Utah Real Estate Market Conditions

So I just ran some numbers on Annual home sales in Tooele Utah, and they are quite amazing. The home sales have drastically increased, then decreased over the past decade. During 2006, home sales were double what they have been over the past four years.

The positive news for Tooele Real Estate is that home sales did indeed increase over the past year. Things look bright for the Utah Real Estatemarket as a whole. Home sales are substantially up after the first two months of the year. It will be interesting to see if Tooele is able to follow that trend and also see another annual improvement in terms of home sales. Home prices in Tooele have followed the same trend as home sales. They rose, peaked, and then fell. They are now almost to 2005 levels, which compared to many areas in the country is actually pretty good. Here is the graph showing the varying annual home sales. The average home price during 2007 was $203,062. Just four years earlier, it was only $126,385.

For more information, or to search for Tooele Condos, Houses, or Foreclosures, visit TooeleUtahRealEstate.com

It's that time of year again. Property Tax time for Logan Real Estate.

While the assessed property value of one of my properties went down (as it accurately should have). The assessed value of my rental properties apparently went up. How this happened, I can't explain. In the past year my duplex has aged an additional year, I also get $50 a month less than I did a year ago. For income properties, like Logan duplexes, a big part of the property value is based on the rental income it produces. The other factor is determined by what comparable properties have sold for. Very few duplexes have sold in the last year in Logan. Why the Cache County assessor thinks its worth $27,000 more than it was last year, I just don't get it.

It might just be me, but I think that property taxes are the WORST type of taxes. Are they constitutional at all? The tax value varies based on the VALUE of the property.... If you make the effort to improve your property then you have to pay more taxes every single year for the rest of your life! I don't get it. There is no true "Ownership." Owning real estate only makes you a slave to the the local government. The more you "own" the more taxes you pay.

I understand taxes and the purposes of them. I understand public goods and the need to fund things through taxes, but Property Taxes just frustrate me.

When your income goes up, I get it that you can afford to pay more taxes. If you choose to spend your money then you pay more sales taxes... I get it. Purchasing goods is a choice.  If your property goes up in value, or even if it doesn't go up in value but the tax assessor claims that it does, then you pay more taxes. There is no freedom. Only consequences. And does the person who is now obligated to pay the increased property taxes really have the means to fork out the additional $$$?

Am I alone in the unconstitutionalsm of Property Taxes? Or am I just bitter because the Cache County tax assessor claimed that my property values rose in value when they didn't.

For Logan Utah Real Estate, it's still the dead of winter, there isn't much snow left, but that doesn't mean that winter is over, or even close to being over.

Spring is typically the busiest time of year for the listing of Logan homes, as most people want to move during the summer months when school is out. There are also more buyers during spring. The typical seller will think, "I'll wait until spring to list my home."

While there will be more buyers, there will also be a lot more listings, and a lot more competitions. And while most of the will-be buyers are not out actually looking at homes yet, they are looking at them online.

Online buyer activity is currently up by more than 35% on our Utah Real Estate websites compared with December. Almost all home buyers start their home search online, and if your house isn't there yet, buyers aren't going to fall in love with it.

We are starting to see a large spike in the number of listings in Cache Valley, and this number will keep rising. Unless the nubmer of buyers outpaces the number of new listings, home prices will continue to decline.

It may not be the most convenient time, but your chances of selling your home by summer will probably be better if you list now rather than later.

Cornerstone just opened up a new office in Preston ID, so I've done a little bit of research about real estate in Preston Idaho. In general, the Preston market pretty much just follows the same trends as the Logan Real Estate market, however it seems to be a little behind, and home prices are significantly cheaper than they are on the Utah Side of Cache Valley.

Here are a few statistics about Preston ID Real Estate:

Preston Currently has 110 active residential home listings. In the last year, there were just 78 homes that sold. This gives Franklin County Idaho Real Estate almost 17 months of active inventory which is a little bit higher than the current active inventory in Cache Valley Utah. The best ever year for home sales on record in Preston was 2007 when 112 homes sold. Even if times returned to the glorious housing boom, that's still a years worth of active inventory.

The homes that are listed for sale have price tags substantially higher than those that have ever sold. The current median list price is $175,000. The median sold price over the last year was just $137,000. The highest the annual median sales price has ever been was just $147,000, and that was in 2009.

Essentially, thhis means that unless some new market force comes that makes Preston a more desirable location to live, home prices will be dropping for Franklin Idaho Real Estate.

Here are some good resources if you're interested in viewing Preston ID Homes for Sale, or Preston Idaho Land.

Springville Utah real estate sold increased by 21% during the 2nd quarter of 2010.  Median sold price decreased from $192,500 to $178,450 and average sold price of houses in Springville decreased over 30,000.

When looking at 2nd quarter numbers over the past two years, homes in Spanish Fork increased 18.4%.  Median and average prices of Spanish Fork real estate decreased between two and four percent

It's that time of year again where the Cache County Assessor sends out "property tax" notifications. This nice letter lets you know what the county thinks your property is worth, and how much your property taxes will be going UP the next year (Okay, so property taxes don't always go up, just usually.)

Last year the experts at the property valuation department raised the property values of almost all homes in Cache Valley, even though in reality home prices in Cache County declined. This caused a lot of controversy, and kept the appeals department very busy. I got dozens of request from people who wanted CMA's done, so they could appeal their property tax. I personally appealed the assessed tax value on two of my properties, and got both of them, plus my property values lowered.

Well this year, Cache County decided to wise up. Rather than increase the amount of property taxes because "property taxes went up" they actually lowered property values, but just let you know that if the "proposed budget" is passed, your property taxes will go up anyways. This way we can't get our property taxes lowered by pointing out their errors. From the two notices I have received so far, my Logan Homes decreased in value by about 6%. My Logan Duplex that had an estimated Tax Value of $200,000 before my appeal last year, is now valued at $169,000.

Saratoga Springs homes sold for about 2% less during the second quarter of 2010.  Homes in Saratoga Springs sold decreased by 14%, or by a quantity of 17 homes.

The number of sold homes in Provo UT increased by 14.  Median price fell below $200,000 and average price of Provo houses declined from the mid to low 200s.

Sold Real Estate in Pleasant Grove stayed about the same but price dropped.  Median price of Pleasant Grove homes decreased 21% and average price dropped 17%.