'Please buckle your seatbelts. Keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times,
relax and enjoy your real estate ride!'
Joel Carson
If you’re looking for a fantastic roller coaster ride, there are two great options in Northern Utah: 1) Visit Lagoon amusement park in Farmington 2) Dive into the real estate industry.
Sales from January through July we’re looking fine in Salt Lake County. In fact, sales were up 6 percent compared to the same seven-month period in 2009. Now THAT was something to celebrate. Prices were down—but, hey, if you were looking at say … Salt Lake City condos, the low prices and great inventory might have been a high point in your ride.
Unfortunately, Salt Lake County’s July 2010 sales were down 36 percent compared to the same month last year. This year 709 homes sold in July. Last year 1,112 homes sold in July. According to the Salt Lake County Board of REALTORS®, “July’s home sales were the lowest on record (compared to previous July months) since electronic records started being recorded in 1996. “
What’s up with that? Well, it’s entirely possible that the April 30 deadline for the federal government’s first-time homebuyer tax credit caused home shoppers and Realtors to push their paperwork through in time to get the Fed’s golden egg. That may have increased sales in the early months of 2010 and could account for the slowing trend in July. It’s interesting to note that even with a dip in July home sales, the 2010 January-July home sales still averaged out to be 6 percent higher than the same period in 2009.
There are 15 cities in Salt Lake County so we’re talking about sales of West Valley homes, Riverton homes, Sandy real estate, Holladay homes, Draper homes, and property in 10 other incorporated cities plus the unincorporated communities of Salt Lake County.
Ready for another high ride? Weeeeeee! Home prices were actually up 5 percent in July 2010 compared to July 2009.
The Salt Lake County Board of REALTORS estimates there are about 7,700 existing homes and condominiums on the market in the county right now. It’s a buyers market. Shop for your new home right now (24/7) at www.AllUtahRealEstate.com.
Do I dare quote singer John Mayer? Sure, “Everything is not broken, if everything’s not fine.”
Fact is, the National Association of REALTORS® is reporting an increase in pending home sales on average throughout the nation. Pending home sales are under contract, but haven’t closed escrow. NAR reports a 5.2 percent increase over the previous month (much better than July 2009 when sales had dropped 19 percent from the previous month).
Please buckle your seatbelts. Keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times, and enjoy your real estate ride!
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