If you plan to buy a home in the Park City area, be prepared to shell out a lot of money — that is, if you can find one that hasn’t been snapped up already.

The median price of a single-family home within Park City limits rose to $2.9 million in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, a 28% increase over the previous yearlong period. In Kamas Valley, the median price reached $905,000, a jump of 57%.

Condominiums in Jordanelle went for a median price of $776,938, up 21%.

Buyers who couldn’t find an existing home to their liking and decided to have one built paid a median price of $490,000 for land in Summit and Wasatch counties, a jump of 71%, according to data in a report on the real estate market from the Park City Board of Realtors. The number of lots sold, 1,309, was a 76% increase over the previous year.

The report says a “remarkable rise” in the number of homes sold and their sale prices began in mid-2020 and continued through this year’s third quarter, July through September.

“Sales prices showed strong appreciation with increases in both average (Up 26%) and median (Up 17%) prices as well as dollar volume (Up 80%) across the primary market of Summit and Wasatch Counties,” the report says.

The price appreciation is driven by a dearth of homes for sale, according to the report.

In May 2020, active listings peaked at a little more than 2,000 and the number has been decreasing since then. At the end of September 2021, there were 394 residential properties for sale across the marketplace, an 80% drop from the year before, the report says.

In the third quarter of this year, there were 884 new residential listings and 1,078 purchase contracts signed, which equaled a nearly 30% drop to historic lows from 1,243 and 1,506, respectively, in the third quarter of 2020.

Because pending sales were higher than new listings, available inventory started to shrink even more dramatically and the few homes coming on the market were purchased almost immediately, the report says.

Rick Klein, a local lender, says in the report that the 2021 third-quarter performance is “nothing short of stunning in its scope.”

As an example, Klein notes that at the end of the second quarter this year, the median price of a single-family home in Park City was a little more than $2.7 million and the average time a home sat on the market was 1 1/2 months. Homes priced below the median sold on average in 24 days and those above the median sold in a little longer than two months, he said.

At the end of the third quarter, the median price was $2.9 million and homes sold on average in 12 days or two months, depending on their price, according to Klein.

The report predicts that when 2021 ends, the market will have set a record for number of homes sold, total sales volume and average and median price appreciation.

Mark Jacobson, president of the Park City Board of Realtors, expects the trend of rising prices and more sales to continue in 2022.

The pandemic has played a huge role in these real estate trends, Jacobson said. People who work remotely are now able to be in the mountains, where they normally would only vacation, he said.

“There are people that have retired early and this is where they wanted to live,” Jacobson said. “There have also been quite a few that have upsized from the vacation condo to a home. Many buyers are moving out of the big cities or states where their tax situation affects their lives and have chosen Park City for not only the outdoor lifestyle but Utah for low income taxes, property taxes and utility costs.”

Other observations in the report by Park City agents include:

• Sellers are getting more aggressive as the market continues to expand. “When we see offers that fall out followed immediately by a list price increase, we know we’re in a hot market,” the report says.

• Park Meadows replaced Prospector as the most stable neighborhood in the Park City area, with prices for single-family homes remaining relatively stable compared to other highly appreciating neighborhoods.

• It was a banner year for golf course communities, which helped nearby areas because buyers who couldn’t find what they wanted on the course looked next door.

• New construction in the Park City area has risen to $1,500 to $2,500 per square feet for single-family homes, a market high.