WAIT!….Give it a week….interest rates slightly up

STOP…before you lock in that loan….

NOTE:
Due to inflation concerns 30 year fixed rates jumped to just over 6% (6.03%) last week for the first time in a month and a half.

The 15 year fixed is at 5.62%, up .22%, abs the 5 year ARM is up .2% to 5.68%.

While these are still historically low, you might want to wait a week or two before locking in a rate.

So give a little pause if you’re about to finalize the terms of your loan…waiting just a few days might really shave some points off for you!

Keep checking back to our blog for more valuable tips not only on the Park City Real Estate Market but also on all of the issues related to doing your deals.

A Quick Update…..Happy Weekend To Everyone!

Hope everyone had a great week!
In the past day we have seen 42 properties come on the market, 14 close, and 8 go under contract.

Of note:
PENDING:
-Hidden Meadows home in Lower Deer Valley for $1.71m; 4bd/3ba, 4100 sq ft
-Stonebridge condo in Lower Deer Valley at $649k; 3bd/3ba, 2505 sq ft

CLOSED:
-Empire Pass at Deer Valley in the Paintbrush neighborhood at $5.85m; 5bd/6ba, 4418 sq ft. Coming in at $1324ppsf….Empire Pass is getting it done!
-Hidden Meadows lot only on the market 45 days at $1.1m for one and a half acres…Deer Valley is holding one strong.
-Maple Ridge Ranch home at $2.4m; 5bd/ba, 6800 sq ft…There seems to be activity in that development (located north of Kamas) as well.

We will look at the City Council update on Monday as well as news from Promontory.

MORE SNOW IN PARK CITY and an interesting development comparison

Well guess what?!?!? It’s snowing like MAD in Park City and it’s practically May!
Rob and I are both hard at work recently….him on some contracts and developments Snow Park is working on and me on some things with the St. Regis project here at Deer Crest.
Park City is incredible today….the snow is coming down like crazy, inches and inches….and just as we were beginning to see the green again……but I can’t complain – we’re planning on skiing at Snowbird this weekend!
Below is a very interesting comparison Rob did of two big developments in Park City: Promontory and Glenwild. There are plenty of perceptions out there regarding both of these developments but this grid helps to sort it out somewhat….

click on the image below to get a better view…..

What’s Happening at the Yarrow and Some Tips for Taking Your House Green

Local News:

-The owners of the Yarrow Hotel on Park Ave. (next to Albertson’s) have made it clear that they wish to raze the hotel and replace it with a swankier lodge. This could take place as soon as 2010. The new building would have meeting and convention space like the old one, but would look to add a spa and other upscale ammenities. The Yarrow would also look to be a condo-hotel, which allows the owners to sell units inside and the owners place the units in a rental program (which can be tricky in and of itself). The question is how will the consumer react to this new project? The Yarrow is a mid-level hotel, and can’t attract the clientele and prices of the slopeside high-end projects. However, it could be a good corner stone for NOMA (North of Main Street Area) if things work out.

-Some locals are grabbing up sand bags as they prepare for a huge melt-off this winter. There could be some minor flooding, but if we see the weather get hot quickly and get a little rain on top of that then who knows how severe it could be….if you are a second home owner and you would like us to ride by and check out your home to see if water is creaping up, just call me at 435.729.0022.

-Check back in on Friday to get an update on the City Council meeting on the Park City Heights project….it should be interesting to here what the council has to say about the development. If approved it may show a shift in the City’s approach to development

Going Green:
With more and more of a focus of sustainability and “going green”, we thought we’d pass a few options for you to put into use in your own home. Here are some tips from Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH).
Selected technologies have notable strengths in one or more of the following areas: quality and durability; energy efficiency; environmental performance; safety and disaster mitigation; and affordability.
PATH Top 10
1. Sealing Air Leaks: Spray expanding foam or blow fibers such as cellulose into cavities to better insulate the home.
2. Smartvent Ventilation/ Ventilation Control System: New mechanical ventilators can monitor the humidity outside and inside the crawl space, then initiate air exchange when there is an imbalance.
3. HVAC Sizing – Right-sized HVAC: New guidelines help contractors better estimate HVAC equipment needs.
4. High Efficiency Toilets: They use about 20% less water per flush than standard toilets.
5. Compact Fluorescent Lighting: They use 50-80% less energy and last up to 10 times longer than standard light bulbs.
6. High Performance Windows/Storm Windows: Look for the u-value on the window label; the lower, the better.
7. Wireless Lighting, Thermostats, and Other Controls: “Smart” lighting and climate programs make it easy to save energy.
8. Solar Hot Water: Heat water with minimal assistance from gas or electricity.
9. Recycled/ Renewable Flooring: Bamboos, cork and eucalyptus can last as long as traditional hardwood, and reclaimed planks can be more durable than newer ones.
10. Tubular Skylights: These capture and reflect sunlight but don’t gain or lose heat like most skylights.

The Baldy Balderdash and the Market Stays Hot in Deer Valley Even as the Weather Cools

Rob and I spent this past Sunday in Sun Valley, Idaho for a special ski day with friends.

There’s an event in Sun Valley every year where a “private ski day” is raffled off. Anyone can buy tickets to the raffle and the winner gets to invite 200 friends to the Sun Valley ski resort for a private day on the mountain which they call the “Baldy Balderdash”. Luckily, Rob and I were invited!

So yesterday we spent the afternoon skiing on a practically empty mountain. AND – they provided a delicious lunch to boot!

We had a blast and were super grateful for the extra ski day we got to add in to our year totals…..since our local ski resorts have already closed for the year.

Now we are hot to trot to get an event like this one implemented here in Park City…..keep your ears to the ground…..

In terms of an update, over the weekend we saw 39 new properties come on the market, 14 close, and 15 go under contract.

Of note:
PENDING
-Single family home in the Oaks in Deer Valley at $3.55m; 6010 sq ft, 5bd/6ba….$590 ppsf is pretty good for this Lower Deer Valley Seller.
-Silver Strike Lodge condo in Deer Valley’s Empire Pass at $2.375m; 1697 sq ft, 2bd/3ba. That’s $1400 ppsf folks! We are seeing Empire Pass and Deer Crest properties continue to get unheard of numbers for the Park City area.

CLOSED
-Larkspur town-home in Deer Valley’s Empire Pass at $4.315m; 3614 sq ft, 4bd/5ba….again over $1000 ppsf and a Talisker Club membership to boot!!!
-Chateaux at Silver Lake condo at $1.350m; 1409 sq ft, 2bd/3ba.
-Town Lift condo on Park City’s Main St at $735,000; 1109 sq ft, 2bd/2ba
-2 Silver Star condo’s (ski in/ski out to Park City Mountain Resort) both around $1.1m for 1950 sq ft and 2bd/2ba.
-Lower Deer Valley Comstock Lodge unit at $715,000; 1264 sq ft, 2bd/2ba.

Pleny of Buyers for Deer Valley & Deals to be Had at Tuhaye

Going on in the Park City Real Estate market in the past day or so, there have been 25 properties come on the market, 18 go pending, and 12 close.

Of note:

PENDING:
-Golf Club Cabin at Promontory at $2,250,000; 3460 sq ft, 4bd/6ba. Looks like there are still buyers, even though a cloud still hangs over the ownership. We seem to think that this change in ownership will be beneficial to the club in the long run.
-Lot at the Colony at the Canyon Ski resort for $1,895,000.
-Queen Esther unit in Lower Deer Valley at $759,000; 1548 sq ft, 2bd/2ba. People are buying in Deer Valley!

CLOSED:
-April Mtn town-home at $1,700,000; 4130 sq ft, 5 bd/ba, and was listed at $1,895,000, and on the market for almost a year.
-Tuhaye lot at $550,000, which includes the $100,000 Talisker Club membership. There are still good deals to be had out there!
-Aspen Springs home at $1,562,000; 5568 sq ft, 4bd/6ba….only on the market for 63 days!

In other Park City news, Planning Commissioner, Michael O’Hara, has resigned from the Park City Planning Commission. It seems he had been contemplating the move for the past 6 months, and did not whole heartily agree with the Park City Heights development on HWY 248.

Skiing Until JULY & RED HOT DEALS at Local Restaurants

UPDATE:
We can’t get rid of this snow!
While it is not good for the golf courses, a few of the ski resorts have stayed open , and maybe we can hit the slopes in the Cottonwood Canyons over the next few weekends. We might be skiing Snowbird until JULY!!!

In the past day or so we have seen 35 properties come on the market, 7 close, and 11 go under contract.

Of note:

PENDING:
-New Construction in Old Town Park City on Woodside Ave is under contract at $6,500,000; 5560 sq ft, 4bd/5ba, that is a whopping $1169 ppsf!

CLOSED:-Solamere home at $2,450,000; 6051 sq ft, 6bd/7ba. It was only under contract for 15 days and they closed with cash.
-Stag Lodge unit in Upper Deer Valley (ski in/ski out) at $2,200,000; 2228 sq ft, 3bd/4ba. We are at $987 ppsf on that one.
-Upper Deer Valley single family home at $5,410,250; 8254 sq ft, 6bd/9ba.
-Historic/remodel home in Old Town Park City on Woodside Ave at $759,050; 1872 sq ft, 3bd/3ba. Nice investment for the buyer who remodels this one and sells it in a few years. Probably a 2 year project, but they are looking at doubling this sales price…as the home that just went pending (see above) is at $1169 ppsf and this one is only at $405 ppsf.

As Park City locals know, Spring brings lots of great deals at the restaurants here as ski season closes and business slows down.

Here’s a quick list of the the offerings the local restaurants are putting up during the off-season:
-Jean Louis: Closed Mon. & Tues.; offering 20% off all food.
-Mustang: Open everyday; offering 2 entrees for the price of 1
-Oishi Sushi: Open everyday; 50% off all rolls
-Chimayo: Closed Sun. & Mon.-Grappa: Closed until May 8th-Washo: Closed until May 15th
-Yuki Arashi: Reopens April 18th; offering local’s 5 course meal for $22.
-Shabu: Open; offering 2 for 1s

Goings On at Quinn’s Junction and The Montage

A few updates regarding developments around town:
-Boyer Plumb Park City, the developers of Park City Heights at Quinn’s Junction, made it through the Park City Planning Commission on a 5-0 with there bid to get the project annexed into the city. The plan is to build 157 regular priced units and 116 affordable housing units on 287 acres at the intersection of US-40 and SR 248.
Next up, the City Council will vote whether to actually annex the property or not. They will take into consideration the Planning Commission’s recommendation. Boyer Plumb will more than likely loose some density in its next round with the city, and then face many more hurdles with the project’s design.

-The Montage at Empire Pass in Deer Valley was issued a building permit for framing and outside walls…for a cool $55.3 million. This boosts dollar value in building permits to slightly under the same mark as through March of 2007, which was a record year. The Montage is the anchor hotel of the massive Empire Pass development in Deer Valley. To learn more about the Montage, email us or check out http://www.snowpark.com/developments/montage.htm

That is all for now…we’ll have market updates for y’all tomorrow. If you are out on your bikes tonight, do not wear white -we’ve got a WHITE OUT here in Park City. It’s Tax Day and we are having a blizzard! This snow season just won’t quit! Why oh why did Deer Valley have to close LAST WEEKEND while we were out of town!?!?!?!? Living in a place like Park City it’s just really hard to get enough 🙂

Old Town and Glenwild are Poppin!

While we were in New Orleans, all 3 ski areas in Park City closed for the season despite all of them having over 120 inch bases!

The season was one of the best in memory even though we had somewhat of a late start.

It was not until January that we had great powder days, but once they started they did not seem to stop….we even skied powder the last week of the ski season!

Although the numbers are not in, Deer Valley looks to be on pace to have its fourth year in a row with record attendance.

In Real Estate happenings over the past few days:
15 properties went pending, 16 new ones came on the market, and 13 closed.

We saw a good bit of activity in Old Town and Glenwild still seems to be quit active….of note:
-April Mtn home went under contract. Listed at $2.995m (6617 sq ft, 4bd/4ba)
-Woodside Ave historic home is pending. $799,000 (1872 sq ft, 3bd/3ba)
-Calendonian unit on Main St is under contract. $3.9m (3321 sq ft, 5bd/6ba)
-Ontario Ave home only on the market a week or so is pending. $2.495m (3432 sq ft, 4bd/5ba)
-Glenwild home is under contract. $1,799m (4587 sq ft, 4bd/5ba)
-Promontory home came on the market at $4.395m (10007 sq ft, 6bd/6ba)…They are looking for a quick sale!
-Aerie home is also active at $3.7m (5146 sq ft, 4bd/4ba)….That’s $719ppsf! Whoa!
-2 Silver Star units closed. Both at 3700 sq ft, 4bd/6ba, $2.1m and $2.4m
-Park Ave home closed at $1.3m (1985 sq ft, 4bd/4ba)

Even as we are moving into the “mud season”, there is still some activity in the market….especially Old Town and Glenwild. Please contact us with any questions and check out our properties in Old Town and Glenwild ,the #1 golf course in Utah, at http://www.snowpark.com/newhomes/

A Little Positive Info For a Monday Morning

This update is a little delayed due to the fact that Rob and I took a little trip to New Orleans to attend the wedding of a friend. We had a great time in the “Big Easy” but as usual we are grateful to be back home!

At the end of last week, the Park City market saw 10 closings, 13 properties go pending, and 47 new on the market.

Of note:
-Lower Deer Valley Fawngrove unit had a $50,000 price reduction to $945k.
-Shooting Star condo in Empire Pass at Deer Valley came on the market at $2.275m (2114 sq ft, 3bd/4ba)
-1.47 acre Glenwild lot #150 is active at $890,000

-2 different cottages at Tuhaye closed one for $1,549,370 (2753 sq ft, 3bd/3ba) and the other at $2,355,345 (4940 sq ft, 6bd/7ba)
-Ski in/Ski out Silver Star condo at Park City Mountain Resort closed at $985,000 (1420 sq ft, 2bd/3ba)
-Another Deer Valley Solamere home went under contract at $2,698,000 (6051 sq ft, 6bd/7ba)
-Silver Strike at Empire Pass in Deer Valley unit is pending at $2,225,000 (1697 sq ft, 2bd/3ba)
-Cottage at Tuhaye went under contract for $2,255,490 (3834 sq ft, 5bd/5ba)
-Townhome at April Mountain went pending at $1,895,000 (4130 sq ft, 5bd/ba)

I love going through this information and realizing that there is positive growth in our market. Sometimes it’s so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of negative thinking these days. I think by focusing on the positive aspects of our business we can all stand to benefit.

Happy Monday!