With the expiration of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit at the end of April, we will be holding a FREE seminar to go through the Home Buying process. This class will be held twice at the Salt Lake Community College Miller Campus in Sandy on MARCH 23RD and MARCH 30th.
This exciting new class will be held in the Salt Lake Community College Professional Development Building and is being provided at no cost for Salt Lake area residents.
The campus is located at: 9750 South 300 West, Sandy, UT 84070
Here’s what will be covered in the class:
What loan programs are available to first time home buyers and what are their qualifying requirements? What are the requirements and key dates for qualifying and claiming the $8000 First Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit? What are the credit requirements for conventional, FHA, and VA loans? How can I find out what my credit score is? How do I go about qualifying for a loan? What should I consider when looking for a new home? How does the home buying process work. How do I make an offer, deposits, what are the key dates, home inspections, when can I move in?
Please note that SEATING IS LIMITED and because of this REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!
If you would like further information about the class, please contact Joseph Gordon on 801-577-6304 or Trela Bird on 801-450-3535 or Tracie Peay on 801-891-5678.
If you wish to register then please complete the Salt Lake Area First Time Home Buyers Class Registration Form.
Tags: FHA loans, First Time Home Buyers, Home Buyers, Homebuyer Tax Credit, Salt Lake Real Estate
If you are looking to buy a condo, a recent change to FHA loan requirements may just have made your condo purchase more difficult.
In order to get a FHA/VA loan on a condo, the condo development must be FHA approved. If the development has not been approved, it needs to go through a certification process, which checks various criteria such as: must be 50 percent owner occupied, less than 25 percent commercial use, no more than 10% owned by one investor etc. This certification process takes anywhere in the region of 3 weeks to 3 months once the paperwork has been received.
What’s the problem you may ask, surely most the condo developments must have already been approved. Well yes they were, but a recent change means that any development that has not been approved in the last two years will have to reapply for certification. This means that most developments, with maybe the exception of some of the newer ones, will not be able use FHA loans until they have been recertified, which may take some time depending upon the efficiency of the HOA (HOA needs to provide numbers on owner occupancy etc.) and how long it takes the FHA to approve the certification.
This is not just a Salt Lake City Condo Market problem, all condo developments in the U.S. have had their approval status expire.
The only way around this issue is for the buyer to obtain a conventional loan instead of a FHA/VA loan, thus circumventing the approval process. The problem with this is that conventional loans require stricter credit qualifying criteria, and the down payment requirements are greater.
Read this Buying a Condo Just Became More Difficult article on our real estate blog.
Tags: Condo Developments, FHA loans, Home Buyers, Salt Lake Condos, VA Loans
December saw the median home price rise to the highest level seen since January 2009. The new median home price of $264,398 was a 6.27% increase over Novembers price, and is further evidence that the worst of the housing market may well be behind us. The number of homes sold did decrease month on month, but this is normal for this time of year, and was still a 15% increase over last January’s total. The average size of a home sold continued to climb, and is now at the highest level for a year.
Total Sales 511
Average List Price $273,277
Average Sale Price $264,398
Sale Vs List 97%
Average Sq. Ft. 2,619
Price Per Sq. Feet $101
Days on Market 88
You can read this post about Salt Lake County Home Prices and other posts on our real estate blog.
Tags: Home Prices, Real Estate Market, Salt Lake County Home Prices, Salt Lake Housing Market
Only one of the 32 zip codes in Salt Lake County experienced single family home price appreciation in 2009. The Holladay zip code of 84117 increased its single family home median home price 3.32%. The fact that Holladay is one Salt Lake’s more desirable areas is no accident. Areas such as this, The Avenues and Sugarhouse experienced an increase in demand towards the end of the year, which hopefully signals a stabilizing housing market.
Best Performing Single Family Homes Areas
84117 (Holladay) up 3.32%
84105 (Salt Lake City Sugarhouse) down 3.64%
84121 (Cottonwood) down 3.24%
84103 (Salt Lake City Avenues) down 4%
The areas that experienced the largest decrease in median home price were South Jordan 84095, Herriman 84096, and the West Valley City areas 84120, and 84128.
Worst Performing Single Family Home Areas
84095 (South Jordan) down 15.42%
84120 (West Valley City) down 13.16%
84096 (Herriman) down 11.97%
84128 (West Valley City) down 11.41%
Condo prices were all over the place in 2009, depending on where you live, you could have seen either a large increase or decrease in the median home price. Unlike the single family home market multiple zip codes actually experienced median price increases. The best of these were West Valley City 84120, Midvale 84047, and Murray 84107.
Best Performing Areas for Condos
84120 (West Valley City) up 42.92%
84047 (Midvale) up 13.1%
84107 (Murray) up 9.02%
84102 (Salt Lake City) up 4.71%
When we look at the worst performing areas we find that the largest condo market of 84101 (downtown Salt Lake City) performed the worst, declining 30%.
Worst Performing Areas for Condos
84101 (Salt Lake City Downtown) down 30%
84115 (South Salt Lake) down 20.15%
84106 (Salt Lake City) down 14.89%
84096 (Herriman) down 14.78%
See our Salt Lake County Home Prices page for a more detailed breakdown of price changes by zip code.
You can read this Salt Lake County Annual Home Prices post on our Salt Lake Real Estate blog.
Tags: Home Sales, Housing Market, Salt Lake County Home Prices, Salt Lake Homes, Salt Lake Housing Market
Impending changes by the FHA (Federal Housing Authority) and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) could cost you thousands extra if you wait rather than taking the plunge and buy now.
These changes which are due to take effect between the March 31st expiration of the Federal Reserve Board’s mortgage backed securities purchase program (this is one of the main reasons that loan rates have been kept artificially low) and the April 30th Home Buyer Tax Credit deadline, could hit you where it hurts, in your pocket.
The first of these changes impacts the cost of up-front mortgage insurance for FHA guaranteed loans. The current rate of 1.75%, is set to increase to 2.25%. This would mean that a borrower would pay an extra $965 on a $200,000 loan, assuming a down payment of $7,000. The mortgage insurance is usually added to the end loan amount, so the additional cost will be added to your monthly loan payment.
The other change will reduce the amount of seller concessions that can be returned to the buyer from the seller, from 6% to 3% of the purchase price. Seller concessions are generally used by buyers to pay their closing costs, a reduction in the amount that can be claimed, may mean that you the buyer will have to bring more of your own money to the table.
This and other articles are available on our Salt Lake Real Estate blog. If you are interested in purchasing a new home why not try our maps based Salt Lake MLS search.
Tags: FHA loans, Home Buyers, HUD, Mortgage Insurance, Seller Concessions
The Ivory Homes active adult community located at Daybreak’s Garden Park is set to expand its range of homes to include estate homes, condos and town homes. Currently there are two types of home on offer, Garden Homes and Patio Homes. Both of these home types offer single floor living, with Garden Homes having a basement, and Patio Homes sharing a common courtyard between the homes.
New to the community is the introduction of estate homes. Aimed at people who want to live in the community, but wish to have their own garden, estate homes offer the same single level living, but have their own lots.
The condos also offer single level living, with access via elevator to the top floor of the two story buildings. There are a total of 6 different floor plans, ranging from 900 to 1,400 square feet. Each unit comes with two indoor parking spaces.
The Garden Park town homes come in both rambler and 2-story floor plans, ranging in size from 1,100 to 1,500 square feet.
Pricing for the new home types start in the $180’s for a condo.
Tags: Daybreak, Daybreak Utah, Garden Park, Ivory Homes, New Home Developments, New Homes
The home sales data for December 2009 saw a mixed bag of results. On the bright side Salt Lake County sales rose 15.86% year on year, and the average home sales price hit the highest level since August 2009, at just under $250,000.
On the other hand the price per square ft. dropped below $100 for the first time since March 2009. This could have something to do with the average size of the homes sold, which increased to the highest level since May 2009 (usually the larger the home the lower the price per square ft.).
Total Sales 833
Average List Price $256,681
Average Sale Price $249,219
Sale Vs List 97%
Average Sq. Ft. 2,555
Price Per Sq. Feet $98
Days on Market 80
Tags: Home Prices, Home Sales, Homes Sold, Salt Lake County Home Prices, Salt Lake Homes, Salt Lake Housing Market
Salt Lake County saw the number of homes sold in November 2009 rise sharply to 1041, a gain of over 74% compared to the same time last year. Fueled by first time home buyer tax credit, Salt Lake County experienced the largest number of November home sales for three years.
Month on month the housing data remained static, with the average price per square foot unchanged at $102, and the average days on market increasing slightly from 77 to 78.
Total Sales 1041
Average List Price $239,328
Average Sale Price $232.874
Sale Vs List 97%
Average Sq. Ft. 2,292
Price Per Sq. Feet $102
Days on Market 78
Tags: Home Prices, Home Sales, Homes Sold, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake County Home Prices
Compared to the national average, Utah has fewer homes in negative equity — where someone’s mortgage is more than the current value of their home. At the end of the third quarter 2009 approximately 18% of residential Utah homes were underwater, while the national average was 23%.
One of the worst hit areas was in the neighboring state of Nevada, where 65% of residential properties were underwater.
One reason for Utah’s better than average negative equity rate, was that during the property boom the level of housing speculation was not nearly as great as that seen in other states. This kept our home appreciation at a lower level. It also helps that we have one of the lowest unemployment levels in the U.S.
Data provided by American First CoreLogic.
Tags: Negative Equity, Utah Home Prices, Utah Housing Market
The homebuyer’s tax credit that was due to expire at the end of November has been extended to April 30th 2010. In addition to this a new tax credit has been introduced for current homeowners who want to sell their home and buy another.
The amount of tax credit for new homeowners remains the same ($8000), but there are some addition criteria that need to be met.
- You must not have had an interest in a principle residence in the last three years.
- The purchase contract must be in effect on or before the 30th of April 2010. You have until the 1st July 2010 to close.
- Income limits of $125,000 for single people and $225,000 for Married couples (these amounts have been increased from the first tax credit). There is an additional $20,000 where the tax credit amount is phased out.
- $800,000 limit on the purchase price (new rule).
- The home cannot be purchased by a dependent (new rule).
- The purchaser must attach documentation to their tax return (new rule).
The tax credit for current homeowners is $6500 ($3250 if you are married filing separately). In order to qualify for this you must have used the home sold as your principle residence for 5 of the last 8 years. Rules 2 through 6 must also be met in order to claim the $6500.
Tags: First Time Home Buyers, Home Buyers, Homebuyer Tax Credit, Tax Credit