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Show Real estate Community faces market slump with optimism "Top stories of 1 985 Park Record cartoonist J. P. Max , pictured a typical local developer with a rain cloud over his head. That was not far from the truth, as Park City business struggled to cope with faltering activity in building and in the real estate market. In early October, chief building official of-ficial Ron Ivie reported that Park City had seen $29,226,510 in new building this year, compared to $47,728,694 by that time last year. The peak year for city construction was 1981, when $74 million in' new building was recorded. . By mid-summer, the president of the Park City Board of Realtors was saying that the city found itself with a classic case of oversupply, leading to decreasing demand. Jess, Reid said the realtor optimism of the 1984-85 ski season had faded by spring. Sales had decreased some 30 to 50 percent. The problem most often pinpointed pin-pointed in the slump was the national na-tional tax reform package proposed by the Reagan AdministrationsThfc reform bill created uncertainty over whether the tax deduction wouitf be '..hi., - retained for interest paid on mortgages mort-gages for second homes, which make up a major part of the local market. One troubled project became almost symbolic of the real-estate slump. In early May, it was announced an-nounced that a public sales offering for the proposed 326-unit, $67 million Deer . Valley Inn was being terminated- " John Miiller, executive vice president presi-dent of Deer Valley Resort, said developers couldn't put the financial package together. Sales of units in the inn could not meet a required deadline of April 15 and the project encountered unforeseen delays. Miiller also said there were problems pro-blems with regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission. Commis-sion. "But observers found grounds for optimism in the downturn. Ivie said the city had planned for the drop in impact fees from less building. In its annual budget deliberations, the council set up a capital improvements im-provements budget based on the prediction of $32 million in building, bringing in $640,000 in impact fees. Jess Reid said the real-estate oversupply and the resulting lower prices could open the, market to, Wasatch Front, buyers who would not or could not buy here before. Meanwhile, Park City realtor Bob Ziegler, recently elected president of the State Board of Realtors, lobbied lob-bied in Washington against eliminating the second-home interest in-terest deduction. He is a director in the National Association of Realtors. As the year drew to a close, Ziegler said the president's tax-reform tax-reform package would probably keep the deduction in some form or another. |