Our market this winter has been slow, the pace of which we haven’t seen in about ten years. In fact, in January only 587 homes or condos sold in Salt Lake County. That was a typical January that we had in the late ‘90’s and nothing like the January’s of the last few years. Just to give you an idea of how slow this January was; we had 1145 sold homes or condos in January of last year in Salt Lake County. That’s twice of what we had this year. Furthermore, February has also started out poorly with only 98 homes or condos sold so far in Salt Lake County (up until February 8th).
Right now you are probably wondering if I’ve lost my mind. After all, if January was so bad and February has started poorly, then why do I think the market is improving? Well, in the last week or two I’ve begun to notice things picking up in the Real Estate Market in and around Salt Lake City. So, I decided to do a little research to confirm my thoughts. My research surprised me.
Currently, we have 1413 homes or condos under contract to be sold in Salt Lake County. What does that mean? It means we are heading for a good February and maybe a strong March. Let me explain. The typical Real Estate contract runs it’s course in about 30 days and the majority of these homes or condos that are under contract will become sold in the next 30 days. Not all the homes or condos that are under contract will sell, however, the majority will. We are shaping up for a good February. Maybe not quite like the banner years of ’06 (1203 sold homes/condos), or ‘07 (1148 sold homes/condos), but, definitely better than most expected. March looks like it may be strong too. (Stats provided by the Wasatch Front regional MLS)
Now I’m saying we’ve been able to avoid the sub-prime mortgage fallout. It’s just that we have so many other positive influences on our real estate market here locally. Influences like strong economy, large influx of people, creation of good jobs. Those things have been able to alleviate the woes other parts of the country have been experiencing. We still have a larger than average inventory. So, we will need to string together a few strong quarters to get things back to normal.
So what does this mean for homebuyers and sellers? Well, for the homebuyer that have been waiting for prices to drop significantly, it may not happen. At least with the large inventory right now you will have many homes to choose from which makes it easier to find a seller willing to work with you on the price (albeit not the huge discount you wished for). Currently, buyers are also dictating the terms of most contracts, something that hasn’t happened in the last few years. Rates are low and inventory is high. In my opinion, now is a fantastic time to buy.
For home sellers, the up-tick in the market is a good sign, however, with the large numbers of homes for sale, only the best-priced homes will move. That means that you will need an aggressive marketing plan with addition to being the best value in your area to successfully sell. Most professionals here locally that I have talked with are thinking that we should be back to normal inventory levels by the end of this year.
Date: 2008-02-08 15:27:18