Boise Real Estate Blog

I have just returned from Park City, Utah after spending a few days there.

Park City is a former mining town that has become a major destination ski resort located about 25 miles East of Salt Lake City in the Wasatch Range.
It’s about six hours’ drive from the Boise area and a fun place to visit, especially if you like moose!

General Observations

• It’s pretty cool (no pun intended) to be sipping a vanilla latte in a Main Street bookstore/coffee shop , watching giant, fluffy snowflakes drifting from the sky.
• You have to have money to live here ~ it’s expensive!
• There are thousands of expensive townhome/condo properties lined up on the hillsides all around town.
• Main Street has dozens of stores full of stuff you don’t need.
• There’s no shortage of restaurants/bars with just about any kind of food/drink you could want.
• It’s very difficult to find lodging between December 15th and April 15th (ski season).
• You can spend $450/night (now) to stay at a luxury condo/hotel and that room rate will triple during January’s  Sundance Film Festival!
• Population = 8,127
• Households = 12,250
• Median Household Income = $65,800

Real Estate Observations

• 64% of homes are second homes
• 30% of out-of-state homeowners come from California
• 2009 condo sales = 356 @ $802,644 average price
• 2009 home sales = 330 @ $1,233,358 average price

Summit and Wasatch County Real Estate Sales Data

• 2005 = 4,028 units
• 2009 = 1,130 units (72% decline)
• 2005 sales volume = $2.13 BILLION!
• 2009 sales volume = $867.2 MILLION (59.3% decline)

My impression, gleaned from various conversations and research, is that roughly one-third of current real estate sales are distress sales, but there’s very little visible evidence to indicate that with only a few real estate signs indicating short sales or foreclosures.
I wonder if the the real estate community, and/or homeowner associations, have elected to not post such signs?
All in all ~ a nice upscale place to visit, not immune from the current economic malaise, and you’d better take your money with you because you probably won’t earn it there!

In case you’ve been wondering why no recent posts, I just returned from a week in Southern California where I enjoyed a week in the sun, walked some beautiful beaches, and photographed some incredible sunsets.
Since moving to Idaho in 1991, I have returned to California only a few times, and this marked my first visit to Southern California in more than three decades.
Despite all the doom and gloom about the California economy, its lackluster real estate markets, and mass foreclosures, I came away with a clear understanding that California is not headed for financial oblivion.
While I am sure there are many California homeowners who are in financial distress, it was very apparent from being on I-5, I-405, and other SoCal freeways full of Mercedes, Lexuses, and Beemers that not everyone is in financial trouble in The Golden State.
If anything, I came away with the feeling that California is awash in affluence and opportunity.
I do think that many of the state’s residents are chasing the wrong things in life, but that’s another blog topic.
I spent my week in Carlsbad, and explored communities from Redondo Beach to San Diego while there.
I observed a lot of neighborhoods and tanned, healthy-looking people who are obviously doing just fine these days.
While walking on some beautiful white sand beaches and basking in the 85-degree temps, it was pretty apparent that someone owns all those multi-million dollar beachfront homes and they are all occupied.
That said, I did observe a few things that stuck out in comparison to the simple, less-hectic lifestyle we enjoy in the Boise area.
Things like bumper-to-bumper traffic at all hours of the day and night on major freeways.
Who ARE all those people and where are they going 24 hours a day?
I simply could not get over the fact that there is seemingly a human being or a car on every cubic inch of Southern California.
Then there were the aggressive drivers running 90-100 mph and weaving in and out of traffic that’s already more than 10 mph over the 65 mph speed limit.
It was immediately apparent that there will never enough CHP officers to enforce the speed limit on those freeways.
Another shock to my system was the endless nickeling and diming for things that we take for granted in Idaho.
How about parking meters requiring you to pay to park so you can walk on a public beach that your tax dollars paid for?
All in all, a very informative, eye-opening visit.
Made me glad I moved to Idaho 16 years ago.
For a moment, I fantasized moving back, walking beaches, photographing incredible orange sunsets, and living the good life.
Then, I remembered what it’s like to live in quaint, slower-paced Eagle with my morning coffee @ Rembrandt’s, getting through stoplights in one light change, and saying “hi” to people who make eye contact and speak to me every day here.
Guess I can get my beach fix with an occasional visit, right?