The Park City, UT housing market is often thought of as being different than the rest of the country due to its luxury resort nature, but many of the indicators housing experts are pointing to in the rest of the country are mirrored closely here in Park City. A Wall Street Journal article today titled ‘Housing Ends Slide but Faces a Long Bottom’ notes gains being made in the construction of new homes in the US Market. Locally in Park City, construction of new homes has yet to rebound, but the combination of lower building lot prices and construction costs has many Buyers weighing new-builds versus purchasing previously owned homes. This trend is even more prevalent in the outlying areas of Park City such as Midway, Heber and Kamas where new home offerings can be found for less than $100 per square foot.

 

Shadow inventory, tenuous job growth and the likelihood of mortgage rates rising in the future are cited as possible stumbling blocks to the recovery, but the overall tone of the article is positive and while it doesn’t suggest a rebound in pricing, it does see the market at or near the bottom.

 

An article also from the Wall Street Journal Friday April 27 entitled ‘Stunned Home Buyers Find the Bidding Wars Are Back’ notes that the current lack of supply in the housing market has people offering prices above list for homes in some parts of the country. The article notes that at the height of the housing crisis in 2008 inventory was at an 11.1 month’s supply and that number currently is 6.3 nationally. That represents a 40+% reduction; Park City real saw a peak of nearly 3600 listed properties and now has just 2100 listed across the MLS also a 40% reduction in inventory. Multiple offers and prices being bid up are common with bank REO properties and it is also seen in any aggressively priced property. The prices are not coming near peak levels, and Park City buyers are well in tune with what is a good deal; buyers are aggressively pursuing these deals.

 

While the Park City real estate market has seen a drop in inventory, the drop in inventory and changes in price have not been equal across all areas of town or all price points. For a report specific to the Park City neighborhood or home value that interests you most contact a realty professional with YouInPakCity.com at (888)968-4672.