Luxury real estate sales in Park City, UT for the year so far show a slight decrease when compared to the pace of 2010.

            2010 saw luxury home sales in Park City, UT buoyed by the St Regis Hotel at Deer Crest and Silver Strike Lodge at Empire Pass.  2011 is seeing strong sales from the new Montage at Empire Pass as well as continuing sales of the Flagstaff condominiums in Empire Pass.

            The average sale price for homes listed at over $2M remains fairly steady at nearly $3M. Relatively small sample sizes in this market combined with the occasional sale in the $10M range have impacts on this data.

            The luxury residence category overall is may be beginning to show more pricing pressure. Currently the Park City MLS shows over 170 homes and 70 condominiums in the luxury category over $2M. Current sales show a discount rate of over 15% from asking price and the influence of undisclosed sales prices across the Park City MLS means that this discount rate could be considerably higher.

            The luxury home market in Park City and Deer Valley is a tough category to consider as a whole because there are many factors which makes each of the homes and condominiums in the luxury category unique. For a more complete analysis and in-depth information about individual properties contact a realty professional with YouInParkCity.com (888)968-4672.

            The March 5^th, 2010 edition of Barron’s PENTA ranked Deer Valley, UT as #6 among the top 15 places to own a second home. PENTA is a standalone quarterly pullout section of Barron’s which focuses on individuals with $5M or more to invest.

            In considering the rankings Barron’s focused “In seeking out and ranking these havens, we looked for beauty, comfort, convenience, a range of lifestyles and — always the paramount criterion at Barron’s — value. We wanted prices that had clearly hit bottom and were either rising or ready to rise.”  The article also notes that “home prices in moneyed enclaves climbed more than 10% last year”.

            The accolades are great; Deer Valley deserves to be named one of the best places in the country to own a second (or first) home. Deer Valley without a doubt ranks among the top spots in the world for the criteria of beauty, comfort, convenience and range of lifestyle opportunities. The Barron’s article notes that the proximity of Park City to Salt Lake International Airport gives the area an advantage over other rocky mountain ski destinations. Reasons why Deer Valley and Park City, UT in general are worthy of these accolades are too numerous to list.

            The Barron’s PENTA article goes on to name and include a photo of a home in Tuhaye as the place to be in Deer Valley. The article notes that sales in 2009 in Tuhaye were 0 while the median price for 2010 was $1.3M (there were 9 single family home sales shown across the Park City MLS for the area in 2010).  Worth noting within this is the fact that nearly all of the sales were bank REO or distressed sales (something that wasn’t mentioned in the article). These sales may represent the new market values for the area and very well may mark the bottom of the market in which case the value proposition for Tuhaye is very strong. Tuhaye has great views of Deer Valley though it is not necessarily part of what locals and Park City real estate professionals recognize as Deer Valley.

            This is not the first time that Park City and Deer Valley have been recognized as one of the world’s best places to own a vacation home; the fact that this trend continues points to the fact that what makes this are desirable has not changed.

            Call the YouInParkCity.com Group of Keller Williams Park City Real Estate to discuss the current opportunities for home ownership in one of the best places to own a (first or) second home Deer Valley, Utah (888)968-4672.