January 31, 2009

What is the Real Estate Trend in My Neighborhood?

As promised, we wanted to compare our local real estate market with the national trends recently outlined by NAR and reported in newspapers and websites across the country. One thing I have learned is that real estate is always local and even in a city, there are neighborhoods that will appreciate and there are neighborhoods that will be in decline. There are many areas of the country where real estate is holding its own. Utah is one of those areas that still has it’s troubles but not as great as many areas of the country.

In Davis County (Fruit Heights, Kaysville, and Layton), we have run the market numbers this year as they compared with last year’s numbers at this same time.

Average Home Prices in 2007 were $255,104; Average Home Prices 2008 was $250,448; down 1.83%
The number of months to sell housing inventory has increased from 8.1 months in 2007 to 14.3 months (not a good sign for Sellers) in 2008.
The average days it takes to sell a home has increased from 50 days in 2007 to 100 days in 2008

The fact that the unit homes sales number is down from previous years is still a concern but home prices are holding steady and homes are selling when priced a current market value. With over 14 months of unsold inventory the market is pressing housing prices downward.

In Weber County (Ogden, North Ogden, and Harrisville) we see some exciting strength.

The average home prices in 2007 were $185,333 and at the end of 2008 they had risen to $188,411, a modest increase of 1.66%.
The number of months to sell the housing inventory however has increased from 7.6 months to 17.8 months.
The average days it takes to sell a home has increased from 62 days in 2007 to 93 days in 2008.

Northern Utah growth is strong because of a growing population and relatively low jobless rate of 4.3% compared with the national average of 7.2%.

It is still a buyer’s market and sellers must be aggressive in their pricing strategy to attract the current buyer markets. For buyers who are waiting on the sideline, this is the year to purchase that first home and even invest in the first investment property. Davis and Weber County remain excellent places to own real estate. Northern Utah Real Estate Market Update

For more information on appreciation rates in the Northern Utah for the past five years please refer to this recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune. If you would like a free report of how your neighborhood is doing please contact me directly.

Posted By: Steve Randall