Utah 10 Year Home Appreciation

 

What is a healthy appreciation rate for real estate? It has to be more than the rate of inflation because more real estate cannot be created. It becomes more and more scarce as the population grows, and the population of Utah is growing. To make math simple, I picked 5% as an easy to figure out appreciation rate and ran a few numbers comparing the actual real estate appreciation rate to the 5% amount for the past 10 years for the major Utah Counties.

If 5% appreciation is an accurate and healthy rate for real estate appreciation, then compared to the 1998 average home value, Salt Lake and Utah Counties are overvalued while Davis County is almost right on, and Cache and Weber County’s real estate is undervalued.

 

New Listings vs Sold Homes for Logan Utah

Is the relationship between the number of new listings, and the quantity of homes being sold at an unhealthy balance where prices will drop in Logan Utah?

Currently there are more MLS listings than ever in Logan Utah, but the Logan real estate market trends appear to be somewhat normal for the season. The Cache County real estate market is nowhere near the out of whack balance experienced in protions of Salt Lake and Utah County.

The number of new listings is slightly above normal, and the number of sold homes is a little less than normal for the spring months.

 

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Davis County Home Sale Numbers for April

Home sales continue to be slow in Davis County Utah. For April of 2008, only 277 single family homes were reported sold on the Wasatch Front MLS.  This is almost 100 less homes sold than April of last year, down about 25%. One interesting statistic is that most of the homes that were sold during April were only on the market for a short period of time. 38% of the houses sold were listed for less than thirty days, and nearly 60% of the homes sold in April were on the market for less than two months. This shows that many of the new listings are pricing there homes right for today’s market and not for the booming real estate market of last year. The moderate homes are still selling at a relatively healthy pace.

The average price of Homes Sold in Davis County during April was $250,932. This is slightly down from 2007’s April numbers at $254,585.

Currently the average list price of homes on the market is $366,62, and the median price, is even more than this average price at $294,900. Here is a breakdown of the average list price of the major Davis County Cities:

• 186 Homes for Sale in Bountiful - Average Price $560,000
• 70 Homes for Sale in Centerville - Average Price $387,000
• 144 Single Family homes for sale in Clearfield Utah - Ave Price $205,00
• 151 Houses for Sale in Clinton UT - Ave Price $232,000
• 149 Residential Homes for Sale in Farmington UT - $449,000
• 219 Homes for Sale in Kaysville Utah - $402,000
• 480 Single Family Houses in Layton Utah - $333,000
• 153 Homes for Sale in North Salt Lake - $521,000
• 294 MLS Listings in Syracuse - $316,000

Salt Lake Board of Realtors Claims that Home Sales in Utah are Up, Prices are Down

KSL is airing an optimistic outlook for Utah Housing. They are claiming that the Utah Housing slump may have reached a low and is already on the rebound. Ryan Kirkman, the Vice President of The Salt Lake Board of Realtors notes that home sales increased 19% in February compared to January MLS homes sold. He said,

That represents a huge change from the same time a year ago.Kirkham said, “I actually pulled up the numbers for 2007. The numbers went from, went up only 2 properties sold more in February ‘07 than January ‘07. So that’s really good. I think we’re encouraged by this.”"February’s double-digit rise in sales is welcome news and follows three consecutive months of month-to-month sales declines,” said Jillinda Bowers, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. “At $225,000, Salt Lake County’s median sales price for homes and condominiums is not over-inflated.” 

The more negative news, not reported, is that although home sales did increase in February compared to January, they are only a fraction of the 2007 numbers. In February of 2007, 1148 homes were sold in Salt Lake County. This year, just 737 homes wer sold and we had an extra day. In addition, home sales in February are nearly always higher. Home sales have been higher in February every year since the WFRMLS started keeping statistics in 1995, with the exception  of 2003. Part of it is a seasonal thing. Not as many people try to buy houses in December, and so January real estate sales are usually low. 

I also disagree with the statement by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors President that home prices are not over-inflated.  First off, although the median price of homes and condos sold was just $225,000, the median price of homes on the market is $336,000 for houses, and $215,000 for condos. This is very over-inflated. Obviously the low end homes are the ones that are selling. The thousands of high end vacant spec homes are not. The average price of Salt Lake County homes on the market is $446,000. Either these prices are over-inflated, or else there are just way too many big houses for sale.

 

  

Home Sales down 40% in Weber County.

The Real Estate Market in the Ogden Metro is substantially slower than it was a year ago. For January, there were only 172 single family homes sold, down 40.3% from 2007’s value of 288 houses sold. This is the lowest amount of homes sold in 72 months since January of 2002. Home sales have been on the decline for the last six months now.

 

While the number of home sales is down, the average price actually rose slightly to $162,744. 

 Declining home sales actually creates a great time to buy. Home buyers have more selection, and right now interest rates are the lowest they’ve been in years. This makes housing substantially more affordable.There are 1,834 houses on the market in Weber County. View these MLS Listings Now.

Salt Lake County Home Sales Down - Way Down for January

It’s been a harsh winter among the Wasatch front thus far in ‘08, but weather alone can’t account for the huge decline in home sales for Salt Lake County. According to the Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing service, home sales for January were almost half of  2007’s January Home Sold. In ‘07 there were 1145 single family houses sold. This year, just 591 listings sold. A huge decline.Despite the huge decrease in sales, average home price actually went up 4.5% over 2007’s values. January’s sold price was $264,990. However, the sold price vs. the listing price decreased by 2%. This year, the average sold price was 97% of the list price. Last year it was 99%. Days on market for homes sold is also up to 59 days, compared to 41 in ‘07. The market is definitely a buyers market right now, and with interest rates as low as they are, housing is that much more affordable. There are presently 5,940 single family houses on the market in Salt Lake County. To view these active MLS listings click on this link.

2007 Houses Sold in Utah County Cities

Here are the unofficial sales numbers for the different Utah County Cities with a minimum of 50 houses sold in ‘07.Alpine Houses Sold:62Average Sold Price: 808,430Median Sold Price: 615,000American Fork Houses Sold: 233Average Sold Price: 280,041Median Sold Price: 240,000Cedar Hills Houses Sold: 85Average Sold Price:388,000Median Sold Price: 350,000Eagle Mountain Houses Sold: 364Average Sold Price: 242.000Median Sold Price: 218.000Highland Houses Sold: 141Average Sold Price: 562,062Median Sold Price: 516,465Lehi Houses Sold: 691Average Sold Price: 309,000Median Sold Price: 269,000Lindon Houses Sold: 56Average Sold Price: 418,000Median Sold Price: 370,000Mapleton Houses Sold: 59Average Sold Price: 415,000Median Sold Price: 389,000Orem Houses Sold: 529Average Sold Price: 261,000Median Sold Price: 225,000Payson Houses Sold: 227Average Sold Price: 222,000Median Sold Price: 200,000Pleasant Grove Houses Sold: 242Average Sold Price: 307,000Median Sold Price: 257,000Provo Houses Sold:580Average Sold Price: 252,700Median Sold Price: 206,000Santaquin Houses Sold: 115Average Sold Price: 226,000Median Sold Price: 215,000Spanish Fork Houses Sold: 429Average Sold Price: 243,000Median Sold Price: 218,000Saratoga Springs Houses Sold: 252Average Sold Price: 301,000Median Sold Price: 270,000Springville Houses Sold: 309Average Sold Price: 237,000Median Sold Price: 208,000read more | digg story

Davis County UT Real Estate Market Stats for ‘07

Here are 2007 Unofficial Sales Stats of Davis County vs. 2006 Numbers.Like most of Utah, There were substantially less homes sold in Davis County in ‘07 than there were in ‘06, but home prices were still up by double digits. Here are the stats to judge for yourself. Right now there are 1,922 homes for sale in Davis County. More than half the number of houses sold last year.2007 Unofficial Numbers:Single Family Houses Sold: 3,794 (Down 18.5%)Average Sold Price: $254,577 (Up 10.5%)Condos Sold: 341 (Down 11.2%)Average Sold Price:$164,318 (Up 14.3%)2006 Home Sales Stats:Single Family Houses Sold: 4,655Average Sold Price: $227,960Condos Sold: 384Average Sold Price: $140,873read more | digg story

Midvale Utah Home Sales Summary for 2007

Some unofficial real estate sales stats for ‘07.In 2007 there were 237 single family homes sold. The average price was $230,452 and the median price was $219,950. The average time on market was just 33 days. There were also 169 condominiums sold. The average price of Midvale condominiums was $174,171 and the median sold price was almost $160,000.Right now there are around 100 homes in Midvale that are listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS); including condos and single family houses. The average price of houses on the market is $275,000 and the median price is $250,000. Like most of Utah, the actives are priced substantially higher than the 2007 sales. The percentags in Midvale is not as out of line as Salt Lake County as a whole.read more | digg story

Provo/Orem UT Home Sales Stats for 2007

The Utah Valley trend is very consistent with the real estate market throughout Utah. The number of Home sales is substantially down, but home prices continue to climb in Utah County. But will their be a upcoming price drops in Happy Valley?Here are the 2007 Home Sales Stats as compared with 2006.

Single Family Home Sales: Down 25.5%Condominium Sales Down: Down 6.3%Average Sold Price: Up 9.6%2007 StatisticsNumber of Single Family Homes Sold: 4,475Number of Condos Sold: 1,292Average Single Family Home Price: $289,311Median Single Family Home Price: $240,000Average Sold Condo Price: $172,248Average Days on Market: 51

2006 Statistics

Number of Single Family Homes Sold: 6,013Number of Condos Sold: 1,408Average Single Family Home Price: $261,396Average Sold Condo Price: $152,245Average Days on Market: 50

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