Local Area And Real Estate News

Park City Real Estate Value

By Todd Anderson
Jul 28, 2009

            Pricing trends in the Park City and Deer Valley real estate market are very interesting right now. As the national economy tries to find its bottom, Park City, Utah real estate is doing the same while making an effort to prop up its values.             There has been an uptick in the sales activity recently and there is a feel within the real estate community that Buyers are coming back to the marketplace. Recent sales activity confirms the feeling. While the second quarter of 2009 shows 121 sales of land, homes and condominiums in the greater Park City area, there have been 75 closings in the last 30 days. There are some very interesting stories within the numbers here. A third of the sales were for over $1 million which goes against recent trends leaning toward "starter homes" and condominiums. Approximately 30% of the recent real estate sales in Park City and Deer Valley, Utah fall into a category of having drastically reduced prices (at least 20% from original asking price), being a distressed sale (short sales or bank owned properties), or a large variance to current asking prices for a local community.             There is a definite trend toward value no matter what price level, and in the upper most price level there is a tendency to hide sales prices in an effort to keep neighborhood values up. The top 14 sales in this recent report show 5 sales at 20% or more off their original asking price and 6 sales reporting an undisclosed sales price. Utah is a non-disclosure state which means that the sales prices are not part of the necessary data for recording a sale and the sales price is not public record (this is one of the reasons that Zillow has such poor information for Utah). The MLS systems do report sales prices, but again, it is not public record. In an effort to keep data attached to a sale, an undisclosed sales price is recorded in the MLS as 95% of the list price at the time of the sale. The inordinate number of undisclosed sales prices at the top end of the market may artificially inflate the value of these areas, but it can be argued that it is better than no record at all. The number of undisclosed sales prices at the top combined with those sales showing a 20% price reduction (11 of 14 combined) shows that the top levels of the Park City and Deer Valley real estate markets are not immune to the market downturn and that the sellers in the luxury marketplace are also willing to make a deal.             The increased number of real estate transactions in Deer Valley and Park City show that there are strong values in the market and that there are "value shoppers" finding deals here.  Not all of these values have a listed price that reflects a value, but with some negotiation, bargains can be found.  Contact a YouInParkCity.com real estate professional to claim yours.

Park City and Deer Valley real estate sales for Q2 2009

By Todd Anderson
Jul 11, 2009

            With the end of June came what is considered summer here in Park City after an unusually wet spring "mud-season". The end of June also marks the end of the 2nd quarter and time for a Park City and Deer Valley real estate market update. The Park City and Deer Valley home and condominium sales for the quarter show that the market has slowed, but probably not as much as people think.             For comparison purposes, we will look only at areas 1-22 for the Park City MLS which includes the Park City neighborhoods of: Old Town, Thaynes, Lower Deer Valley, Deer Crest, Upper Deer Valley, Empire Canyon, The Aerie, Prospector, Park Meadows, The Canyons, Olympic Park, Silver Springs, Old Ranch Road, Kimball Junction, Pinebrook, Summit Park, Jeremy ranch, Silver Creek/Glenwild, Trailside park and Promontory. Our data for comparison will be limited to single family homes, condominiums and vacant land.             Sales data for Park City real estate for the quarter are as follows: 120 total units sold for the quarter with 55 being single family homes, 56 being condominiums, and 9 parcels of vacant land or building lots. These numbers represent a drop in total sales volume of 44% versus 2008 and 67% versus 2007. The drop in dollar volume versus 2008 was 58% and 74% when compared to 2007 sales. The lack of new product has a very pronounced effect on the condominium data; look for these numbers to turn around dramatically in the next two quarters as we see the St. Regis at Deer Crest and Dakota Mountain Lodge sales recorded.             The YouInparkcity.com group feels that of particular interest is the relation of the actual sales price versus the original and asking prices at the time of sale: sales prices were discounted 10% versus asking price and 19% versus the original price for the quarter. Of course the relatively small sample size we are dealing with can skew these numbers. For more information or data regarding a certain segment of the Park City and Deer Valley real estate market contact us or call (888) 968-4672. Areas we feel may be of particular interest statistically include Promontory and Empire Pass.

All Real Estate is Local

By Todd Anderson
Jun 02, 2008

          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.    

Entry Level housing Deals in Park City

By Todd Anderson
Apr 21, 2008

The Park City housing market has seen change recently.  The rocketing upward of prices has slowed and Park City is returning to a more normal real estate market.  The effect of the changing market varies greatly depending on the price, neighborhood and subdivision.  The entry level market appears to have been affected the least by the downward pricing pressure here in Park City, Utah.  Finding a single family home in Park City that is under $400,000 is still very hard to do; the same goes for a truly affordable condominium.  There are a number of factors keeping the entry level home pricing up while other Park City marketplaces flatten or fall. The economy of Park City and most of Utah is still strong.  Job losses and cutbacks have not been a problem here, and the resorts are still enjoying strong tourism.  The fact that the job market hasn't changed much means that people living in Park City aren't falling behind on mortgage payments and aren't being forced to sell their homes.  The entry level tier of the housing market has the most resistance to falling prices.  While no-one ever wants to take a loss on an investment, the people who scraped everything together to buy the home they live in truly can't afford and refuse to take a loss and start over.  If these people aren't forced into selling their homes due to job-loss or some family tragedy, chances are they will just stay where they are until such time that the market changes or they have accumulated enough wealth to move upward within the area.  People still want to live in and raise their families in Park City.  Demand for housing, especially entry level housing has not changed much.  There is a very strong service industry in Park City and the wages that coincide with these jobs dictates that entry level housing in Park City is what these workers can afford.   The recent changes affecting credit and financing have made it harder to get loans, but in truth these were not the people that needed sub-prime loans anyway.  Things do happen and people are forced into selling their homes at "rock bottom" prices at times in order to move them quickly, but there are few indicators that "the bottom is falling out" and that entry level pricing will fall dramatically in the near future.  For more information regarding pricing in specific Park City real estate neighborhoods and/or subdivisions, visit http://www.youinparkcity.com/ 

 
 
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