October home sales in Salt Lake County saw a sharp increase compared to the same time last year. There were 1002 homes sold which was a 17.74% increase over October 2008 and a 6.26% increase over September 2009. The average sale price went up 0.4% to $239,924 compared to September 2009. The price per square foot was $102, remaining in the narrow trading band between $102 and $105, which we have seen in the last 6 months. The average days on market eased slightly to 77.
All in all October showed lots of positive signs that the Salt Lake housing market may have bottomed. The increase in home sales were no doubt in part due to the soon to be expiring first time home buyer incentive (which has now been replaced by another one), but we have also seen an increase in demand in the $600,000+ range. In addition to this we have also seen an increase in multiple offer situations, we have had three of these in the last two weeks, and none of them were short sales or bank owned properties.
Total Sales 1002
Average List Price $246,381
Average Sale Price $239.924
Sale Vs List 97%
Average Sq. Ft. 2,360
Price Per Sq. Feet $102
Days on Market 77
Tags: Average Home Prices, Home Prices, Home Sales, Homes Sold, Salt Lake County Home Prices, Salt Lake Homes, Salt Lake Housing Market, Salt Lake Real Estate
September home sales in Salt Lake County returned a mixed bag. While the average sales price dropped to just over $240,000, the price per square foot actually increased to $104. This implies people are buying smaller homes, in fact the average sized home dropped to 2,307 sq. ft., its lowest level since September 2008. The amount of days taken to sell a home eased slightly to 80 days.
Total Sales 899
Average List Price $246,974
Average Sale Price $240,691
Sale Vs List 97%
Average Sq. Ft. 2,307
Price Per Sq. Feet $104
Days on Market 80
Tags: Home Prices, Home Sales, Homes Sold, Housing Market, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake County Home Prices, Salt Lake Housing Market
Just a quick update on the shops and restaurants opening for business in Daybreak’s SoDa Row Village center.
Oopsie Daisy Children’s Boutique – Now Open
Guy’s Barber Shop – Now Open
Black Diamond Gymnastics – Now Open
San Gelato Café – November 1st 2009
Classic Cleaners – November 1st 2009
Tio’s Mexican Restaurant – December 1st 2009
The Flower Shop – December 1st 2009
9 Salon and Day Spa – December 15th 2009
Wabi Sabi – December 30th 2009
Zion’s Bank – Summer 2010
There was also supposed to be a bar opening in SoDa Row, but South Jordan put a block on that one (at least that is my understanding). It is not completely dead, but they do need to hook up with a restaurant before they can get the go ahead.
If you live on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley you will be interested to hear that the Mountain View Corridor has been given the go ahead.
For the first phase they have been allocated $500 million, which they will use to construct a two lane highway (two lanes either way), with a speed limit of 45 mph and signalized intersections. Initially the road will be constructed between 9000 south and Redwood Road in Salt Lake County and between 2100 north and I-15 in Utah County.
This may sound like a cop out, but the idea is that when further funding is available the intersections will be converted into interchanges, and additional lanes added to make it a fully fledged freeway.
I believe this is a good idea, as long as the additional funding does become available. The west side does not currently need a major freeway, but will do in the future. The way it has been planned provides a balance between current needs and available funds.
In addition to the normal traffic lanes there are also plans for dedicated transit lanes, where bus, street car or light rail could run. At the moment there are no firm plans for the exact type of transit to be used in these lanes.
Tags: Mountain View Corridor
Just a quick note to let you know that the Utah Governor recently announced they will use $8 million in federal stimulus funds to reintroduce the Home Run Grant.
The official statement said that the state will offer $4,000 grants to the first 2,000 new home buyers.
The program comes on the heels of one started by former Gov. Jon Huntsman, who used $10 million in stimulus funds offer $6,000 grants. These grants were used in less than 12 weeks, so if you are interested in taking advantage of this offer you had better hurry.
There is one major difference between the original grant and this one (apart from the amount). The original grant could only be issued for homes that were ready for occupancy, while the new one can issued for homes which have been contracted for construction, or partially finished and contracted for completion. This changes the focus of the grant from getting rid of new home inventory to building new homes.
Tags: First Time Home Buyers, Housing Market, New Construction, New Homes, Real estate, Real Estate Market, Utah Housing Market, Utah Real Estate
Home sales for Salt Lake County in August 2009 were flat compared to July. The average home price fell slightly to $255,375 (from $257,186), but the average size also fell to 2,479 square ft, which meant that the average price per square ft. actually rose slightly to $103. The number of homes sold dipped below 1,000 to 976, and the days on market rose to 82.
September is shaping up to be a strong month, with activity being fueled by first time home buyers not wanting to miss out on the soon to be expiring $8000 tax credit.
Total Sales 976
Average List Price $263,422
Average Sale Price $255,365
Sale Vs List 97%
Average Sq. Ft. 2,479
Price Per Sq. Feet $103
Days on Market 82
Tags: Average Home Prices, Home Prices, Home Sales, Homes Sold, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake County Home Prices, Salt Lake Homes, Salt Lake Housing Market
For the second month running, the number of homes sold in Salt Lake County exceeded 1000. There were a total of 1081 homes sold which was slightly down on last months figure, but is still an healthy sign of an improving real estate market. The average sales price and price per square feet was also slightly down. One figure that was encouraging was the days on market. The average number of days it took to sell a home dropped from 81 days in June to 77 days in July.
Total Sales 1081
Average List Price $264,847
Average Sale Price $257,186
Sale Vs List 97%
Average Sq. Ft. 2,537
Price Per Sq. Feet $101
Days on Market 77
Tags: Home Prices, Home Sales, Homes Sold, Housing Market, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake County Home Prices, Salt Lake Homes, Salt Lake Housing Market
For the first time since November 2008, there were more than 1,000 homes sold in Salt Lake County. June saw 1,191 homes sold, for an average sales price of $261,218. While the average sales price was slightly down on the previous month, the price per square ft. increased to $105, the highest level seen since Nov. 2008. Average days on market (number of days it takes to sell a home) was 81, which is down from the recent peak of 88 days.
Total Sales 1191
Average List Price $269,367
Average Sale Price $261,218
Sale Vs List 97%
Average Sq. Ft. 2,487
Price Per Sq. Feet $105
Days on Market 81
Tags: Home Prices, Home Sales, Homes Sold, Salt Lake County Home Prices, Salt Lake Housing Market, Salt Lake Real Estate
The real estate industry standard for determining how a market is performing is the median home price or in some places the average home price. You hear it everywhere, median home price falls in first quarter, median home price for Salt Lake City is… But is the median home price a true indicator of how a market is performing, or would we be better off using something else, for instance the price per square ft.
Let’s look at a specific example. In June 2007 the Salt Lake County real estate market peaked with a median home price of $234,000, in April 2009 the market hit a low of $211,250, which was a fall of 9.72%.
Now if you are trying to sell your home or if you are in the real estate business you will know that the market has fallen much more than 9.72%, but what can we use to determine the actual market decline? That’s where price per square ft. comes into play.
During a real estate downturn people don’t necessary spend less money buying a home, they just buy a bigger home, or buy in a nicer area. Using this logic if someone purchased a home for $300,000 in April 2009, they would have got a substantially bigger home than if they purchased a home for $300,000 in June 2007. Unlike the median home price, the price per square foot takes into account the size of home and provides a much more actuate indicator to how the market is performing.
If we look at price per square ft. values for June 2007 and April 2009 we find that they went from $130 to $100, a decline of 23.08%, which is much more in line with what we are seeing in the marketplace.
You may ask, if price per square ft is that much better, why are median home prices still used? The answer is probably because people find it easier to relate to a median home price. If you tell someone the price for homes in their area is $130 per square ft, they will almost certainly look at you funny.
Tags: Average Home Prices, Home Prices, Median Home Prices, Real Estate Market
Good news for Daybreak residents, Kennecott today announced the first Businesses set to occupy Daybreak Utah’s SoDa Row Village Center. They will be:
Black Diamond Gymnastics and Sport Centers – Will provide gymnastics, dance, cheer and martial arts. It also offers the Kids Klub after school enrichment program, off-track camps for kids, birthday parties, special events and an academic preschool and tutoring program.
Tio’s Mexican Restaurant – A local Mexican restaurant with one other location currently open in Murray.
Classic Cleaners – Dry cleaners priding itself on being an environmentally sensitive cleaner. This will be Classic Cleaners third location in the Valley.
Zion’s Bank – No explanation needed for this one.
Guy’s Barbershop – Guy’s Barbershop will open its first location offering haircuts and straight razor shaves in a traditional one-chair shop.
Oopsie Daisy –A children’s boutique offering distinctive children’s clothes, shoes, gifts and furniture.
San Gelato Café – Italian café offering gelato, panini and many other Italian treats.
Looking at the list one of the things I really like, is the lack of chains (with the exception of Zion’s), all the businesses are locally run and operated.
There are a couple of noticeable businesses missing from the list. Rumors were that a brew pub and sports bar was due to be part of the village center. I am not sure how true these rumors were, but I hope that these businesses have not had to be scraped due to Utah’s lack of available liquor licenses. The press release did say that there will be more announcements over the coming weeks, so maybe they will be announced then.
Tags: Daybreak Utah, Daybreak Village Center, SoDa Row Village Center