As Boulder officials near a final vote on short-term rentals in anticipation of hosting the Sundance Film Festival in 2027, some question what long-term effect, if any, the annual event will have on residential housing in the northern Colorado city.
For Park City, observers said the event's 44-year run in Winter's Favorite Town, as the Utah destination is known, has put it on the map but has done little to move the needle in the residential real estate market. Though fond of the festival — founded in 1981 by late actor Robert Redford, who died last month at the age of 89 — local brokers said it's time for the chapter to close.
"I think, overall, Park City is going to say ... maybe it had run its course here for us," Todd Anderson, MLS president at the Park City Board of Realtors, told Homes.com.
Park City will host its final Sundance next year before handing off hosting duties to Boulder, a city with more than 100,000 residents. The festival's impact in Park City, which has a population of over 8,000 according to U.S. Census data, was felt more on the commercial side than in residential real estate, Anderson said. “Sundance visitors would come in and rent a restaurant for two weeks and just buy the restaurant out,” he said. “Retail spaces, galleries especially, would rent their spaces out — and those often paid people’s rent for a year.”
Jennifer Wesselhoff, president of the Park City Chamber and Visitors Bureau, told Homes.com that Sundance generates more than $100 million in statewide visitor spending. The 2025 festival attracted 85,472 in-person attendees, of which 33% were from out of state, according to the Sundance Institute. While the festival’s 10-day run may not directly influence homebuying decisions, it gave Park City prestige, she said.
Still, said Wesselhoff, “Most of the people who buy homes in Park City do so because of the destination’s proximity to outdoor recreation,” such as skiing and hiking.
Wesselhoff acknowledged that there have been tradeoffs. “Some residents clearly love the access to the film festival and others leave town to avoid festival crowds."
She added that the city saw strong revenues during the two years Sundance went virtual due to COVID-19, when hotels filled with skiers instead of filmgoers.
“That gives us a glimpse of the town’s future without the festival,” she said. “Revenues were solid, and this gives us an idea of how the town will operate in 2027 and beyond.”
In a press release issued before he died, Redford said the move was inevitable.
"We must always evolve and grow, which has been at the core of our survival," Redford said in the statement. "This move will ensure that the festival continues its work of risk-taking, supporting innovative storytellers, fostering independence, and entertaining and enlightening audiences."
Boulder is preparing for impact
Karen Bernardi, an agent with Coldwell Banker Realty-Boulder, said she thinks Boulder's housing market will benefit from Sundance.
“I don't think it's going to happen immediately," Bernardi said. "It's not like in 2027, at that moment, we're going to see sales [of homes] over 3 million, or 4 million in that month. But after time, and maybe slightly before then, we may see some people that anticipate the effect of this, and [will] want to invest.”
The latest monthly numbers available from Homes.com show the median sales price for a single-family home in Boulder County is $837,000. It was $592,000 in Colorado. The national median home sales price that month was $389,000. (By comparison, the median home sales price in Park City was $2.5 million; in Utah, it was $520,000.)
Kelly Moye, with Compass in Denver, said she foresees the luxury market booming over time because people "will fall in love" with Boulder.
“I think you'll see a big boost to our luxury market and our second-home market,” she said.
Moye and others said they anticipate the same kind of effect on home rentals. "Especially in some of the luxury homes that can do a short-term rental, those prices will be through the roof," Moye said. "The rental market itself is going to see a huge spike.”
Boulder City Council members will vote Oct. 9 on a measure allowing homeowners in the city to apply for short-term licenses to rent out their properties for festival events.
End of an era and a new beginning
Wesselhoff said Sundance and all the positives that come with it will be missed in Park City.
"Park City will miss the global spotlight, cultural energy and new ideas that opened minds and hearts — and economic vitality that Sundance brought each winter, elevating the community’s prestige while fueling local businesses," she said.
For now, Moye said she thinks the event will bring "forever change" to Boulder's landscape, including "prettier landscaping, upgraded parks [and] nicer coffee shops."