Utah Real Estate Market Conditions

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Three Reasons Why Right Now is a GREAT Time to Buy Utah Real Estate

I've recently read two positive reports regarding the end of the nationwide housing crisis, and the probability of a large increase of home sales next year. Fannie Mae is saying that the housing recession has ended. Home sales are expected to rise next year by double digits, and new construction is expected to increase by more than 30% compared with this year. Utah Real Estate seems to now be about on pace with the national trends. Here are three reasons why Now is a GREAT time to buy Utah Real Estate.

Home Buying Tax Credits

The $8,000 tax credit for first time buyers has been extended through April. In addition, it has been expanded, and a $6,500 credit is available for existing homeowners wanting to buy.

Plenty of Choices for High End Real Estate

There is an oversupply of high end real estate in Northern Utah. For Utah Homes with more than 3,000 square feet; here is the inventory break down by county:
  • Logan Utah Real Estate: 11.58 months of inventory.
  • Box Elder County Real Estate: 18.6 months of inventory.
  • Ogden Real Estate: 11.93 months of inventory.
  • Davis County Utah Real Estate: 700 homes larger than 3,000 square feet for sale, 8.52 months of inventory.
  • Salt Lake Real Estate: 2094 active listings, 8.36 months of inventory.
  • Tooele Utah Real Estate: 12.14 months of inventory.
  • Utah County Real Estate: 8.8 months of inventory.
  • There are plenty of homes in the upper price ranges throughout Northern Utah, and many of these are vacant, and have been on the market for a very long time. The sellers are motivated and may accept far less than list price.

    Mortgage Interest Rates will Never be this Low Again

    Mortgage Rates are artifically low. Over the past 3 years, the average mortgage interest rate has been 9.1%! Currently, 30 year fixed conventional mortgages with 80% LTV are less than 5%; 15 year fixed, and 5-1 ARMS are even less! If you got a $250,000 home loan right now at 5% interest, you would have an almost identical monthly payment if you bought a home with a $200,000 mortgage loan at a 7% interest rate. The current interest rates make a huge difference in terms of affordability.

    I'm a real estate professional, I make my money by selling real estate, so I might just be doing what I can to encourage people to buy now.... Or, it might really be that this winter will be the best time of your life to purchase Utah Real Estate.

    0 commentsAlan Barker - Utah Homes • November 20 2009 06:24PM

    Cache Valley Real Estate Market Update

    I like the looks of this Cache Valley Real Estate sales graph compiled by Kaleb Kunz. It really shows how the number of homes sales in Cache County are improving.

    Via Logan Utah Real Estate (Kaleb Kunz - Cornerstone Real Estate Professionals):
    Cache Valley Real Estate Market Update: For the past 5 months home sales in Cache Valley have consistently been around 100 which is a huge improvement from the first 5 months of the year. November is also shaping up to be a great month because of the push from first time home buyers to get closed before the $8000 tax credit may end. The gap between the average list to sales price is a little wider....but this isn't showing the list - sales price of a single home....it's simply showing the average price of a home for sale in the Valley compared to the average price that homes sell for.

    Please feel free to use my website at Logan Utah Real Estate to search for all homes for sale in Cache County!

    Logan Utah Real Estate - Cache Valley Real Estate - <a

    0 commentsAlan Barker - Utah Homes • November 18 2009 11:17PM

    Logan Utah Real Estate - Homes Sold in October

    Good graph compliled by Shane Calder that shows how Logan real estate sales have changed by month. It really looks like things are improving for year over year results, and we are getting out of the housing slump. The extension of the housing tax credit ought to help too.

    Via Shane Calder - Logan Utah Real Estate (Cornerstone RE):

    There were 41 Logan Utah homessold in the month of October.  That is the 3rd highest month for 2009 just behind June and August.  The Logan Utah real estate market still seems to be fairly steady.  In 2009, there was an average of 34 homes sold per month.  That may go down with the holiday slowdown in November and December.  In November 2008, Logan Utah had 31 homes sold.  We are on track to surpass that this month.

     

    0 commentsAlan Barker - Utah Homes • November 18 2009 11:07PM

    Providence Utah Real Estate - Average Days on Market

    It looks like Providence Real Estate is on the market for a little longer than Cache Valley Real Estate as a whole. This is probably in large part because the average home in Providence is larger and more expensive than the average home in Cache County.

    Via Shane Calder - Logan Utah Real Estate (Cornerstone RE):

    The 2009 Providence Utah real estate market has been fairly consistent with the seasons of the market.  The October average Providence Utah home stayed on the 96 days.  That is the best month since March!  Every other month this year besides March and October have seen average numbers over the century mark.  Hopefully this trend continues downward.  Average Days on Market for Providence Utah

    0 commentsAlan Barker - Utah Homes • November 18 2009 10:59PM

    Providence Utah Real Estate - Home Price Per Square Foot

    Some insight on Providence Utah Real Estate trends provided by my good buddy and collegue Shane Calder.

    Via Shane Calder - Logan Utah Real Estate (Cornerstone RE):

    Providence Utah real estate price per square foot has been extremely up and down over the past year.  Surprisingly, January and February were the highest months this year with $99 per square foot each month.  There were only 4 Providence Utah homes sold in January and 3 sold in February.  The reason why the price per square foot was so high is that the homes that were sold were higher end, newer homes.  The average Providence Utah home price per square foot for 2009 is $86 so far.

    Home price per square foot in Providence, Utah

     

    0 commentsAlan Barker - Utah Homes • November 18 2009 10:55PM

    Logan Utah Real Estate - Price Per Square Foot October

    It does look like  Logan Real Estate prices are staying pretty stable though. The price per square footage is clearly down from a year ago, but it's been pretty consistent over the last few months.

    Via Shane Calder - Logan Utah Real Estate (Cornerstone RE):

    The October price per square foot for Logan Utah Real Estateis $83.  That is slightly up from September's $82 and matches the yearly average at $83 per square foot.  The price per square foot has up and down this year depending on how many sales there have been.  When Logan Utah homesales are down like in February and March, the price per square foot seems to drop as well.  It's a good thing I listened to my Economics professor in college....

     

     

    0 commentsAlan Barker - Utah Homes • November 18 2009 10:52PM

    Market Update - Logan Utah Real Estate

    According to Kalebs graphs, the average sales time for Logan Homes is steadily going up. Even though inventory is down, and home sales up, there are still a lot of homes that have been on the market for a long time that are just now selling.

    Via Logan Utah Real Estate (Kaleb Kunz - Cornerstone Real Estate Professionals):
    Here's the current market up date for the Logan Utah Real Estate market. The number of homes sold is up slightly from last month.....but overall has been very consistent throughout the year. The average sales price for Logan Homes is down along with the time of sale going up a little more than the average has been. A large number of these sold homes have been to first time home buyers because of the $8000 tax credit offer from the Government.....which is under vote now to possibly be extended past the November 30 deadline.

    Please feel free to use my website at Logan Utah Real Estate to search for all homes for sale in Cache County!

    Logan Utah Real Estate - Cache Valley Real Estate - <a

    0 commentsAlan Barker - Utah Homes • November 04 2009 05:44PM

    October was a Good Month for Logan Real Estate

    October was a good month for real estate in Logan Utah, the third best month of the year to be exact. For Cache County as a whole, we broke triple digits for the number of homes sold. Home sales were up by 10% compared with last month, and up by more than 6% compared with October of last year.

    From an analysis of the home sales statistics, it is obvious that a good number of the home buyers during October were first time home buyers who wanted to take advantage of the $8,000 first time buyer tax credit that was scheduled to expire at the end of the month. First time buyers generally by the smaller, less expensive Logan Homes. During the month we saw, the lowest average sold price in years, as well as the smallest average square footage per homes in over six years. 

    Average Square Footage per homes sold in Cache County

    It's still a great time to buy Logan Utah Real Estate, so contact a Cornerstone Real Estate Professional today.

    0 commentsAlan Barker - Utah Homes • November 04 2009 05:41PM

    Have a Vacant Home You're Trying to Sell? Consider Home Tending

    Yesterday at our weekly office meeting we had representatives of Prestige Home Tending come tell us about their services. This caught me as a great idea, something that can be very valuable for people who have already relocated and are still trying to sell, as well as for people who want really cheap rent for really nice homes.

    Right now there are thousands of vacant homes in Utah, especially of the more expensive variety. Vacant Homes sell slower, get more low ball offers, are more suseptible to vandalism, and can be substantially more expensive to insure. 

    One solution to overcoming vacant home syndrome is to get people to live in them. With Prestige Home Tending this costs the sellers nothing, but gives them a lived in, professionally staged home, and someone to take care of it.

    Here are some of the things having home tenders does:

     

    • It makes the home alive.
    • Saves them money on:
    • Utilities
    • Lawn care
    • Snow shoveling
    • Lower home owners insurance. A non occupied home insurance averages 6 times more than an occupied home.
    • Less chance of vandalism
    • Catch problems before they become a crisis, such as water line breaks or damages.
    • Enhances curb appeal


    Prestige home tending makes sure they get qualified, responsible tenders. To qualify as home tender, applicants must pass furniture checks, ensuring that their furniture is professional enough to accomplish staging purposes, as well as background checks. The home tending companies also perform random weekly checks to make sure the home is always in tip top condition and ready for home showings at a moments notice. Home tenders are employees and will move the people out if there are any problems.

    The owners of Prestige Home Tending also own a moving company, Smooth Movers, and will provide moving services for the home tenders. Prestige home tending is currently available for Cache Valley Homes, Brigham City Homes, Weber County Homes, and Davis County Utah Homes.

    1 commentAlan Barker - Utah Homes • October 22 2009 04:25PM

    Cache County Real Estate Comparison for the Third Quarter

    For the first half of the year, Cache Valley Real Estate sales were down compared with 2008. During the third quarter, they were also down, but less down. Sounds a bit like the national unemployment statistics. The third quarter is traditionally has the highest volume of real estate sales in Cache Valley.

    Well during the third quarter of this year, Cache Valley Ut Home Sales were down 5.65%. 317 Cache County Homes sold compared with 336 during the same period last year. Home sales during the second quarter were down by 12.5% and during the first quarter were down 14.09%, so we are seeing improvement.

    Third Quarter Cache Valley Utah Real Estate prices were also down compared with July-August of last year. The median sold price of Homes in Cache County was $166,727, down 3.63% from last years Q3 median sales price of $173,000. The average sold price of $187,075 was down 3.5% compared with last year. While the year over year Q3 comparison was down, both the median and average home prices were actually up compared with the second quarter of this year. Prices for Logan Utah Real Estate may have already bottomed out.

    0 commentsAlan Barker - Utah Homes • October 15 2009 12:14AM