Canyons Resort Real Estate Prices and Vail Resorts

By Todd Anderson

May 31, 2013

The announcement that Vail Resorts will be the new operators of Canyons Resorts has been big news in Park City the past few days. There are many questions about how it will impact the resort employees at Canyons. The biggest question likely lies in the litigation over the land lease with Park City Mountain Resort, but we can’t answer that yet. Overall initial impressions thus far indicate that the change will be positive for Park City and a big plus for area skiers and snowboarders. How will it affect Park City real estate? <img src="http://blogs.realcove.com/youinparkcity/files/2013/05/RB_E0Q5385-300x200.jpg" alt="photo credit Canyons Resort and Rob Bossi http://canyonsresort.com photo credit Canyons Resort and Rob Bossi

Vail brings with it a large marketing presence and a huge database of skiers and snowboarders. Recently the resort operator has been shifting its model to focus efforts on resort revenue rather than real estate development. One of the main focus points of this effort is the Epic Pass. Vail Resorts will include Canyons in its Epic Pass program which offers skiers and snowboarders unlimited access to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Northstar, Heavenly and Kirkwood all for $689. The impact of this should be huge for Canyons which saw 450,000 skier days last season. The pass is sold to not just locals, but to skiers and snowboarders worldwide (last year saw buyers from 70 different countries). Anyone looking to ski a week at one of Vail Resorts operations can cut their vacation costs by purchasing an Epic Pass and open up the opportunity of skiing in Colorado, California, Utah, Austria and Switzerland all on one ticket. Go to Snow.com/epic-pass for more.

The impact of all the Epic Pass holders having essentially free lift passes at Canyons Resort as an added bonus to their pass purchase will undoubtedly bring more skiers and snowboarders to Park City. Home and condominium owners in Park City already know about the easy access and great offerings that are here, but this will open the area up to a whole new set of visitors. The added exposure to Canyons Resort and Park City will lead to increased demand for local real estate and drive up prices as well as add to the rental revenues of current owners.

There are many factors to real estate prices and we don’t have a crystal ball to see the future, but what Vail Resorts brings to Canyons and local Park City real estate should only prove positive.

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Tags: canyons, canyons resort, Epic, Park City, pass, Real Estate, Skiing, snowboarding, vail, Vail Resorts
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Canyons to be Operated by Vail Resorts

By Todd Anderson

May 29, 2013

Vail Resorts announced today that it has entered into a long term lease to assume all of the resort operations of Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah.

Vail lost out to Talisker a few years back in the bidding to purchase the resort, but is now coming back to take over the operations. Talisker Corporation has retained all of the development rights. In the original battle between Vail and Talisker for the purchase, Talisker’s lack of ski mountain operations background was a point of contention. In today’s press release Vail commended the work Talisker had done with $75M in improvements and other moves that had raised Canyons into the top ten ski resorts in North America as rated by the readers of Ski Magazine.

The website home page of Canyons Resort announces that “Utah is now Epic”. This refers to Canyons Resort being included as part of Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass which offers skiing and riding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Northstar, Heavenly, and Kirkwood all for $689 (20% below the price of a Canyons Resort pass last year).

The press release states that the companies agreed to a fifty year lease with six fifty year options to renew at a price of $25 Million per year plus a yearly increase and portion of EBITDA.

The agreement also includes the land which Talisker currently leases to Park City Mountain Resort. The leased land is mentioned as potential lease without additional consideration. The litigation between Talisker and Park City Mountain Resort is ongoing. The chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts is quoted as saying he hopes “Vail Resorts can play a constructive role in helping to arrive at a solution that offers the best outcome for guests of both resorts”. Great news for skiers and snowboarders at Canyons and Park City, but a questionable phrase for Powder Corp (Owner of Park City Mountain Resort).

Park City as a whole should only benefit from what Vail Resorts brings in terms of marketing and resort operation expertise.

Tags: canyons, Epic, Park City, resort, Ski, snowboard, Talisker, Utah, vail
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Park City Realty versus Other Ski Towns

By Todd Anderson

Aug 22, 2012

Park City is a member of the Western Mountain Resort Alliance which gathers quarterly to discuss and share real estate information in the ski towns of Vail, Steamboat, Sun Valley, Whistler, Big Sky, Jackson Hole and Lake Tahoe. The most recent meeting provided some interesting real estate activity information for the ski towns of the west.

WRMA ski town resorts including Park City, UT and Vail CO

Inventory levels in all of the resort areas providing data fell versus last year (and 2011 had shown a similar decrease in inventory levels). Similarly, all of the resorts reported an increase in the number of sales (with the exception of Park City which reported the same number of sales in the first 2 quarters of 2012 as in 2011). Changes in prices varied among the resorts, but Park City, Vail and Lake Tahoe all reported relatively small changes when compared to 2011.

The resort areas of Park City, UT, Vail, CO and Lake Tahoe, CA appear quite similar statistically. The real estate markets in each of these resort areas are much larger in terms of available inventory, sales, and number of active agents than the other resorts that participate in the WMRA. The average sales price in each of these three resort towns for homes and condominiums showed little variance between 2011 and 2012 (less than 2%).

Statistically the resorts are showing signs of price stability and the decreasing inventories are making it tougher for buyers to find what they want which should in time lead to increasing prices. Many of the real estate markets in California are showing signs of improvement and the fact that all of these resorts see many visitors and second homeowners from California should also lead to increasing demand.

While some people may try and make decisions based on resort real estate values, comparing the different resorts and their real estate values doesn’t make much sense. Each resort has its pros and cons and these vary for the individual purchasing or selling in each area. But seeing the similar trends in pricing and sales currently may signal a bottom of the market.

For more information specific to the Park City, UT area and local Park City real estate values contact a professional with the YouInParkCity.com Group at (888)968-4672 or send us an email at info@YouInParkCity.com.

Tags: inventory, lake tahoe, Park City, prices, Real Estate, realty, ski towns, UT, vail, values, WMRA
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Ski Resort Real Estate: Park City or Vail

By Todd Anderson

Nov 13, 2011

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.

Tags: CO, comparison, condominiums, homes, Park City, Real Estate, resort, sold, UT, vail, value
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Rocky Mountain Resort Alliance Statistics

By Todd Anderson

May 06, 2009

The Park City Board of Realtors welcomed speakers from the Rocky Mountain Resort Alliance (RMRA) at its monthly luncheon last week. The alliance is made up of the Boards of Realtors from destination ski towns in the western United States. The alliance includes Park City, Utah, Sun Valley, Idaho, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Whistler, BC, Aspen, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Telluride, Summit County, and Winter Park, CO. Speakers were present from Lake Tahoe area of California as well as Vail, Co and Jackson Hole, WY. The real estate sales statistics for first quarter of 2009 were presented to the Park City Board attendees for each area in the Alliance. A quick look at the statistics gives an immediate sense of "misery loves company". Statistics across the board show sales figures being down from 50% to 75% along with falling median sales prices. There does not seem to be any area that is immune to the effects of the National and International economic downturns especially since it is combined with the current squeeze on credit markets. The interesting part of the meeting was the discussion that followed. It was noted by each of the speakers that there were bright spots and areas (price ranges) that are seeing activity. Much of the activity is in the lower and entry level end. Some areas also noted sales activity on the very high end of the market. Many of the "bright spots" in the current market may be attributed to the small sample size we are dealing with when looking at the latest quarter statistics. The speakers all seemed to agree that there are many "lookers" in the current market and that while many people are waiting for the bottom, there is a sense of pent-up demand. All of the resort towns in the Rocky Mountain Resort Alliance seemed to agree that it is a Buyers market and Park City real estate is right in step with the others. Increased inventories and few sales are leading to strong values in the secondary home and vacation markets. For more information; contact your YouinParkcity.com Keller Williams Park City Real estate Agent.

Tags: alliance, aspen, CO, jackson, market, Park City, prices, Real Estate, realtors, resort, Rocky Mountain, sales, statistics, sun valley, Utah, vacation, vail
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