Park City Housing Market Update – March 2022

After a bit of a hiatus in January and February, winter has returned to Park City over the last week, with fresh snow blanketing town and sunny, bluebird days following the storms. Perhaps another “Miracle March” (or even April) is in order for more snow and moisture for the rivers and reservoirs? Time will tell.

Make no mistake, despite minimal new snow over the last 8 weeks, town is as busy as ever with some local property management companies reporting their first time ever having every unit in their portfolio fully booked for the first week of March. In addition, while January was not a slow month in the market, the pace and number of buyers in town has definitely picked up as we went through February and entered March. The increased interest is substantiated by our Summit Sotheby’s Park City office sales numbers, which in the first week of March were just over $68,000,000 in new pending contracts, and just over $105,000,000 in closed transactions.

This month we break down the current numbers as observed in February, a review of some notable numbers for the broader market and its performance in 2021, and a look back at some key metrics for our team in the past year. Let’s dive in!

Park City Real Estate 2021 Review

In a recent recap meeting of the 4th Quarter of the Park City market, we were able to look at the year-over-year stats from the end of 2020, and how the market has continued to evolve. Below are a handful of observations and key statistics that stood out to us from the past year, though there are many notable metrics depending on your specific location and price point. If you’re curious about your current neighborhood, or an area where you are considering a purchase, reach out to us directly for a more customized analysis.

• The median price for a single family home in the Park City limits (zip 84060) rose by 32% year-over-year to $3,300,000
• The neighborhoods of Thaynes and Prospector saw massive jumps in YoY median price increases with jumps of 71% to $2,300,000 and 87% to $2,400,000 respectively
• Across the board in PC, Snyderville Basin, Heber, and Wanship/Hoytsville, the number of homes sold dropped, while the average prices all increased by double digit figures, which tells us that buyer demand remains very strong
• Promontory led all areas in the number of single family homes sold YoY with 113, and the sold volume with $412,000,000 in sales closed
• Growth in areas outside of Park City remains very robust with the average single family home price in Heber increasing by a whopping 46%, and the number of land sales in the Jordanelle increasing by 37% with an average price increase of 77% YoY; both Heber and Jordanelle remain sought after locations with a ton of future growth and development in the pipeline
• Raw land availability is very limited in the Park City limits with only 40 parcels selling (down 7%) while the median sale price jumped up by 57%
• The median price for a condo in the Park City limits increased by 36% YoY from $956,000 to $1,300,000

Overall as a general trend, actively listed inventory on the Park City MLS remains at or around record lows, while the number of sales have decreased and overall prices have increased. This indicates that there is still strong buyer demand and that there is a lack of inventory, not a weakening market.

Utah as a whole is roughly 50,000 housing units short of satisfying the current buyer demand, and with only 15,000-17,000 units forecasted to be completed annually, a high level of demand with increasing prices is currently projected to be the norm, instead of the exception. Add in *forecasted population increases from 2020 to 2060 of 40% for Summit County, 132% for Wasatch County, and 41% for Salt Lake County and we could be looking back in 10 or 20 years wishing we had bought more real estate in 2022.

*According to the University of Utah’s Gardner Policy Institute

Choose Park City Year in Review

We feel that pictures are worth a thousand words, and thanks to our incredibly skilled in-house marketing team, you can review both our analytical and more fun team numbers from 2021 below.

Park City Real Estate Market Stats for March

It’s no secret and is a common talking point that inventory is low. However, the common mistake is that there are no homes to buy, and that isn’t true. The market simply requires added layers of skillset and networking to source a property that suits your needs. Many homes aren’t hitting the market, so having an agent that can find opportunities before they are broadcast to the public is key, as is having a pre-defined, specific set of criteria. Simply put, if you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’s a lot tougher to find it.

An interesting observation as of the day I’m writing this (3/10/22) for the greater Heber Valley, Jordanelle, Kamas Valley, Snyderville Basin, and Park City limits, there are currently 237 active residential listings. Of those there are only 123 available units, as the remainder are either under construction or pending construction. So in reality, 49% of current inventory isn’t even usable at this time, further exacerbating the competition for existing homes and condos.

Active residential inventory in Park City and the Snyderville Basin for the month of February ticked up slightly by 8.4% from the previous month, while still being down by 57.7% from February of 2021 – and we all thought the market was tight then!

Park City Homes and Condos Below $1,000,000

• Median sales price increased 14.2% from January 2022 and decreased just slightly by 1.2% from February 2021 to a current price of $605,000.
• Median number of days on the market for February decreased again to just 3 (!!!) days, down from 4 DOM in January 2022, and 35 DOM in February 2021 – the market under $1,000,000, especially for units with multiple bedrooms, remains extremely competitive
• Active inventory stayed about even from January 2022 bumping up 3.7%, but is still down a massive 78.9% from February 2021

Park City Homes and Condos Between $1,000,000 and $3,000,000

• Median sales price ticked up again by 6.5% from January 2022, and is up 15.1% from February 2021 to a current price of $1,850,000 – in September 2021 it was $1,565,000 which equates to a 18% increase in just 6 months!
• Median number of days on the market for February 2022 is up to 6 day on market from the previous period of 4 DOM in January 2022, though it is still down by 50% from February 2021
• Inventory in this segment saw a nice bump with an increase of 21.4% from January 2022 to 51 active listings, though year-over-year from February 2021 inventory is still down by 49%

Park City Homes and Condos Above $3,000,000

• Median sales price is up 1.9% from January 2022, and is up 12.8% from February 2021 ($3,700,000) to a current median sold price of $4,175,000
• Median number of days on market for February 2022 are 7 which is down 81% from 37 days on market in January 2022, and down by 36.4% from 11 days in February 2021 – we have seen a substantial uptick in high end buyers in town over the last month, and this data confirms that
• Active inventory is up slightly by 4.2% with February 2022 registering 75 active listings, and is decreased by 41.9% from February 2021

Choose Park City Real Estate Sales for January and February 2022

• We put 11 properties under contract for our clients for a total of nearly $17,000,000 in pending sales
• 6 transactions closed for just over $9,500,000 in sales volume
• 2 of our buyers had their offers accepted despite competing against multiple offers
• 2 buyers went under contract on properties not publicly listed on the MLS

Thanks for reading this months market update, and as always, reach out to us if you have questions on how these numbers will affect you and your situation. Whether you are a possible Park Meadows home buyer, potential Deer Valley home seller, or an interested property investor, we can put the stats and our Park City housing market knowledge to work for you no matter what your needs and interests are. Everyone’s situations are different, so knowing how to apply the data is integral to making wise real estate decisions.

-Brendan Trieb, Choose Park City