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Real estate prices up in Park City area

The amount of home sales — and their prices — continue to go up in the Park City area as 2015 is nearing a close.

According to numbers released by the Park City Board of Realtors, the greater Park City area has seen a 12-percent increase in single-family homes, condominiums and vacant land sales through the first three quarters of the year. Prices have shot up by 10 percent compared to 2014.

Nancy Tallman, president of the Board of Realtors, said that both figures have trended upward despite a problem that has plagued Park City’s real estate market since the recession: a lack of inventory.

"Our sales are definitely up year-over-year, but because we have low inventory, it’s probably constraining our sales," she said.

The large disparity in median sales price between the Snyderville Basin and Park City proper is one of the most interesting developments that have come to the forefront this year, Tallman said. The median sales price of single-family homes in the Basin spiked 20 percent, to $875,000, while the price rose in Park City at a more steady 7 percent ($1.39 million).

Large spikes in sales price are not typically considered good for the market, but Tallman said the jump in the Basin was not worrisome. She attributed the rising prices to increased demand, spurred by the fact that homes there are still more affordable than ones in Park City. Additionally, Kimball Junction has turned into a de facto second city center, which has given people more reason to choose the Basin.

"Generally, the increases are more similar in both areas, like they’ll both increase 5 percent or 6 percent or whatever it is," she said. "Perhaps those homes (in the Basin) were undervalued. There were some good values, underpriced inventory that people snatched up. And then the next homes that came on were priced a little higher, but obviously people are still seeing it as more affordable as being in town, which caused a big demand in the Basin."

While the market remains steady — and could grow on its own in the coming years as new construction is surging for the first time since the recession — Tallman is looking toward the future. She said a big snow year could mean big things for real estate.

"We’ll see a lot of visitors come to town because of Vail (Resorts) and people wanting to check out the new resort," Tallman said. "I think that will really help our resort market tremendously, just by bringing a lot of people into town. They’re going to realize how easy it is to get here and how appealing it is. And demand would drive prices up."


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