The Park City real estate market is on fire.
Sales exploded with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, making 2020 the best year on record even as the economy as a whole entered a sharp downturn.
Park City Board of REALTORS President Mark Jacobsen told KPCW that the 2020 trends are continuing this year.
Inventory is shallow, with just 100 homes for sale. Usually, about 500 listings are available this time of the year.
"In the last 24 hours we had 12 new listings and 38 under-contracts,” he said. “But we're still seeing for every listing coming out, we're seeing at least a pending if not one and a half. Our inventory's so low."
Executive Director Jamie Johnson said even with low inventory, the pending sales for 2021 so far are higher than last year.
"Inventory is actually a little higher in numbers or how many new listings we had compared to this time last year,” Johnson said. “It's just that pendings are higher, so they're going off the market quicker."
The first-quarter sales numbers are up more than 50% over last year. Jacobsen said if inventories remain high enough, it could be another record-breaking year in real estate sales.
"For Park City proper right now, we're up 55%,” he said. “Our median price is $2,050,000. Our sales volume is up 163%, and our average is up 35%.”
Jacobsen explained the dynamics behind the trends, which include the trend toward working from home and a flow of new arrivals from California, Texas, New York, Arizona and Florida.
"We always have people that are downsizing, right,” he said. “Right now, they're looking at what they can make on their property, but they can't find a place to go. So, everything is moving outward. We have kind of the wheel effect where we're in the hub of Park City, and everything is moving out towards Heber and Jordanelle. Sky Ridge has been selling tons and tons of lots. And we're starting to see the houses go up over there. So, it's nice to see the developments there that are helping us push out."
Added to the heated real estate market is a housing shortage in Utah. The Park City Board of REALTORS has started conversations with Park City and Summit County on affordable housing challenges. They've recently done a phone survey, and they're gathering the data now. They plan to meet with housing authorities in May.
