All Blog Entries by Sean Matyja

We all have been in this very tough real estate market for many years now, too many years if you ask me! Here in Park City, Utah, we are in a unique market, in that most of our buyers are cash buyers, and most are purchasing a second, third, or even a fourth home - primarily for vacation use, and maybe some nightly rental use. So obviously we are dealing with a very high-end, very sophisticated, intelligent clientele. But I am continually amazed, at how blinded these potential buyers are when they see what they think is a great opportunity in a Short Sale, Foreclosure, Bank Owned and REO Property.

The reality is that these distressed properties are not always the best deals out there. At least, not from what we see in our little ski town real estate

INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE...Last week, more signs appeared that things are coming our way in housing. Wednesday the Census Bureau reported that the nation's home ownership rate moved up in the third quarter to 66.1%, slightly ahead of the prior quarter. Some commentators feel the three-year decline in home ownership might be starting to bottom out. Home ownership may have been encouraged by rising rents, with the vacancy rate now up to 9.8%.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) chimed in with a forecast that existing home sales should be up 1% this year, then up another 4.3% next year. Although the median price will fall slightly this year, it's predicted to rise 2.6% in 2012. New home sales, after dropping 4.7% this year, are projected to

SALES ACTIVITY REMAINS STRONG
Inventory Levels Decreasing

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
October 24, 2011 

Park City, Utah – Through the first three quarters of 2011 Park City continues to have one of the more active real estate markets in the state. Sales activity remains strong, which can be attributed to the positive economic conditions that exist in the State of Utah and reduced home, condo and vacant land prices. The strength of the tourism and resort industries, along with the quality of the public school system continues to draw real estate investment from primary and secondary residents. “We are seeing demand increase over the first three quarters of 2011 and inventory levels are down 9% with 2500 units currently on market compared to 2750

In Park City, Utah Halloween is a big deal, for kids, for big kids (adults) and even for pets! Each year there is a big parade and trick-or-treat event right on historic Main Street. The street is closed off for the afternoon, and it gives a great opportunity for the kids to get out and enjoy the Halloween fun before dark, and before it gets too cold (often can be quite cold or snowing on Halloween). For the parents it is a chance to see all the other parents and have fun together as one large group in a safe and fun setting. The stores are all involved, handing out candy and treats. Even the pets are in on it!  Some of the best costumes are on the dogs. Below is a picture of Heather with our dog Brinkley (a Bernese Mountain Dog) dressed up as a Lady

Interested in Park City Real Estate? View our real estate market update for January - September of 2011. Below are informative statistics and illustrated charts for our Park City and Deer Valley real estate markets. We have seen our units sales continue to be strong, but pricing has seemed to be bouncing along the bottom. Some areas are still moving down in pricing, but some are actually moving up a little. There are many factors to these numbers, so if you are interested in a particular area, or community, you need to contact us and we can get you the detailed information. The good news is we are seeing good sales activity, and have been quite busy this fall, which is normally the slowest time of the year! Park City is a great place, and we still have

Are you aware that the Park City Foundation’s Community Pass is available for only $8,000 and you may use $7,000 as a tax deductible contribution (see below)?  They only have 4 left for the upcoming ski season.

The Park City Board of REALTORS® are represented on the Park City Foundation’s Board of Directors by two of our own REALTORS®.  They are asking for our support for this worthwhile cause and suggested that this might be a great way to treat your clients, friends and family to skiing, snowboarding and golf...as well as making a wonderful contribution to the Park City Foundation.

Please consider purchasing a Community Pass... 

COMMUNITY PASS

SKI OUR SLOPES, GOLF OUR GREENS AND SUPPORT OUR LOCAL NONPROFITS.

The Community Pass, Summit

INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE...What didn't make sense last week was the way the media reported the latest housing data. Housing Starts were UP a strong 15% in September, hitting a 658,000 annual rate. But the media chose to emphasize that the gain was mostly from multi-family starts which shows a big trend toward renting. Actually, multi-family units also include condominiums, which do make sense for first time buyers who don't have to deal with selling. The media also skimmed over the data that single-family starts were UP almost 2% for the month and starts overall are UP over 10% versus a year ago.

Then, Existing Home Sales came in 3% lower for September. The media reports by and large neglected to mention that this slight monthly drop followed a big

Summit Sotheby’s International Realty is pleased to announce that David W. Johnson has recently joined Sotheby’s as their Managing Broker. David received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Utah. He has a very broad background in the real estate industry. David has managed his own title insurance and escrow company and is a past Director of the Utah Division of Real Estate. He is former legal counsel to the Utah Association of Realtors and to the Park City Board of Realtors. David has been primarily responsible for the development of most of the standardized real estate forms currently used by real estate agents and brokers in the State of Utah. David discontinued his law practice several years ago to accept an appointment as the

Governor Gary Herbert, a former real estate agent himself, speaks with Park City Board of Realtors.

Gov. Gary Herbert assured Park City real estate agents Thursday that he knows what they're going through and he's trying to help. A former broker, Herbert reminded a ballroom full of agents at Canyons how difficult it was to be in the industry during Utah's recession in the 1980s. "I have the scars to prove it," he said.

But Utah's economy is growing three times faster than the national average and that will return stability to the marketplace.

"I've never been more optimistic about our future," he said.

Herbert spent the majority of his time explaining his philosophy of how personal property rights and limited government support a strong economy and personal

Deer Valley Resort has been named the #1 ski resort in North America by the readers of SKI Magazine for an astonishing fifth year in a row. No other ski resort has earned this prestigious ranking more than three times in a row in the past. Remarkably, in the past eleven years, Deer Valley’s rating hasn’t dipped lower than third, with a #2 ranking in 2001/2002; a #1 ranking in 2002/2003; a #3 rating in 2003/2004; a #2 rating in 2004/2005; another #1 ranking in 2005/2006, a #2 rating in 2006/2007, and #1 rankings in the 2007/2008, 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and now 2011/2012 seasons.

“No other ski resort has accomplished anything close to this,” says Bob Wheaton, Deer Valley Resort president and general manager.

“And I think the reason is that no other