Utah Real Estate Market Conditions

Would you belive that the real estate market in American Fork isn't very healthy? Like most of Utah County, there is a huge oversupply of homes for sale in American Fork.

While home sales are down, inventory continues to increase. There is also a huge gap between the average list price and the average sold price. In the first half of the year there were about 100 homes sold in AF. The median sold price of these homes was $207,950. In contrast the median price of the 266 active American Fork listings is nearly $270,000.

What's the solution? If you really need to sell your house now, drop the price. Your house must be more affordable than the competition otherwise it won't sell. If you don't really need to sell it consider a lease option, or take it off the market altogether. Until demand to purchase American Fork housing goes up prices will have to drop.

Alpine has a serious real estate problem. Based on the recent sales numbers, the current inventory of homes for sale will be on the market for a very long time.

In the first half of 2008, only 20 homes were sold in Alpine. There are currently 104 homes for sale in Alpine. So, at the pace of 3.3 homes sold a month it would take two and a half years to sell the current inventory. However, there are a few more variables involved. The homes that did sell in Alpine during the first half of the year had a median price of $442,242 and an average price of $500,292. The homes currently on the market have a median price of nearly $700,000 and an average price at more than $950,000.

In addition, there will be new listings. Investers and homeowners who bought in Alpine will eventually have to sell. Right now the number of listings on the market is still on the rise. These listings could be on the market for a long, long time.

That's right. There are more than 500 homes for sale in Layton Utah.  Home listings are increasing, but  home sales are staying pretty stagnant. This makes it harder for owners to sell their homes, and forces them to lower prices to be more competitive. During the first six months of 2008 427 single family homes and condos were sold in Layton. The average price of the homes sold was $229,852. The average price of active Layton home listings is $311,261. The reality of the matter is that if these homes want to sell soon, they'll need to lower their prices or else they'll be on the market for a long long time.

Or should I say, home sales number. Home sales are down so much in Kaysville that it's almost a singular thing. Okay, not really but in the first half of 2008, only 107 residential single family homes were sold in Kaysville. That might sound decent, but compared to the 215 active Kaysville MLS listings the future isn't looking very good for those trying to sell a home in Kaysville Utah.

One reason that home sales are down so much is because the homes are just priced higher than what people are willing to pay. Yes these homes are bigger, and yes they probably could have sold for their list price a year ago, but with the reality of todays market they aren't going to be selling for a very long time. The median list price of Kaysville homes is $358,700. The median sold price of Kaysville homes this year is almost 100 grand less at $261,464. The only way this gap is going to be cured is if there is suddenly a lot more demand for high end homes, or if the prices of these homes starts coming down.

Farmington leads Davis County real estate for the most inventory on the market. At the second quarters pace of 14 homes sold per month, if there were no new listings and all the current listings were affordable, it would take nearly a year to sell all of the 160 homes currently for sale.

Being that not all of the homes for sale in Farmington are affordable, and knowing that there will be new homes listed, it will take a lot more time than just a year to sell some of the Farmington homes for sale. The average list price of the homes for sale in Farmington is $453,969, the median list priceis $351,900. In 2008 the median price of Farmington homes sold is less than $300,000 and the average sold price is just $327,000.

So if there is an investor out there who wants to buy lots of high priced homes in the Farmington area, we invite you to come and help the Farmington Real Estate market out.   

Clinton is one of the few areas of Utah where more homes were sold in the first six months of '08 than is currently on the market. 165 residential homes and condos were sold in Clinton during the first half of the year. Currently on the mls there are 158 homes for sale in Clinton.  

The median list price in Clinton is about $20,000 higher than the median sales price thus far this year. This gap is relatively insignificant as many of the homes are just priced too high and will lower their price in order to sell. The median sales price in Clinton is $188,750; the median list price is $214,900. The average list price of Clinton MLS homes is $226,332 and the average sold price is $200,397.

All in all, the affordability of homes in Clinton is helping it to be one of the healthier real estate markets.

There are a few ares in Utah where the real estate market is pretty healthy. Clearfield is one of those areas. Although home sales are down compared to 2007's numbers, the low cost of housing in Clearfield has kept its market moving. In the first half of 2008 175 residential homes and condos were sold in Clearfield these homes had an average price right around $168,000. The current average price of Clearfield MLS listings is about $195,000. Although this number is nearly $30,000 more than the price homes are selling for, it is still substantially lower than the Northern Utah average of $364,000. 

Clearfield also has less inventory than any other large city in Utah. Compared to the second quarter sales numbers, there is just 3.9 months of housing inventory numbers in Clearfield. The Northern Utah inventory average is 9.2 months.

Centerville has about 85 residentlial listings on the market. For the first half of 2008 there was an average of 11 listings sold each month in Centerville. These active listings have a median price at $307,000 and an average list price of $378,446. Of the 65 listings that sold during the first half of the year the median sold price was $240,000 and the average sold price stood at $253,580. The homes that are selling are priced substantially lower than the homes that are for sale in Centeriville Utah. 

There's no doubt about it. The Bountiful Utah Real Estate market is down. Home sales area way down, and the price homes are selling for is down as well. There is a lot of real estate competition out there and the homes that are selling are the ones that are priced low. People just aren't buying the expensive bench homes like they used too. For the first half of 2008, 160 Single family homes and condos were sold in Bountiful. The median price of these sold units was $225,000, and the average price was $296,170.

Currently there are 271 homes for sale in Bountiful, the median price of these listings is $315,000 and the average list price is $491,304, nearly $200,000 more than the average price of homes sold in the first half of '08. The sad thing is that the future isn't looking too optimistic in the immediate future. Increasing interest rates, outrageous gas prices, and decreased consumer confidence doesn't help real estate sales. For those selling high end Bountiful homes, hang on, it will be a while. Lower the price as much as you can if you need to sell, but don't be surprised if your house is still on the market next summer.

The low cost of housing in West Valley helped it to be one of the better selling areas of Utah during the first half of 2008. Still the market is pretty slow, and there are more active MLS listings (579) than the total listings sold from January to June (476). From Q2's sales numbers there is 6.5 months of inventory currently on the market, if there were no new listings.

The median price of the homes that have sold this year is $185,000. The average sold price was only slightly higher at $186,188.  The average  West Valley home for sale is currently priced about $30,000 more than the price these homes are actually selling for.