and/or live in a construction project.

          So when you are having the http://www.youinparkcity.com/ group help you find a best buy in the Park City real estate market don’t be surprised if one of the opportunities we uncover isn’t necessarily the least expensive.