| Show news The Salt Lake Tribune DESERET SAT March 7 1992 G 7 Park City offering urban refugees' lifestyle they like Once it was the excitement of that was attractive to new home buyers the convebig city life ' nience of shopping malls and it- supermarkets and the ment of big time sports and the professional theater Now for some the big cities are losing their luster and the quiet sedate life of rural America has them driving out of the cities to find homes Nowhere is this more evident than in Park City Utah - Prices too are being pushed up by the desire to own larger homes Buyers are coming into the market with lots of furniture their play toys like boats and ATVs and children who are t : - excite- As Bill Coleman president of Prudential Coleman Real Estate in Park City says more and more "urban refugees" are fleeing city life for the country This year more than any other in recent history it has become very evident "This year" says Coleman "since January we've sold a lot of lots in the Park City area People are buying with plans of someday moving here They've decided this is where they want to live someday" the early 1930s Park City was looked at as condominium- second home area it was a place people wanted to buy in order to have a place to get In away "What's happening is you are V li t ft' used to having their own bedroom Coleman points out that currently there is a lot of privately held lands in the Park City area 5 These lands are for sale or likely be put up for sale Ultimately what this will do is change the look of Park City "eventually to where it will become a pretty good sized city This growth will be well monitored but it's going to change" he notes " mr "riV'amrmin iftirriinni TrTi" nir t n Park City i3 luring peopla from ail ever the US to its quaint Wttt-'- n mWtTi im-- n'MirmrT m 'h rriM ny getting a lot of people refinancing their homes and buying lots with the money they saved refinancing It's not only happening here but also in places like Idaho and Montana that are different than the urban environment they are in now" he says This of course is driving up the cost of land and homes in and around the skiing community The typical home in Park City because of fees and stringent codes is costing between $110 and $115 a square building foot (finished) to build What this is doing notes Coleman is leaving a huge hole the housing market "There are smaller homes in the price range of $125000 and $200000 and larger homes in in out-of-state- rs I City Nick Berg ownerbroker of Century 21 in Park City lists several reasons for interest ' there Delta Airlines It seems with the expansion of Delta in to the Utah market more and more Delta employees are moving into the state Many have picked Park City for their home - "They've told friends and other Delta employees that Park City is a nice place to live so given the opportunity to move into Utah the first they thing do is search out Park City" he says There is currently a lot of people moving into Utah mainly from trie California and Texas -- ''rfru nyiunir areas In the California market for example even though it is currently a depressed market people are able to sell their homes move to Park City and buy a larger home and still have extra money left over "Right now 'you could say Califomians are driving up the market My suggestion to someone in Salt Lake who wants to move up to Park City is that they act now Prices are going to go up Last year for example the average home sold for around $200000 This year it's up around $300000" Berg points out This does not mean that there are not honres on the market for less than the $300000 average "The good think about this market is that when people come looking you have a vast ' range of home to show frorjr $100000 up to half a million It's simply a matter of what people feel comfortable with But it's all here" he adds Buiiding hasn't been able to keep up with demand All of the existing inventory of homes in the Park City area was used up in the summer of 1988 That's when new homes started showing up on the market Now because of the time it takes to obtain permits and build not enough new homes are being built to satisfy the need Berg points out that the Park City School District has over the past three years grown at a rate of between 12 and 14 percent "and it doesn't appear to As for those looking at making a move to the mountains Coleman feels that now is the time to start locking He points out that for about 15 years the cost of the land was around 18 percent of the finished-hom- e price Today it is to between 24 and creeping up 25 percent Buying a lot at today's prices can help bring the percentage down in comparison to buying the land at a later time He also expects the sale of lots to make a good jump up this spring n Kfestyte ski-tow- Reasons for Park City boom range from to the clean air One of the hottest markets in real estate right now is Park City the active little ski community 30 minutes east of Salt Lake will the range of $375000 and up but not a lot in the middle range think what you'll see is that this market will fill in when people who are buying lots now decide to buiid But these will all be custom homes and not second I homes but primary residences" he adds "People who are looking for a home in the middle are having to go to existing homes" V" 11 w— l n j t i i I 7 ' 4 s pr Y g r be slowing down" Clean air and the environment More and more people are concerned obout the air See PARKCITY f n pass Clean air and country-styl- e living are attracting people to Park City to look for a home- - not just to skf 5 |
