Park City real estate offered a study in contradictions in August. In a year during which the quantity of home sales has dramatically fallen, prices have continued to rise, albeit modestly, while inventory remains modest. August provided the year’s highest quantity of sales, typical of the season, while inventory surged by 10%.

August typically signifies the opening bell of a 90-day cycle for peak closings as summer window shoppers merge with pre-winter consumers. 127 residential closings represented the first triple digit month since September 2022 and a 33% premium on the next best month in 2023. Simultaneously, inventory has grown from nearly 600 listings in June to over 660 heading into Labor Day weekend.

August also saw the highest average price for any month this year hovering near $2,500,000 buoyed by the year’s single highest closing of a magnificent estate in The Colony for $27 million while two other properties in the same community crested $10,000,000.

Good health at the highest reaches of Utah’s resort markets bodes well for the swell of premium new product poised to enter the market. Deer Valley announced a strategic partnership with Extell into the property broadly known as Mayflower that will add more than double the skiable terrain to Utah’s premiere resort. As well, the early phases of Wasatch Peaks have shown evidence of demand for ultra-premium, exclusive property akin to Yellowstone Club or Tahoe’s Martis Camp. New ownership at Powder Mountain promises to awake a long sleeping giant and create cohesion to the region’s largest resort area. This combines with Vail Resorts’ investment in Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons as well as plans for a gondola connecting Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Broadly, the appeal of resort property in Utah has never been higher. With an ease of access and the world’s best snow, the secret of the Wasatch is out.