Rob Alday & Rachel Peterman

changing leaves in Park City, Utah

Not like it's a big surprise but....Deer Valley once again took the top spot for the nations best ski resort, according to Ski Magazine. NICE!

It is the fourth time in the last eight years the magazine's readers have put Deer Valley on top, edging out one of its fiercest competitors, Vail Resort for the second year in a row.

According to Deer Valley's Director of Marketing Coleen Reardon, the resort's secret weapon is its guest services. "I think it's our services, the way we provide the whole vacation experience." Reardon says she also believes that the price gap among the country's top ski areas has narrowed, "so people are realizing Deer Valley's value."

Rob and I can't help but agree with Reardon and Ski Magazine...WE LOVE DEER VALLEY! Rob skis there about six days a week in-fact, all season long, and I at least make it out there for the weekends. We both feel that Deer Valley offers amazing slopes both for expert skiers (like Rob - the pseudo Mountain Host and for intermediate skiers (like me) who like to ski the blue runs and whoosh along making turns and taking in the to-die-for scenery.

Plus - Deer Valley has some great food in thier on-property lodges, and Stein Erikson's bar area has a great menu as well - the Bloody Mary's are a must! And if that's not enough, the St. Regis Resort & Residences will be opening for the season after next and they will be slopeside as well. Since the St. Regis in New York INVENTED the Bloody Mary, I am waiting with baited breath for the opening of that bad-boy!

And if all this doesn't make you go out and buy a plane ticket for the upcoming ski season (and also book an appointment while you're in town to have Rob and I take you around to find the perfect property so you too can own a little piece of heaven) then hear this! Park City Mountain Resort was also rated in the top five of Ski Magazine's list. And they got the number ONE spot for Accessibility which makes some serious sense considering that PCMR visitors can ski right down the slopes and onto Main Street in Park City...talk about accesible....PAH-LEASE!

So as you can tell we are getting excited for ski season already and we will be encouraging you to do the same. Deer Valley is the best place I've ever skied and I love to hear when the powers-that-be agree with me. So take a look around our site and feel free to email us with your questions. And when that's all said and done, get online, book your tickets and plan your trip to the best place in the world to ski. Let us know you're coming and we'll meet you at Stein's for some Wild Game Chili and a drink!

Happy Friday!

The weather today is a little grey here in Park City....it kinda makes me want to crawl into bed and watch TV...wait - better make that a movie, considering the fact that if I have to hear one more newscast about Sarah Palin - I might explode...we need some new material folks!

So how does everyone like our new blog layout? I'm still working diligently on it but we figured we'd get something up and running in the meantime. We've got some really great pages to add so keep checking back...a lot...feel free to stop by the site 4, 5, 6 times a day if you like that's how I do it with Perezhilton.com...I can't deny myself the simple pleasures of my favorite blogs...

Now here's why you're really here - to read Rob's updates with the interesting info you're looking for...read on!

With the Federal bailout of Fannie and Freddy, mortgage rates have taken a sharp and sudden downward turn. The 30 year rate is down to 5.88% from 6.2%....the question remains, when will the banks start lending???

Here is a Park City market update:

Over the past few days we have seen 34 properties come on the market, 16 go under contract, and 12 close escrow. The high notes are:

ACTIVE:
-Pinnacle unit in Deer Valley selling one-sixth ownership for $279,000....this idea of breaking an individual unit into fifths or sixths is gaining in popularity among sellers.
-Lookout at Deer Valley at $3.44m; 4bd/5ba, 4317 sq ft, $796psf....they are still trying to get a high ppsf up there.
-Silver Lake/Upper Deer Valley home at $4.5m; 4bd/2ba, 5000 sq ft, $900psf....2 baths? and $900psf???
-Escala Lodges at the Canyons at $1.395m; 2bd/3ba, 1740 sq ft, $801psf....seems a little steap.

PRICE CHANGE:
-Greyhawk unit on Deer Valley Drive for $439,000 (down $50,000); 2bd/2ba, 1027 sq ft, $427psf....good buy on this one.
-Thayne's Canyon home down $200,000 to $999,000; 3bd/3ba, 3818 sq ft, $262psf.....great buy, but needs a large remodel....Even lots in town do not get much better than this.
-Promontory lot down $150,000 to $549,000....another good buy at on of the best developments around....people will be kicking themselves in 12 to 18 months from now for not picking up some of these deals at Promontory.

UNDER CONTRACT:
-Deer Valley home in Hidden Meadows for $2m; 5bd/5ba, 4752 sq ft, $421psf...Deer Valley is still trucking along.
-Another Deer Valley home at $1.795m; 4bd/5ba, 5573 sq ft, $322psf...a real steal!
-Caledonian unit on Main St in Old Town Park City at $2.1m; 3bd/4ba, 1992 sq ft, $1052psf...that is a big ppsf.
-Red Ledges lot at $575,000....they have been doing well this summer.

SOLD:
-Mountain Ranch Estates home at $1.3m; 5bd/5ba, 5048 sq ft, $258psf!
-Red Ledges lot for $500,000.
-Glenwild lot at $625,000...we are seeing some movement in lots out there.
-Old Town lot at $402,189...so much for an Old Town lot being worth $500,000...in this market it looks more like $400k.

Tags: blog layout, Deer Valley, Glenwild, grey hawk, lookout, market update, movie, Old Town, park city, parkcitywire, Promontory, real estate, rob and rachel, sarah palin, talisker, tuhaye

Existing-home sales rose in July to the highest level in five months, although they continue to be well below the numbers from last year at this time, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Existing-home sales including single-family, townhomes, and condominiums increased 3.1 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million units from a downwardly revised level of 4.85 million in June. Sales were 13.2 percent lower than the 5.76 million-unit pace in July 2007.

Many people might be bashing these numbers, because they say 40% of these sales were foreclosures....but don't the foreclosures need to get out of the marketplace before we can move on???

Just speaking locally, we have seen activity in the market drop this year, but the prices have appreciated a few percentage points. If we could get some of the "fence-sitters" to pull the trigger I think we would be doing just fine. There are a ton of lookers, but people seem to be gun-shy. This should probably change in the next 6 to 9 months though. Stay positive!

In the past few days we have seen 44 properties come on the market, 18 go under contract, and 21 close escrow. The notable ones are:

NEWLY ACTIVE:
-Silver Star ski in/ski out at Park City Mountain Resort for $3.15m; 6bd/7ba, 3690 sq ft, $854psf....let's keep our eyes to see what this one does...at over $3m it is a big number, but where else can you get a 6 bedroom ski in/ski out home around $3m in Park City???
-Glenwild home at $3.875m; 6bd/7ba, 7710 sq ft, $503psf....priced just right in of Utah's best communities.
-Promontory home at $4.29m; 4bd/7ba, 7563 sq ft, $567psf....we actually built this home and it is no $4m home in this market....$3.5m???, now that makes more since. Especially since it was bought for under $3M about 2 and a half years ago!
-Tuhaye home at $3.7m; 5bd/7ba, 7300 sq ft, $507 psf...seems priced right, but the inventory keeps building up out there.
-Another Tuhaye home (see my point above regarding inventory) for $3.99m; 5bd/7ba, 6200 sq ft, $644psf....with all that inventory and the lack of activity I don't know where you get over $640psf from???

PRICE CHANGE:
-Old Town home down $700,000 from its original price to $3.7m; 4bd/5ba, 3401 sq ft, $1088psf...looks like this might need to come down a bit more, but they are in the ballpark...great location!!! Ski in/ski out and awesome finishes!
-Upper Deer Valley Silver Lake Village townhome down $100,000 to $1.099m; 3bd/4ba, 2368 sq ft, $464psf....this has great views and could be a steal!
-2 lots at the Colony located in the Canyons ski resort down to $1.895m....down $200,000
-Tuhaye lot down to $599,000....down $185,000

PENDING:
-Iron Canyon home in the Thanyes Canyon area for $2.798m; 6bd/7ba, 5526 sq ft, $506psf...great home!
-New Park townhome at $498,900; 2bd/3ba, 1345 sq ft, $370psf...these are a great buy.
-Lodges at Bear Hollow for $339,990; 3bd/2ba, 1330 sq ft, $255psf....at lot of activity in Bear Hollow over the summer!

CLOSED:
-Park Meadows home for $1.8m; 5bd/5ba, 5424 sq ft, $346psf.
-Park Meadows (Fairway Meadows) home at $1.95m; 5bd/6ba, 5912 sq ft, $330psf...nice ppsf!
-Bear Hollow townhome for $550,000; 4bd/4ba, 2757 sq ft, $199psf...Bear Hollow is moving product!

Tonight Rob and I are attending the Gipsy Kings concert at Deer Valley as the second to last chance to take part in the St. Regis Big Stars Bright Nights concert series. It's going to be a blast!

And don't forget to check out our new blog layout and the new newsletter button we put at the top of the sidebar...if you give us your email address we'll give you our little newsletter and you know what that includes?....it includes coupons for local businesses here in Park City such as Chloe Lane and Jean Louis...thank us later!

During the past 5 days we have seen 63 properties come on the market, 24 go under contract, 18 close escrow. The high notes are:

NEWLY ACTIVE:
-2 sky lodge units at $375,000 and $399,000; both 3 bedroom, fractions (one-eighth ownership)
-Silver Star ski in/ski out at Park City Mountain Resort at $2.625m; 4bd/5ba, 3689sq ft, $711psf....the price per sq ft is not too bad, but we'll see what happens to some of the flippers.
-Short Sale in Old Town on Park Ave for $698,000; 3bd/2ba, 1582 sq ft, $441psf....If you are looking at a condo around this price point, this could be right up you alley...with no HOA fees.
-Deer Lake Village in Lower Deer Valley at $840,000; 2bd/3ba, 1728 sq ft, $486psf.
-Chatham Hills home at $1.628m; 4bd/5ba, 4089sq ft, $398psf....I like this neighbor for being in town and having great value for the convenience and views!
-2 Glenwild lots at $925,000 and $800,000 inventory is increasing on the lot front.
-Promontory lot at $379,000....good deals are all around at Promontory.

PRICE CHANGE:
-Poison Creek Mercantile condo in Old Town down $300,000 to $1.695m; 3bd/3ba, 2209 sq ft, $767psf...now it is priced about right! Great building and location too!!!
-Old Town home down $200,000 to $995,000; 3bd/3ba, 2388 sq ft, $417 psf...not a bad deal for this location.
-In The Trees condo in Deer Valley down $100,000 (in just 25 days) to $1.299m; 4bd/4ba, 2415 sq ft, $537psf....make an offer on this one, it looks like they could go lower and you get good rentals here.
-2 Glenwild lots down $100,000 and $200,000 both to $790,000.
-Mountain Ranch Estates home down $735,000 (over about a year) to $2,100,000; 7bd/7ba, 7670 sq ft, $274psf...they are probably at their bottom line on this one. It is a nice home, but has some odd features...but for a steal it could be right.
-Promontory home down about $2m! This is a must go!!! at $3.5m; 6bd/6ba, 10007 sq ft, $350psf....if you are in this price point this home could be the deal.

PENDING:
-Sky Lodge unit at $267,000; 2bd/2ba, 1260 sq ft, one-eighth ownership...good price for this buyer!
-Old Town home at $2.9m; 5bd/6ba, 3465 sq ft, $837psf....they did not get anywhere close to this... as it was supposed to be auctioned, but maybe someone came in a took it before hand. I believe the auction was to start in the mid-$1m's
-Deer Valley home at $2.495m; 5bd/6ba, 4960 sq ft, $503psf....Deer Valley has had good activity since the spring!
-Thaynes Canyon home at $997,000; 4bd/3ba, 2820 sq ft, $354psf...they got aggressive and lowered the price on this one a few times and got it off the market pretty quick....good buy for the right guy.
-Old Town home at $1.19m; 3bd/3ba, 1766 sq ft, $674 sq ft....good to see some activity on the end of Old Town by the Resort. Things have been slow down there.

CLOSED:
-Grand Lodge unit at Empire Pass in Deer Valley for $3.5m; 5bd/6ba, 3264 sq ft, $1072psf....Always over $1000psf in Empire and they have had a relatively active summer.
-Promontory lot at $800,000.....a little activity in these times out there is great news! I think people "in the know" still believe in the development.
-Old Town home at $1.312m; 4bd/5ba, 2591 sq ft, $608 psf....they priced these newly constructed homes to move and they moved them well.