Utah housing market explodes

PARK CITY — When Robin Rankin moved to Park City five years ago, a glut of for-sale homes had flooded the market, waiting for buyers to make an offer.

But today, homes in Park City and along the Wasatch Front are snatched up almost immediately, sometimes the day they are listed.

In June, Rankin learned firsthand just how competitive homebuying in Utah has become.

"My agent would send me listings on Monday," Rankin said. "On Wednesday I would get back to him on the ones I would want to go see, and he would say, 'Those are already gone.' So I was getting really nervous."

But Rankin got lucky, making an offer for $1,000 above the list price on a Jeremy Ranch home that already had another offer.

Her offer was accepted.

A. Flint Decker, a real estate agent with Prudential Utah Real Estate and Rankin's agent, said that, recently, he has entertained up to seven offers on a single property within a 24- to 48-hour period.

"I personally have represented either sellers or buyers in 35 different multiple-offer situations over the last 18 months alone," Decker said. "If I list your house right now and I am in a multiple-offer situation, chances are more than less that I will sell your house for over list price."

While multiple offers and pre-sales of homes are still the exception, Dougan Jones, chief executive officer and owner of Park City-based Prudential Utah Real Estate, said such occurrences are increasing.

"In years past we would have in an entire year less than 20 multiple offers, and we're having hundreds a month now," Jones said. "The market is so hot, both in the Wasatch Front and here in Park City, that we have buyers coming in and saying, 'I want to reserve my right to buy this to-be-built condo or home.' "

Jones should know.

In 2004, his company's total sales volume was $1.8 billion, ranking 82nd among the top 100 real estate companies in the United States, according to the July issue of Realtor magazine.

In addition, Prudential Utah Real Estate ranked No. 4 in its percentage increase in sales in 2004 at 59 percent, outpacing Manhattan-based Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, which ranked No. 5 at 55.8 percent.

"In 2005, we will exceed $2.5 billion," Jones said. "And that is with approximately 500 agents. Our competition, who will do a little less than $2.5 billion this year, they're doing that with twice the number of agents."

Last year Jones hired former Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini as a senior vice president to oversee Prudential's corporate development and relocation operations.