Feed: Park City UT Real Estate Blog - AggScore: 68.1

Distressed Real Estate Sales in Park City, UT

Park City, Utah has seen its share of distressed real estate sales in the past 2 years.

A look at the sales statistics from the Park City area MLS reveals that distressed sales have made up 25% of the total sales of homes, condominiums and land in the Greater Park City area in 2010 and 2011.

The sales of bank owned properties have far outpaced the short sales (more than 2 to 1) and 2011 saw a smaller percentage of distressed sales than 2010.

 The number of distressed for sale real estate listings in Park City has been steadily decreasing. People looking to buy bank owned properties in the Park City area are increasingly encountering multiple offer situations and sales prices are often higher than the listing price for bank owned Park City properties.

The sales of bank owned in relation to the number available is an indicator of how quickly they move. The number of short sales completed is an indication of how hard they can be to complete. Also of note is that half of the current short sale supply has offers awaiting bank approval. Buying distressed real estate in Park City is possible, but there can be many pitfalls and the competition can be fierce.

For more information about real estate sales in Park City, Utah contact a Park City realty professional with YouInParkCity.com at (888)968-4672.

Data and sales information from the Park City MLS deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Park City Luxury Ski Condos

The Hyatt Escala Lodge

About a month ago we toured the changes at The Hyatt Escala Lodge at Canyons Resort and had a fantastic dinner in one of their mountain view 3 bedroom luxury condos. The Lodge, which was rated as one of the top 12 “Hot Hotels” in North America, continues to step it up and is delivering on the news that they announced months ago, the opening of The Escala Provisions Company, “The Restaurant” and bar. Other additions include 5,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, a staffed children’s center and 7,000 sq. ft of “flexible indoor /outdoor space”.

This gives Park City Real Estate another amenity rich, high end luxury condo option for clients who are considering a ski in/ski out Park City home. There are currently 21 Hyatt Escala Lodge Condos on the market ranging in price from $365,000 for a 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo to $2,000,000 for a 4 bedroom, 5 bath residence. In the past 12 months there have been 5 sales at the Hyatt Escala Lodge. The sold prices ranged from $299,000 for a 1 bedroom to $1,916,000 for a penthouse 3 bedroom 5 bath.

Another factor to take into account when considering purchasing Canyons Resort real estate in general  are the many changes that have taken place in the last year or are on the books. The Winter Zip Line tour is in and is something I have to try.  The tour is comprised of two zip lines; one is 800 feet long has an 8% grade the other is 2100 feet with a 10% grade. Just thinking about this makes me grin. Additional snowmaking, new lifts, a remake of the resort center area and the beginning of construction on the new golf course are just a few things that have happened recently. For skiers and boarders (and owners of any Park City real estate) the proposed “Skilink” which will connect Canyons Resort in Park City to Solitude Ski Resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon will have positive impacts too many to list. If and when the Ski Link goes through final approval and is built skiers and riders will be able to access Solitude from Canyons ski resort and avoid the 45 minute drive.

If you have questions about The Hyatt Escala Park City, Canyon Resort Real Estate or Park City Real Estate in general please contact the YouInParkCity.com Group Real Estate Professionals at 888-968-4672

Click for more information including all for sale listings at the Hyatt Escala Park City or contact the YouinParkCity.com group.

Click here to learn more about SkiLink

Park City Luxury Ski-in/Ski-out Hotel

Park City Mountain Resort to Improve Base Area

Resort Officials of Park City Mountain Resort announced to the Park City Council and Planning Committee that they are beginning to explore new development around the resort base area.

In recent years the resort has positioned itself as a ski resort operator and not a developer. They now point to new base area development as a way to ensure that they are adequately taking care of their customers as well as increasing capacity for new resort guests.

There have been many rumors in the past about possible resort hotels going in at the base of the resort where the parking lots are currently located. The recent additions of the Hyatt Escala and Waldorf Astoria at Canyons Resort as well as the St Regis and Montage Hotels at Deer Valley leave Park City Mountain Resort without a luxury offering to compete with Deer Valley and Canyons. The lower lots near the base of the First Time Lift and Super-pipe would appear to be the most logical place for a new resort hotel and base area expansion. A Four Seasons Resort Hotel was once rumored for this location; maybe it is a step closer to reality (?).

The plans are still conceptual at this point, but as the supply of new luxury condominiums in Park City dwindles another resort property will make sense. The addition would be great for the Town of Park City as well as the Park City Mountain Resort.

Park City, UT Real Estate Foreclosure Market

How Low Can My Offer Be on an REO Property?

Bank owned real estate in Park City, UT is a very small portion of our inventory. In fact, of the 1048 homes and condominiums listed across the Park City Multiple Listing Service in the greater Park City area, only 16 are currently listed as being bank owned. There are 46 homes and condominiums listed as Short Sales, but those are different from bank REO properties.

To date this year 137 sales of bank owned condominiums and single family homes are shown across the Park City MLS. This number makes up over 15% of Park City sales (yet active bank REO listings make up less than 2%). As you look at the number of sales and active listings, it is easy to see that the turn-over of bank REO property in Park City is very fast.

The fast sale of bank owned real estate is by design. Property on a bank’s asset sheet is not a good thing and thus the banks price property to move quickly. That is not to say that they will give property away. Remember that banks are publicly held and at the end of the day banks are accountable to their shareholders; giving away assets is not viewed positively by the owners. As a rule of thumb, the bank REO properties are offered at a price considered to be 20-30% below market value. Due to this pricing strategy it is not uncommon to see multiple offers bid the price up above the asking price.

A recent article in HousingWire.com shows that Freddie Mae sold over 80,000 properties in the first 3 quarters of 2011 and that the sales prices averaged 94% of the asking price.

So when it comes time to make an offer on a bank owned property in Park City, UT, keep these things in mind and also keep in mind that the strength of your offer is measured by the speed at which you can close the transaction (think no contingencies) as well as the offer price. There are many players in the REO market searching for a deal in Park City; the relatively low number of REO offerings makes this market very competitive.

If you would like a list of current distressed properties in the Park City, UT area contact the YouInParkCity.com Group of real estate professionals at (888)968-4672.

Ski Resort Real Estate: Park City or Vail

The Western Mountain Resort Alliance is composed of 13 destination ski resort area Boards of REALTORS®. The alliance was founded on the idea that while the resorts vary geographically, they share many of the same real estate and development issues due to their vacation resort status. The alliance publishes quarterly sales statistics for the various destination ski areas.

While we here in Park City, UT believe that our resort community offers some of the best recreational opportunities and easiest access of any Western North American Ski Resort, a look at what can be purchased in other resort towns can be very informative.

                VS.                 

Having spent 10 years in Vail, CO, I am jaded to believe that it is the resort with most in common to Park City. In terms of total available inventory if we exclude vacant land, the two areas are almost identical although the single family homes versus condominiums is reversed with Park City having nearly double the number of single family homes on the market as Vail. The number of units sold in the two towns shows Park City’s sales being up 18% in unit volume for the first three quarters of 2011 while Vail’s sales were relatively flat. Available inventory is down in both Park City and Vail versus 2010. The average sales price in Park City saw a 10% decline while Vail registered a 25% decline versus the same period last year.

Another interesting comparison stat between Park City and Vail is the median sales prices. Park City area single family home sales saw a median price (half above and half below) of nearly $550K while Vail shows $400K. Conversely, condominium sales median pricing shows Vail at $480K and Park City at $325. Average sales prices for both single family homes and condominiums are considerably higher in Vail than in Park City.

Maybe Park City and Vail don’t have as much in common as I thought in terms of real estate and the associated values. This likely has a lot to do with the differences in terms of Park City having been an old mining town that developed ski resorts versus Vail having been a ski resort that developed into a town.

For in-depth neighborhood by neighborhood real estate information about Park City, UT, contact a realty professional with the YouInParkCity.com Group at (888)968-4672.

Home Buyers: Are You Worried the Market is Still Trending Down?

Here is a new program designed to protect the value of the Park City home or condominium you are buying. Equity Lock Solutions is offering a product called Home Price Protection.

Generally the plan works like this: The buyer or seller of a home or condominium in Park City can purchase a plan up to $2 million for a one time fee of 1.8-3.0% of the plan amount (costs vary slightly but Keller Williams agents have access to the lowest rates).  The plan is tied to a local House Price Index published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).  The index for the Park City area is tied to the Salt Lake City metropolitan statistical area.  If the index drops from the time of purchase to the time of sale, the plan pays the percentage difference in the fall to the owner at the time of the sale.  

If you as a buyer purchased this price protection and bought a $1 million Park City home and five years from now when you go to sell the home the House Price Index has gone down 10%, the Home Price Protection Plan will pay you $100,000 when you sell the house. The plan is a hedge against the housing market going down, not the individual home, so choosing the correct home is still important. The product is avaialble for primary residences, second homes and investment property.

For more in-depth information about this program as well as the current HPI for your area, go to: http://equityocksolutions.com/faq/ .

RIS Media has announced Home Price Protection as their product of the year, their announcement came at last weeks NAR convention. 

This may give a buyer the peace of mind they are searching for as they wonder if they are truly buying at the bottom of the market.

For more information about Home Price Protection or any Park City or Deer Valley, UT real estate questions contact a realty professional with the YouInParkCity.com Group of Keller Williams Park City Real Estate at (888)968-4672 or email us at info@YouInParkCity.com.

Deer Valley Resort #1 (again)

For the fifth year in a row the readers of SKI Magazine have named Deer Valley as the number one resort in North America. This is the 6^th time in the last 7 years that Deer Valley has been named number one overall. The resort has not been lower than 3^rd in the last 11 years.

The rankings take in many different aspects of the resort and while Deer Valley may not be the toughest or largest resort, or get the best snow, its ranking as best overall is impressive. Deer Valley Resort always gets accolades for and was ranked number one in the categories of: grooming, service, weather, on-mountain food, lodging and dining. The editor of SKI Magazine notes that the size of the resort and the fact that snowboarding is not allowed helps Deer Valley to edge its large competitors Vail and Whistler for the number one spot.

The other Park City area resorts alos fared well with Park City Mountain Resort coming in at number 6 and Canyons Resort in the number 16 slot.

A new lifestyle category named Park City Mountain Resort as the best place in North America to ski with kids.

The consistent rankings from the readers of SKI Magazine have a great impact on tourism in Park City as well as housing values. A town with the best overall ski resort ranking which shares a ropeline with the resort ranked as the best place to ski with a family makes for quite a place to live or own a vacation home.

Click for more information about Park City and homes for sale in Park City and Deer Valley, UT

Did You Miss the Bottom?

Park City Real Estate Market Turning Upward

            The bottom of a market; be it stock prices, commodities or real estate in Park City, Utah can really only be seen in hindsight. We can never be sure of the bottom until we look at it in retrospect and study the sales data. While we cannot yet call the bottom of Park City real estate prices, we can see definitive signs of the bottom.

            Real estate sales in the second quarter of 2011 show a strong increase in the number of transactions. The 451 closed real estate sales in Park City for the second represent a 20% increase from the first quarter of 2011 and the best quarter since the fourth quarter of 2007.

            The recent increase in sales in the area has been accompanied by a decrease in the number of newly listed properties in the Park City real estate market. So while demand is increasing, the supply is falling which should in time lead to an increase in pricing.

            While it may be too early to call the bottom of the market in terms of pricing, we may be seeing signs that some of the best deals are gone. It is kind of like that big sale at the store and we are in its last days. There are still good values to be found in the Park City real estate market, but there is far less to choose from. A good example of this may be the Promontory area of Park City: so far this year there have been 15 homes sold for under $1.5M that were not part of the “cabin” communities and only 10 remain in this price range. It doesn’t mean that there are no more deals to be had in the area, only that the remaining opportunities have been picked over.

            There are other areas within Park City that show real estate values possibly finding their bottom as well as localized areas which have indicators pointing toward further price reductions. For information on specific buying and selling opportunities in Park City real estate contact a realty professional with the www.YouInParkCity.com  Group of Keller Williams Park City Real Estate.

Silver Baron Lodge - Deer Valley, UT - Trustee Sale

Silver Baron Lodge - Deer Valley, UT - Trustee Sale

After an initial Trustee Sale scheduled for Dec 29,2010 and at least one other postponed auction, a courthouse steps auction for 16 units (of 51 total) located at the Silver Baron Lodge in the lower Deer Valley area of Park City, Utah happened yesterday.

see http://youinparkcity.com/blog/ for details.

To discuss how this sale may impact your decisions to buy or sell in the Park City, Utah area contact a YouInParkCity.com Group Park City real estate professional at (888) 968-4672.

18 Acre View Lot in Greenerhills - Heber City, UT

This bank REO lot in the Greenerhills subdivision of Heber, UT offers fantastic views of the Heber Valley and Mt Timpanogos. The 18 acres of rolling hillside provides great space between you and your neighbors. THe community of Greenerhills is made up of 51 lots ranging from 5 to 27 acres. Greenerhill is located just east of Red Ledges golf and social club community.

This lot is offered at dollarsignr229,000.

PCMLS # 9987609

Todd Anderson

Keller Williams park City Real Estate

Park City Utah Luxury Home Sales 2011

Trends in luxury home and condominium sales in Park City and Deer Valley, Utah are pointing downward. Slaes so far this year are off by nearly 25% while prices are also showing signs of downward pressure. Slaes in the Empire Pass area of Deer Valley lead the way, but a relatively slow start for the Montage has not helped the luxury market.

For more go to http://youinparkcity.com/blog/

Empire Pass at Deer Valley Sales 2011

Real Estate sales in the Empire Pass at Deer Valley area of Park City, UT are seeing a bump this year.

The addition of the Montage Hotel and the completion of the Flagstaff condominiums represent 11 of the 14 sales transactions that have been completed in the Empire Pass area of Park City for the year so far. The unit volume of sales is down 40% from last year, but average prices are way up.

So far this year, average recorded sales prices for the Empire Pass at Deer Valley area are up nearly 50%.

For more ssales info from the Empire Pass area of Park City, Utah see: http://deervalleyutahrealestate.blogspot.com/

Old Town Park City,Utah Sales 2011

Park City, UT real estate sales thus far for 2011 are mirroring what we saw in 2010. There is a slight increase in sales volume, but the sample size is too small to make many strong predictions as to what the year will bring.

See http://parkcityutahhomes.blogspot.com/ for early 2011 data.

Park City Property Management Crimes(?)

            Two years ago two leading Park City, Utah property management companies went out of business.  Their downfall led to many unpaid bills to local vendors, employees, local government entities, and owners of the properties that the companies managed.

             The Summit County attorney recently determined that according to the laws of the state of Utah, the firms did nothing illegal in not paying home and condominium owners their share of rental revenues. The Summit County attorney was quoted as saying "It was bad business practices. Horrible decisions were made, but it was not fraud." The law in Utah and the contracts signed by owners allow for the co-mingling of funds and code leaves the oversight of nightly rental managers to local Park City authorities. Many other states require that the owners' revenue share of nightly rentals be placed in a trust account, but not so in Utah. Local Park City authorities as well as Utah lawmakers have no plans in changing the current laws.

             One of the local property management companies quietly went away while the other has been the object of much ill will and speculation as to where the money went. The bankruptcy of Premier Resorts of Utah (doing business as: Deer Valley Lodging (not associated with Deer Valley Resort)) left homeowners and creditors with unpaid bills totaling $13 million. Funds from collected rent may have gone to support operations in other resort communities in the country. Since the company did not hold real property or many assets, it appears that most of the creditors will go unpaid as the bankruptcy concludes. Premier Resorts of Utah owners have been "tight lipped" about where all of the money went. It appears (according to the Summit County attorney) that while what happened was criminal, it was not illegal.

             The YouInParkCity.com group encourages Park City condominium and vacation home owners interested in renting their properties nightly to carefully read property management and nightly rental contracts thoroughly before placing their properties into rental pools. Be sure to understand not only splits, fees, rental rotations and possible revenue sharing or equalization strategies; but also how the property will be marketed and how and when revenues will be dispersed. Consult your attorney with any questions about the contract.

Luxury Mountain Estate Auction - Park City, UT

            A luxury 160 acre estate complete with  home, guest house and barn with stable and riding arena will be sold at auction to the highest bidder Tuesday February 22. The estate is currently listed for sale on the Park City MLS for $17,500,000. The auction has no minimum bid and the seller has agreed to accept any offers above $8 Million (there is a 10% buyer's premium to be added to the sales price). Should no offer above $8M be tendered, offers below this price may be negotiated.

            The "Wow factor" of this home begins almost as soon as you enter the Private gated community of Wolf Creek. The feel of Wolf Creek Ranch is designed to mimic that of the country's National Parks. This Wolf Creek Ranch luxury estate features a main residence of approximately 13,000 sq ft with six bedroom suites, seven full and 5 half baths. An outdoor fireplace under the covered front entry greets guest as they enter. Beyond the impressive front door the home opens up to high ceilings and fantastic views with the ability to stop people in their tracks. The gourmet kitchen just off the entry provides and understated country feel capable of both elegance and casual comfort. The master suite encompasses 1000 sq ft including a saltwater spa in a grotto like setting plus sauna, his and hers closets, exercise room and wet bar.  Seven stone fireplaces assure that warmth and ambiance can easily be found anywhere in the home. Oversized windows taking in the spectacular views are everywhere in the home.

        A guest house just across the main drive features nearly 2000 sq ft of living space; two bedrooms, two and one half baths, two fireplaces, laundry, kitchen with separate dining area, great room and two car heated garage. Finishes that mirror the quality of the main residence give the guest house an intimate elegance and luxury worthy of many primary homes.

            The equestrian center is a state-of-the-art climate controlled stable and indoor riding arena covering 8500 square feet. Nearly 3000 sq ft are devoted to the sand based riding arena with windows on all sides taking in the beauty of Wolf Creek Ranch. There are 5 luxury stalls, a tack room, wash bay and dedicated birthing stall.

              Wolf Creek Ranch is a private gated community. The community is comprised of 14,000 acres that border the 2.2 Million acre Uinta National Forest. There are over 50 miles of maintained trails run throughout the community perfect for skiing, snowshoeing horseback and ATV riding. Over 100 acres are devoted to common areas within Wolf Creek Ranch which include a 6000 sq ft Owners lodge, 3000 sq ft community guest house and four yurts. A mile of private fishing waters on the upper Provo River as well as stocked streams and ponds on the ranch provide great angling opportunities. All this along with many other outdoor activities  is only minutes from Park City, Utah and just over an hour's drive from Salt Lake International airport. The nearby airport in Heber can handle small private jets for those wanting even easier access, and a helipad near the front entrance to the community offers quick access to this National Park like get-away.

            The custom furniture that adorns this luxury get-away estate are included in the sale to make this estate turn-key and ready to become part of your family legacy and memories.

            True custom luxury estates with the accessibility of nearby destination resorts of Park City, UT are seldom transferred but rather handed down among family members. This auction may be the perfect opportunity to obtain a legacy property. For more information contact a Park City realty professional with YouInParkCity.com.