Park City Real Estate Trends

            The national and global economies have affected the Park City real estate market. We know that at our market peak, Buyers were coming to Park City to buy second homes and vacation property from all over the world. Loose lending standards made finding the money for a second home easy.  Housing prices rose everywhere. Higher property values wherever the Buyer's home happened to be made for great equity to borrow against for the purchase vacation property. We know that all this has come to an end with the bursting of the housing bubble. Short sales and foreclosures are now a staple story item for the nightly news. Many boom cities have seen home values drop by 40% or more. Stories abound about the ability to purchase bank owned and distressed properties for truly pennies on the dollar compared to what they sold for just two years ago. In Park City, we're often asked by visitors where the deals are here.             A recent look at the Park City area Board of REALTORS® multiple listing service showed 1871 active listings (653 single family homes, 798 condominiums and 420 parcels of vacant land).  Of these, only 26 were listed as a short sale, bank owned or in foreclosure. That is less than 1½ percent of the total number for sale. National figures while the real estate market was booming put the "normal" foreclosure rate at around 3%. Does this mean that Park City has somehow not been affected by the national and global economic changes? No.             Park City and Deer Valley real estate have been impacted by the global economic changes, just not to the extent of Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix and Southern California.  The scarcity of land along with tough hillside builds and tight city regulations have meant that the housing boom did not leave Park City overbuilt. Changes in the market have occurred and prices have fallen from their peaks, but there appears to have not been the speculation and dependence on property appreciation to fund loans here that has lead to the demise of markets in other areas.             The local economy in the Park City and Deer Valley area is only beginning to feel the pinch of the national and global economic downturn. I cannot remember previously seeing signs on Main St stating that restaurants are not hiring. A look through the local paper shows few job opportunities (in a "normal" winter, service and tourism industry jobs are abundant). We are starting to experience job losses. It is possible that the downturn may be just beginning here. Or it is possible that the effects of current low interest rates and the push for new jobs on a national level will turn everything around quickly and all our market will see is just a slight downturn. Only time will tell.             All real estate is local. Are there deals to be found in Park City, Utah? Absolutely. Are there short sales, bank owned and distressed properties? Yes. Will you be able to find 5 homes in a row all in some state of foreclosure and buy them all up for a price that previously would buy one? No. Have the fundamentals of what makes Park City and Deer Valley a desirable place to live or vacation changed? Not at all!             For more information on Buying or Selling homes, condominiums and land in the Park City and Deer Valley Utah area contact the YouInParkCity.com Group.