Housing market at low, options and priorities have changed | ksl.com

SALT LAKE CITY — Rock-bottom prices and record low interest rates have not been enough to drive people back into the housing market.”The mentality of this generation is apprehensive,” said Colin Wright, CEO of Henry Walker homes. “Is this really a good deal, a good value?”This morning on Sunday Edition Bruce Lindsay discussed housing trends with developer and Adjunct Professor at the University of Utah, Colin Wright. He believes the younger generation will have much different housing needs and wants. They want smaller yards and shorter commutes, which will lead to more urban housing. Getting out of debt will be more of a status symbol than a big house, and energy efficiency will also be important.The important measuring stick right now is home prices. Thirty percent of homeowners in Utah have negative equity, and the starter home may have to become the dream home for a lot of families.”Weve lost that part of the market. They cant move up. They are stuck,” said Jim Wood, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah.He has watched Utahs housing market closely and believes home prices have hit bottom. But, he adds, we are still years away from full recovery. Short sales are keeping prices down and discouraging people from entering the market.The mentality of this generation is apprehensive. Is this really a good deal, a good value?–- Colin Wright, CEO of Henry Walker homes.”Thirty to 40% of all homes sold are bank owned or short sales,” he said. “And those are distressed sales…Most people dont want to get in there until prices stabilize.”Unemployment and poor credit have also soured the housing market, but its causing a boom in the rental industry. “The apartment market is highly attractive right now,” said Kip Paul, executive director of Commerce Real Estate Solutions. “We are actually seeing prices exceed the peak from three years ago.”In the past year, all types of apartment units experienced increases in average rental rates. A three-bedroom unit now costs about $1100 a month, and Salt Lake County only has a 5.2 percent vacancy rate -5 percent is generally considered a tight market.”We are building more but not quite enough to keep pace with what the anticipated demand is going to be,” he said.And demand within the rental industry is also changing.”Over half of those renters are now in single family homes, condos, town homes. They are not in traditional apartments,” Wood said.If rental prices keep going up, homeowners will have more options to rent their home and cover their mortgage.

via Housing market at low, options and priorities have changed | ksl.com.

Sandy City UTAH (Granite Area)

Thought you would enjoy seeing something from the past..

See a detailed report of these properties

Doctors moving to Utah? Where do Physicians want to live in Salt Lake City, UTAH?

Where do Physicians want to live in UTAH?

The purpose of this article is to help the many Doctors being relocated from other states to come and work and live in our Beautiful state of UTAH. There are three large hospitals I get a lot questions about. 1- The University of Utah. 2- Huntsman Cancer Institute & 3- IMC ( Intermountain Medical Center) These along with the many other Select Health (IHC) hospitals are the main pull for many Doctors moving into the State.. I will continue to post articles relating to the areas surrounding these hosptials with the locations Doctors and Medical professionals would prefer to live in.

I have had many clients moving into the State of Utah ask me, Where should I live if I am a physician? Where do other Doctors live in Salt Lake City Utah? The first question I always ask is. Which Hospital will you be working at? Below you will see a list of all hospitals in the Salt Lake Valley. As you may know location is everything. Many Doctors coming from out of state find Utah as a place that has it all. If you are coming from California or the East coast the Salt lake Valley commute will seem like a dream. Salt Lake is a gigantic valley divided into two parts right down the middle. The East and the West side. It is divided by the I-15 corridor freeway system. This makes it really easy to Navigate. You have several large hospitals that most Doctors inquire about. I will outline just a couple in this article to help you narrow the search. If you have any additional questions please don’t hesitate to give us a call. If you are a Doctor in need of some assistance in your relocation to the state of Utah, please give us a call and we can help you find the right place to live in a hospital where you will be working as a Doctor.

1-Federal Heights (Near University of Utah Hospital and Research Center)

The University of Utah is located on the far North East Corner of the Salt Lake Valley. This is a beautiful part of town. Some of the most desireable neighborhoods are located near the Unitiversity. One of those neighborhoods that tends to have a lot of Doctors is “Federal Heights”

This one’s easy. The neighborhood includes everything north of Sunnyside Avenue and east of 1300 East. The only complication is where 1300 East ends and takes a jog up to Virginia Street. Federal Heights also includes everything north of the Avenues up in the foothills of Salt Lake City.

Housing

The Federal Heights portion of this neighborhood is pretty darn posh. many Doctors that work at the University of Utah have purchased real estate up there. It’s beautiful, it has awesome views, and it feels very safe while being very near to the city and the University. Many of your homes in the Federal Heights neighborhood will be from $600,000 – $1.5 Million.. This makes it once of the more prestigious locations in the Salt Lake Valley.

Most of the affordable homes in the area (relatively speaking) are located nearer to the west side of the University of Utah. One very real consideration for the portion of this area directly adjacent to the University deals with football games. We love the Utes.

2- Emigration Canyon, Foothill BLVD., Bonneville (Near University of Utah Hospital and Research Center)

This neighborhood takes in the homes up Emigration Canyon and everything south of Sunnyside Avenue and on or East of Foothill Drive all the way to I-80. That seems clean enough. In addition, the little area bounded by Sunnyside, 13th East, 13th South, and Foothill Drive is also part of this neighborhood in my book.

Housing

The homes in this area are definitely newer and bigger than their counterparts in either Sugar House or the Avenues. While many of them were built in the earlier part of last century, gobs of them have been re-done either entirely or in-part. In contrast to the homes in the Avenues and Sugar House, these homes tend to have larger lots and more square footage. Oh, and they can be even more expensive.

Some of the most posh sub-neighborhoods include the 13th, 13th, Sunnyside, Foothill block as well as the neighborhood tucked just south of the Hogle Zoo. If you are wondering where your doctor, lawyer, or University professor friends live; I’d say the odds are pretty high that they live in this neighborhood (as well as Federal Heights, which will be highlighted tomorrow).

There are still some good value homes to be found in the area that won’t cost you $500,000, however some of the properties will go up to the $2 million mark.

Real Estate market update for Salt Lake City Real Estate..

It’s official — on July 2, a law was passed extending the closing date deadline for the Homebuyer Tax Credit Program. As a result, any buyer that signed a Purchase & Sale Agreement by April 30 has until September 30 to close. The real estate market continues to rally — and interest rates on mortgages are extraordinarily low. As always, my goal is to provide updates and information that will add value to your business. It’s always a pleasure to help. Sincerely, Aaron Butler aaron.butler@academy.cc
Weak Economic Growth Helps Mortgage Rates Highlights Average 30 yr fixed rate Stocks (Weekly) The Unemployment Rate fell to the lowest level since July 2009 The Core PCE inflation index rose at a tame 1.3% annual rate Consumer Confidence dropped to 53 from 63 last month The Fed’s Duke suggested that Fed MBS sales are a long way off This week: -0.05% Dow: 9,700 -400 Last week: -0.05% NASDAQ: 2,100 -100 After dropping to the lowest level in decades last week, mortgage rates fallen even further. Weak economic data from the US, Europe, and China caused investors to question the pace of the global economic recovery. Slower economic growth was positive for mortgage rates and negative for the stock market. Friday’s important Employment report reflected a slowly improving labor market. The economy lost -125K jobs in June, which was very close to expectations. The figures include a loss of -225K census workers who completed their temporary assignments. The private sector added 83K jobs. The Unemployment Rate fell to 9.5% from 9.7% in May, but this was due to 650K people leaving the labor force. The labor force consists of everyone in the US who either has a job or is looking for one, and the Unemployment Rate measures the percentage of the labor force without jobs. There was mixed news in the housing sector last week. May Pending Home Sales declined 30% from April, as many buyers rushed to sign contracts ahead of the April 30 deadline to qualify for the home buyer tax credit. On a more positive note, the “close-by” deadline for the home buyer tax credit has been extended to September 30. Although the tax credit is not available for new contracts signed after April 30, extremely low mortgage rates and high home affordability levels make conditions very favorable for home purchases.

May 2010 Existing Home Sales are better than the Headline’s suggest

Josh Mettle Blog – Josh Mettle.

This is a great article written by a good friend of mine Josh Mettle. He is one of the top producing Loan offiers in Salt Lake.. Great info..

Existing Home Sales dropped in May for the first time in 3 months but still managed to post its second-highest since November 2009, buoyed by the expiring federal tax credit program.

An “existing home” is a home that cannot be considered new construction; a resale of an existing home.  Existing Home Sales fell 2.2 percent in May.

The press is calling the drop in sales “unexpected” anddisappointing, but a deeper look at the data shows the news isn’t as bad as it first appears.

First, on a regional basis, sales were mostly solid. Only the Northeast region posted a loss. The West even managed a gain.

• Northeast : -18.3 percent
• Midwest : 0.0 percent
• South : +0.5 percent
• West : +4.9 percent

Second, the supply of homes for sale dropped to 8.3 in May and, because home prices are based on supply and demand, this is a positive for pricing.

By comparison, in 2008, the average existing home inventory was 10.4 months.

And, lastly, in May, first-time home buyers represented 46 percent of all buyers. The number was likely buoyed by the tax credit program but that doesn’t damper the fact that first-time buyers provide a support floor for the housing market.

First-time buyers in Salt Lake enable “existing owners” to move-up to bigger homes, which, in turn, trickles up to the mid-size and jumbo markets.

Analysts expected more from May’s numbers and that may explain why the reaction to the data is generally negative.  However, in many cities, home resales did just fine.

Tags: Existing Home Sales, Home Supply

ksl.com – Stocks slide after new home sales drop 33 percent

ksl.com – Stocks slide after new home sales drop 33 percent.

Home prices slide due to the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit. Apprently it did inflate the number of homes selling over the last 6 months.

Interesting time, who would have thought? The big questions is, do you think they will bring the tax credit back now that they realize things are pulling back again?Some say they will, others say they should stop writing checks they can’t cash..

Cumbersome short sales often the only route for a home seller in trouble | The Salt Lake Tribune

“Most of the homes we looked at ended up being short sales,” she said. Not surprisingly, the couple ended up buying their dream last month, a 6,000-square-foot home with all the bells and whistles, via a short sale at a sizeable discount in South Jordan.

In Salt Lake County, for example, nearly one-quarter of all residential listings are short sales, which involve properties being offered by those who owe more than their properties are worth, known as being under water.

via Cumbersome short sales often the only route for a home seller in trouble | The Salt Lake Tribune.

Interesting times, when I hear comment like above on a daily basis. All I have to say is don’t always beleive it. There are some great deals out there, and the best thing to do it get a hold of a true professional that knows exactly what they are doing. They will help point you in the right direction. To often these articles don’t pain the entire picture..

Program rehabs, sells foreclosed houses – Salt Lake Tribune

Program rehabs, sells foreclosed houses – Salt Lake Tribune.

There are some new programs coming out every day to try and help homeowners that are struggeling to make their payments. It is important to understand your options. In an economy where things are unknown, the best advice I could give someone would be to seek a professional. Get some referrals and seek out someone who really understands your options. Often times, there are ways to prevent the worst case scenario’s..

Foreclosure crisis hitting hard on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley – Salt Lake Tribune

Foreclosure crisis hitting hard on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley – Salt Lake Tribune.

Some interesting news about foreclosure’s in UTAH.. I would say the most important aspect of this article is to show what is happening and where it is happening. A lot of people would like to know the statistics, where here they are..

Stocks rise after pending home sales top forecasts

ksl.com – Stocks rise after pending home sales top forecasts.

So some good news, the stock market is reacting to the good news in the Real Estate market. I hve a hard time keeping the good/bad real estate news straight. It really doesn’t make sense to me sometimes.. And I am a local Real Estate Broker in Salt Lake City UTAH.. Real Estate is so volatile, just like every other aspect of the financial world we find ourselves in. Who’s to say its good or bad. The fact of the matter is, I am busier right now then I ever have been. Now, what do I think is going to happen in the coming months. Well bottom line, interest rates are at an all time low. Which I am amazed at, affordable housing I think has hit its bottom in Utah anyway.. However, the upper end homes along the wasatch front? That is a completely different beast. I think current owners of those types of properties are chasing the market down. They will see another 10% drop in home prices.. People just can’t afford those types of homes. So get ready for anoher roller coaster, becasue it is coming fast..