The numbers are in for Northern Utah and they are expectedly sluggish. Though prices have remained essentially flat, the number of transactions has decreased significantly. Much of that has to do with the tightening of mortgage loan standards.
In Salt Lake County home prices rose less than 1%, but sales activity dropped 42.2%. Davis County also saw flat prices while activity dropped 26.6%. Tooele County saw prices drop 6.3% with a sizable drop in activity. Utah County saw declines on both fronts.
The Salt Lake Realtor Board President said -
"People shouldn't be fearful. You have motivated sellers, and interest rates are low. It's a great time to buy."
I agree with these sentiments, with a few caveats. It's true, now is a great time to buy IF you have patience and the ability to wait a year or two. I'm recommending buying and holding for my clients, NOT flipping. None of us have clarity on when things will turn so its too uncertain to hope for the quick bucks flipping can sometimes provide, but if you can sock a few deals away for a couple years, I'm confident you'll do well. Indeed, it's what I'm doing with my money! (note, I NEVER recommend anything I'm not willing to do myself.)
First quarter in Utah is typically the worst, so I'm not trying to nail down a trend from these numbers, but there are a few standouts. 84102 suffered the biggest price drop at 30.6%, while 84123, Murray-Taylorsville, saw the biggest individual gain at 11.5%.
Clearly the credit crunch is affecting Utah home purchases. Affordable housing will always be competitive as 84104's gain of 11% can attest to. The bargains in the next couple years are going to be the luxury homes originally priced from $600k-$800k that will now be going for half that...particularly those on the edge of town in new developments.
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11 years ago
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