Report: Utah home prices up

There's more evidence Utah's real estate market is turning around. Utah home prices were up 2.3 percent in March compared to March 2011, according to research company CoreLogic. Compared to other states, Utah had the 14th highest appreciation.

The picture looked even better when distressed properties were excluded. When short sales and foreclosures were taken out, Utah home prices rose 3.4 percent, according to CoreLogic. Compared to other states, Utah and Kansas were tied for the fifth-highest appreciation excluding distressed sales.

The CoreLogic Home Price Index tracks increases and decreases in the sales prices of the same homes over time. This is helpful because it is not influenced by the mix of homes selling, which can change from year to year.

“The spring housing market is responding to an improving balance between real estate supply and demand which is causing stabilization in house prices,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

Nationally, home prices fell 0.6 percent from March 2011 to March 2012. Excluding distressed sales, they rose 0.9 percent.

“While housing prices remain flat nationally, in many markets tighter inventories are beginning to lift home prices,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of CoreLogic.

With as many positive indicators as we've had regarding the health of the Utah real estate market, I think it's pretty safe to say now that we are in recovery mode. The market has bottomed out, and now things are stabilizing and appreciating again. More reasons why Utah is such a great state.

April home sales for Cache County Utah are not quite as good as they were during March. Compared with April of a year ago, home sales improved 7%. 71 homes sold during April compared with 66 in April of 2011.
The number of homes for sale has also risen, but this is typical for spring. Their are currently 681 residential homes for sale in Cache County. This is up from 635 a month ago, but down by 13.3% from the 786 listings a year ago. Some positive news for the Cache Valley Real Estate market is that the number of under contract homes is at its highest level since May of 2010. That was right before the expiration of the home buying tax credit. Cache County currently has 165 pending home sales. This means that we should have strong home sales in the next few months.

Despite the fact that real estate sales were down in Logan, the market is still showing some very positive signs. Inventory is down nearly fourteen percent from a year ago, and Under Contract homes are at a two year high. This should be the best summer to for Logan Real Estate we have seen in years.

Yesterday, the division of real estate came and spoke to Realtors, Mortgage Lenders, and Appraisers in Cache Valley. They gave us an update of the Utah Real Estate market as well as the Utah Economy as a whole. In general, they had very many positive things to say, among them:

• Utah was ranked the number #1 state for business and careers.
• #1 for Economic Dynamism
• #1 Best Managed State
• Salt Lake City is in top 15 areas in the world for Business. There were only two cities in the US that met this criteria
• The Salt Lake and Provo Metro areas have seen substantial improvement.
• Building permits, prices and employment have all grown.
• The Total Inventory of Homes for Sale in Utah is down 24% compared with a year ago.
• Utah has 7 months of active inventory as a whole. That indicates a balanced market.

It’s a great time to buy real estate in Utah.

Here’s some good news for the Salt Lake real estate market as reported by KSL.com

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s capitol city was ranked among the top 10 U.S. cities in which to buy a home in the current housing market.

The list, compiled by The National Association of Realtors was made using data from the February housing and jobs data, the U.S. home price index from Fiserv Case-Shiller and unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics across 146 metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions.

Utah housing market stats

Median List Price: $195,000 (up 5.5% y-o-y)
Inventory Level: 6,743 homes (down 31% y-o-y)
Median Days On Market: 90 days (down 13% y-o- y)
Price Drop From Peak:19.4%
Unemployment Rate: 5.9%

Tuscon, AZ held the number one spot on the list, with a median list price of $170,000 and an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent. Salt Lake City, which came in sixth, had a median listing price of $195,000, but its unemployment rate was a mere 5.9 percent, while the national unemployment rate sits at 8.2 percent.

Salt Lake City was flanked by Fort Worth TX, coming in at number five, and San Jose, CA, which ranked seventh.

St. Louis, MO, which was ranked number ten on the list, had 12,819 homes on its inventory level, while Salt lake had nearly half that at 6,743 homes. Homes are also selling quicker in Salt Lake, with its median for days on the housing market at 90, while St. Louis’ median was 103 days.

via Salt Lake City ranked in top 10 cities to buy a home | ksl.com.

The market stats we've shown have indicated that the Salt Lake real estate market was doing some good things. Now it's good to see some national press indicate the same findings.

Real Estate in Cache County is moving along strong. Home sales during March were up nearly 4% compared to last year, and were up 27% from February. So far, 79 residential homes have been reported as sold.

Real estate inventory has risen since last month, but that is typical for Spring. Currently, Cache County has 635 residential home listings. This is up from 583 a month ago. Last year at this time there were 711 houses for sale in Cache Valley. At March's home sales pace, this represents just over 8 months of active inventory.

The reduced inventory is trending more towards a buyers market for many home price ranges. In fact, the median list price right now is actually up compared with a few months ago. During February the median list price was just $172,950. Right now it is $179,497.

Mortgage interest rates are still very low. It's a great time to shop for Homes for Sale in Logan Utah.

It's nice to see a steady improving real estate market. That's what it appears is happening in Cache County.

The real estate market in Tooele Utah is one of the most abnormal markets in the state. Tooele is an interesting place. It is a small town with a feel all of its own, and its own real estate market. Yet, Tooele is just half an hour from Salt Lake City. It’s not really it’s own metro area, and many of the people who live there commute to Salt Lake City. The decision to buy Homes in Tooele is often determined on Gas prices. When gas prices are high, commuters are less likely to consider Tooele County as a place in which to buy a home. When gas prices are low, the lower cost of housing in Tooele makes it more appealing than buying Salt Lake Real Estate in one of the more metro suburb areas.

Of all the areas in Utah, Real Estate in Tooele probably saw the biggest spike in sales totals during the housing boom. Sales of new construction homes, condos, townhomes, luxury homes, and multi-family homes all increased just before the bubble. In 2006, 1312 residential homes sold in Tooele! In comparison, just 701 homes sold last year.

Tooele Home Prices

Not only have home sales drastically increased and decreased over the past decade, but so have prices.

In 2005 the median price of Tooele Homes was $134,500. Just two years later that median level rose to $190,000 as so many home buyers moved to Tooele because it was so much more affordable than Salt Lake. In many ways, Tooele was over built. The demand for Tooele housing didn’t continue, and as home sales substantially dropped from 2008-2011, prices plummeted. Last year the median sales value was down to almost 2005 levels at $139,000.

Super low home prices make right now a great time to shop for and purchase Tooele Real Estate. The all time low mortgage interest rates also help to make that decision a now brainer.

The fact that home sales are half of what they were in 2006 is pretty astonishing. I'm sure local Realtors are feeling the effects of the much slower real estate. It will be interesting to see how much that increases this year. Most areas of Utah are seeing increases in home sales.

Good News. It looks like January's awful home sales numbers were an anomaly. February home sales were much improved compared with January. The 58 reported home sales was an increase of 27.59% compared with February sales of 2011. This gives year over year monthly home sales improvements for eight of the last nine months.

The Logan Real Estate market really looks as if has bottomed out and is recovering. February Home sales were up by 32% compared with January.

Year over year home sales improvements look as if they will continue into the future as there are 26 more homes under contract than there was at this time last year.

The amount of real estate inventory in Cache County rose slightly from last month. There are currently 583 homes for sale listed on the Utah MLS. At this time last month there were 570. This is normal as the spring season is traditionally the most popular time for new listings. At February's home sales pace, the current inventory has an absorption rate of ten months. There are 120 less homes for sale than there was at this time last year.

Home prices are still quite low in Cache Valley, although list prices are on the rise. The median list price of Cache County homes is $178,000 with an average list price of $224,000. Mortgage interest rates are still at historic lows, and 30 year fixed loans can be obtained for less than 4%.

One of the nice things is that the overall Utah economy is doing really well. Utah is 2nd nationally in growth, and the unemployment rate is very low. These factors also bode well for a housing recovery and improved economy.

Just when we thought mortgage interest rates couldn’t get any lower, they did. It looks like the European debt crisis is having a positive effect on US mortgage rates. It’s interesting how that works.

Here are the results from last weeks Freddie Mac Survey:

• 30 Year Fixed: 3.87%
• 15 Year Fixed: 3.14%
• 5/1 ARM: 2.8%

Overall, it’s just a great time to buy Utah Real Estate. Experts are predicting that Salt Lake Real Estate will actually see some slight home appreciation this year. Low interest rates make housing very affordable, and offer a great opportunity for homeowners to really build wealth by paying their homes off. It’s a great time to lock in with a 15 year fixed mortgage.

It's Incredible. With interest rates this low it's almost stupid not to talk to a lender to see if refinancing will be beneficial to you. Or if you plan to make a move any time in the next few years, you might as well do it now.

As I ran the monthly sales stats this morning I was shocked at just how low the monthly home sales were for Logan Real Estate during January. Over the last few months, things looked like the real estate market had really turned a corner. It looked as if the days of super low monthly home sales were behind us. Unless January was a statistical aberration, I was wrong.

January tied for the single lowest monthly home sales in the last decade. There were just 39 residential homes that sold in Cache County during January, the same as January of 2010.

The good news is that despite the low home sales numbers, real estate inventory is lower than it was last month. Right now Cache County has 570 homes for sale. This is six less than at this time a month ago. However, this is the time of year where we usually see an increase in new listings as people begin preparing their homes for spring selling.

February appears as if it will be better for home sales. Right now there are 112 under contract homes. If half of these properties close during February, we will see nearly 65 home sales for the month.

Home prices continue to drop. During January the homes that sold had an average sales price of just $69.64 per square foot. This is the lowest per foot price since 2005.

While 2012 started out slow for Logan Utah Real Estate sales, I fully expect 2012 to be a better year for the Cache Valley Real Estate market.

This came as a big surprise. The last few months really made the market look like it was on the verge of booming again. Oh well. Maybe things will really switch this summer. After all, the Logan metro area is growing.

It’s hard to believe, but mortgage interest rates hit all time lows AGAIN. It makes me just want to buy again even though I just bought. Home financing is just so cheap right now.

Here is the break down from the latest Freddie Mac survey:

• 30- Year Fixed Mortgages 3.89%
• 15 year Fixed Mortgages: 3.16%
• 5 Year ARM: 3.23

What a fantastic time to buy. Get started searching homes for sale right away before the economy improves and interest rates rise.