YOUR AD HERE »

Park City Home: The Price of Popularity

Statistics show that Park City real estate is not for the faint of heart

Looking for a home? You might have to look harder.

Everyone who’s recently purchased property in Park City, or even spent a minute glancing at local real estate listings, knows that this is an expensive place in which to settle. Over the last year and a half, the numbers have gotten truly stratospheric.

According to the Park City Board of Realtors, in the second quarter of 2021 the median price of a single-family home within the Park City Limits rose to $2.75 million. That compares to $1.82M in Santa Monica, $1.7M in Vail, and $2.3M in Greenwich, Connecticut. At the end of the second quarter of 2020, average time of a property on the market was 7.8 months. A year later, average market time is 45 days.

Home prices rose in all 50 states between the first quarters of 2020 and 2021, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. And Utah was second only to Idaho in housing appreciation; according to bankrate.com’s Housing Heat Index, the state’s home values jumped 28% in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2021. Bankrate.com ranked Utah as the nation’s number one housing market, thanks to strong job growth, low state and local taxes, low mortgage rates, and few delinquencies. Let’s dig into the details.



Big ticket sales
Within Park City Limits, the number of total single-family home sales more than doubled over 2020, to 367. Meanwhile, the sales volume tripled, from $390 million last year to $1.2 billion this year.

All neighborhoods saw a massive price increase. In Old Town, the median single-family home price topped $2.1 million. In the exclusive Aerie neighborhood, the median price more than doubled year-to-year, to $3.4 million. Snyderville’s median price rose 37%, to $1.75 million, while sales also spiked around the Jordanelle reservoir: In the Tubaye/Hideout area, the median rose 40% to $2.4 million. The number of sales units in Promontory went up a staggering 118%, but the dollar volume saw an even more impressive 154% hike.



Other neighborhoods that saw their year-over-year numbers double, both in terms of sales and in volume were Thanes Canyon, Deer Valley (upper and lower), Deer Crest, Canyons Village, Old Ranch Road, Glenwild, and Heber East. In the overall region, the number of single-family unit sales went up 65%, with median prices rising 58%.

Cashing in on condos
There’s plenty of activity in the condo market as well, as Old Town prices rose 14% to $702,000, and sales shot up an impressive 66%. In Prospector, which had seen sales drop in two previous quarters, volume rose 27%. Meanwhile, the ski-in, ski-out condos at Deer Valley’s Empire Pass saw sales more than quadruple, with prices climbing to $2.93 million, up 46% from the previous year.

Wasatch County neighborhoods fared almost as well. Jordanelle Park, Tuhaye, Hideout, and Red Ledges all saw gains of 100% — or more — in units sold, with Red Ledges’ median price hitting $900,000. And beyond, Sun Peak/Bear Hollow sales more than doubled.

Custom customers
The lack of inventory revealed just how serious people are about putting down Park City roots: despite what the National Association of Homebuilders says was a 300% surge in lumber prices from April 2020 to May 2021, overall land sales in Summit and Wasatch counties were up 129%. As would be expected, the median sales price for lots was also up — 28%, to $363,800.

It’s been noted that the amount of vacant land purchased in the past
18 months represents 4 to 5 years of historic sales. The Board of Realtors speculates that this may be investors looking for a safe place to put their money, as much as those who intend to actually build.

The takeaway
It’s not always easy being the most popular kid in school. According to the Park City Board of Realtors, sellers are encountering more buyer resistance as shoppers react to the unprecedented price increases. That means although plenty of people are looking for a home, there are fewer written offers, as buyers wait to see if the market will dip.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Park City and Summit County make the Park Record's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.