Utah Liquor Laws- Oh, My My My…

 

The LDS fanatics state legislature has decided to “simplify” the incredibly ridiculous Utah state liquor laws again. Will this stupid and absurd “musical chairs” of liquor law rule-swapping ever stop?

Under the new rules, the limit to how much alcohol that can be poured into a drink has been increased from 1 once to 1.5 ounces. That’s the only sane part.

But, now you can no longer order a “sidecar”, or an additional shot of that alcohol that we locals have been forced to order so we can “spike” our drinks and give them a normal ratio of alcohol.

You can have a shot of liquor in front of you with a drink, but now you can not have a shot of the same type of alcohol that is in your drink. So, if you are drinking a Margarita you can have a shot of vodka or rum or bourbon, but not a shot of tequila.

Smart…

Now, I’ll just order two shots of Jack Daniels and a regular coke and pour both shots into my coke. These are the stupid things we adults need to do in Utah to have a normal drink.

Also, wine coolers and flavored malt beverages will only be sold in state liquor stores, so now that $6 six-pack of wine cooler (which are just as weak as beer) will cost you $9 with the state liquor store mark-up of over 40%.

The reasoning is that if kids see fruity drinks in the grocery store they will;

A) Steal the drinks (meaning kids here are all thief’s)

or they will

B) Simply want to drink because they see these tempting fruity drinks. Because that’s why kids drink alcolhol, right? For the fruity taste! I mean, they can’t get fruity drinks anywhere else, right?

So now, thanks to our intellectually-challenged state legislature, kids will not be drinking anymore in Utah because they won’t see fruity drinks at Albertsons…

And, of course, you still cannot ship wine into or out of the state and beer is 3.2% alcohol unlike every other state, where it’s 6%, because our lawmakers get a kick out of changing laws and rules about things they know nothing about (which is most everything).

Here is my solution;

Why not let adults drink whatever kind of alcohol they want, and let bars make the drinks the way they want, like in  other states, and then punish alcohol-related crimes much more severely? Isn’t that supposed to be the whole goal, to get rid of the bad things that can happen when people are drinking?

Here’s the ironic part of the whole thing- telling me I can’t have a shot of tequila on the table at the same time as my margarita does not make me drink less tequila, it makes me drink more. When the waitress gets to my table with my shot, I have to “chug” my margarita so I can then have my shot. And then I have to order another margarita because I just chugged mine. Most people don’t drink shots, they drink mixed drinks or beer and they order a round of shots that sit on the table until everyone takes the shot together.

In Utah, we have to do shots of our mixed drinks and beers so that we can do shots of liquor. Our legislature is so smart…

Top Ten Cities to Buy a Home in 2008

Forbes released an article on Feb 7, 2008 naming the top cities for buying a home in 2008. These are “…markets where job growth is strong, foreclosures are relatively low and inventory is high. With these factors in place, buyers can still dictate terms of sale and negotiate prices, but aren’t as exposed to the economic and lending risk problems that have sunk many markets around the country.”

Salt Lake City tops the list, again, as being the #1 place to buy a home this year, saying, “Of the major metros in the U.S., Salt Lake City is adding jobs faster than anywhere. The economic boom in SLC has drawn residents from all over the country, and more than a few home builders trying to make a profit in these otherwise woeful times. Housing supply has gone up quickly, and there hasn’t been a high rate of foreclosure.”

But some of the other cities might surprise you.

For example, the article places Phoenix at #5, saying, “Phoenix has a very high foreclosure rate; there’s no way around that. Based on RealtyTrac’s estimates, there is one foreclosure for every 87 households in Phoenix. Still, our data suggest that strong job and economic growth in many non-housing sectors of the local economy is enough to offset it, and people are still moving to the Valley of the Sun at a quick rate.”

And Las Vegas at #7, saying”Las Vegas is a market hammered by foreclosures, due largely to extremely high speculation in both residential communities and the condo market. Though the housing slowdown has hurt jobs in the construction sector, Vegas continues to attract businesses and job seekers to its growing economy, making its excess inventory (and there’s a ton) less toxic than in other places. “

The complete top ten cities are

1 Salt Lake City, UT

2 Raleigh, NC

3 Orlando, FL

4 Charlotte, NC

5 Phoenix, AZ

6 Seattle, WA

7 Las Vegas, NV

8 Jacksonville, FL

9 Richmond, VA

10 Houston, TX

Top Ten States for Jobs

 

Yesterday MSN released a list of the Best and Worst states for jobs based on unemployment figures, and they offer the “mean” wage of each state. Mean wage is a term meaning that half the jobs pay more and half pay less.

Here are the top fifteen states;

1. South Dakota
Unemployment rate: 3 percent
Population: 796,214
Mean annual wage: $30,460
Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (19.9 percent)

2. Idaho
Unemployment rate: 3 percent
Population: 1,499,402
Mean annual wage: $34,810
Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (20.2 percent)

3. Wyoming
Unemployment rate: 3.1 percent
Population: 522,830
Mean annual wage: $34,290
Top industry: Government (23 percent)

4. Nebraska
Unemployment rate: 3.2 percent
Population: 1,774,571
Mean annual wage: $34,300
Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (21.1 percent)

5. Utah
Unemployment rate: 3.2 percent
Population: 2,645,330
Mean annual wage: $35,540
Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (19.7 percent)

6. Hawaii
Unemployment rate: 3.2 percent
Population: 1,283,388
Mean annual wage: $38,630
Top industry: Government (19.6 percent)

7. North Dakota
Unemployment rate: 3.3 percent
Population: 639,715
Mean annual wage: $32,440
Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (21.4 percent)

8. Virginia
Unemployment rate: 3.5 percent
Population: 7,712,091
Mean annual wage: $41,450
Top industry: Government (18 percent)

9. Montana
Unemployment rate: 3.6 percent
Population: 957,861
Mean annual wage: $31,290
Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (20.5 percent)

10. New Hampshire
Unemployment rate: 3.6 percent
Population: 1,315,828
Mean annual wage: $39,250
Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (23.3 percent)

11. New Mexico
Unemployment rate: 3.7 percent
Population: 1,969,915
Mean annual wage: $33,980
Top industry: Government (23.2 percent)

12. Delaware
Unemployment rate: 3.8 percent
Population: 864,764
Mean annual wage: $41,680
Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (18.7 percent)

13. Maryland
Unemployment rate: 3.8 percent
Population: 5,618,344
Mean annual wage: $44,030
Top industry: Government (18.2 percent)

14. Iowa
Unemployment rate: 4 percent
Population: 2,988,046
Mean annual wage: $33,250
Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (20.4 percent)

15. Vermont
Unemployment rate: 4 percent
Population: 621,254
Mean annual wage: $36,350
Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (19.4 percent)

Michigan heads the list of “worst states”, followed by Mississippi, South Carolina, Alaska, California, D.C., Ohio, Arkansas, Nevada, and Kentucky.

Most “Vain” Cities in the Nation

 

Those guys at Forbes, they really do know how to pick ‘em. They just released their list of the Top Ten Most Vain cities in the country, based mostly on the number of plastic surgeons per capita. Apparently, over 11,000,000 cosmetic procedures were performed in the US in 2006, a 48% increase over the previous year.

From the article, “As the number of cosmetic procedures nationwide continues to surge, we looked at which cities have most embraced market demand for taut faces, lush lips and flat abs. There were predictable entries like New York, Miami and Los Angeles, but also surprising ones like Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn. Most shocking of all was the town that ranked first: Salt Lake City. “

Yes, you read that correctly- the city at the top, rated as the “Most Vain” was my very own hometown of Salt Lake City.

Forbes offers this disclaimer;

“Unexpected entries like Salt Lake City, Nashville and Louisville might rise to the top, given smaller populations and medical or university programs and centers that focus on plastic surgery. An influx of younger, more affluent residents into the smaller cities may also account for the rising number of plastic surgeons.”

This is something I’ve known for many years, actually, but growing up here, you learn to embrace the culture. And it’s actually very difficult to tell as there are so many beautiful women here. Of course my wife is the most beautiful woman in Salt Lake, and she’s all natural- go figure?

New Oquirrhs Ski Resort Proposed

Kennecott Land, owner of the largest metropolitan landholding by a single owner in the country (75,000 acres) unveiled it’s master plan showing what it has coming in the next couple decades along the west side of Salt Lake county.

It includes 41,000 acres of hillside neighborhoods and businesses, a “transit spine” which would run along the west side Kennecott developments (south to Daybreak) at approximately 8400 West, an urban center north off I-80, and over 10,000 homes (in addition to the 13,500 at Daybreak) broken up into “town centers”, “village centers”, and “neighborhood centers.”

And a Ski Resort.

The new ski facility and Deer Valley-style resort would be in an area called Soldier Flats southwest of Magna and would be the closest ski resort to an international airport in the world (just 18 miles from Salt Lake International).

The resort would begin at a base elevation of 6200 feet and rise to 9350 feet. By comparison, Park City goes from 6900- 10,000 feet and Snowbird from 7760-11,000 feet.

“It’s not a matter of if, ” says Jim Schulte, Kennecott’s vice president of long-term planning, “but when.” He adds, “It’s certainly skiable terrain, and a lot of it.”

Nathan Rafferty, president and chief executive officer of Ski Utah, adds, “They could easily do it. I don’t know that it’s the kind of resortthat would compete with the Snowbird’s, Alta’s, and Deer Valleys of the world, but would be something that would benefit Salt Lake.”

City counselwoman Jenny Wilson may have expressed my sentiments best when she said, “[It] would create a great niche that we don’t have.”

“Great Streets” of the Nation

 

The American Planning Association yesterday released it’s first list Great Streets in the country. Among the ten great streets was South Temple Street in downtown Salt Lake City.

From the article;

True to Its Original Character Down to the Smallest Details

First envisioned in Joseph Smith’s Plat of Zion of 1833 and later employed by Brigham Young in 1847, South Temple Street was meant to be the finest and most prominent avenue in Salt Lake City, as well as a model for other cities and towns in the west. Much of South Temple’s success today is a direct reflection of this original bold vision.

The American Planning Association has selected South Temple Street as one of 10 Great Streets in America for its historical residential design and craftsmanship, diversity of land uses, and the integration of multiple forms of transportation throughout history — as well as commitment on the part of the community to preserve its legacy.

A major east-west corridor, South Temple Street is bounded by a historic residential neighborhood and the University of Utah to the east and the historic Union Pacific Railroad Depot to the west. Running 18 blocks long, the street encompasses everything from a mature tree-lined, mixed use district with historic homes, churches, commercial services, and retail establishments to the city’s central business area and downtown.

“South Temple simply tells the great story of our city’s past,” says Salt Lake City planner Ana Valdemoros, “and is also a statement of the efficient combination of historic preservation and modern planning tools.” Thanks to community leaders, residents, planners, and others, there is an ongoing commitment to Brigham Young’s vision that this be the finest street of the city.

Keeping the integrity of the original street, while incorporating the new (including the new City Creek development) is what sets South Temple apart from many other streets, and this blend and character in the heart of a downtown metropolitan city makes it even more impressive. It began with smart planning, being part of the overall smart design of downtown Salt lake, and carried on with the help of residents and city planners. Just one of the many jewels of Salt Lake City.

The other great streets on the list were:

Bull Street
Savannah, Georgia

Canyon Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Delmar Loop
University City and St. Louis, Missouri

Main Street
Northampton, Massachusetts

Monument Avenue
Richmond, Virginia

North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois

Ocean Drive
Miami Beach, Florida

125th Street
New York, New York

St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, Louisiana

Salt Lake City Real Estate Market

 

The state of the real estate market in Salt Lake City today is interesting. It’s much tougher to sell a home now and there are three very distinct reasons why;

1. Inventory levels are ridiculously high. Funny how this works (in any market). Prices start to go up, people begin to notice and wait and see, prices continue to go up and people begin to plan selling their homes to take advantage of the rising prices, people begin to list homes for sale and homes sell quickly, market begins to reach critical mass, everyone throws home on the market so they don’t “miss this great opportunity while prices are high”.

Problem is that people begin to think about selling/buying while prices are going up but don’t act. They wait and wait and talk about it while the market is rising and then by the time they decide to do anything the market has begun to slow. Sellers are the last to acknoledge that a seller’s market has turned. It’s truly an amazing thing to witness a seller’s rationalization as to why their home should sell while others are not.

I’m listing a condo next week and the sellers want to list for more than it is worth, and more than it will appraise for and then buy a home for a great price because it’s a buyer’s market. Their rationalization is that homes are in a buyer’s market but condos are still in a seller’s market. This is not the case of course, but this is how sellers think. Another listing I have right now has been on the market for a month and hasn’t sold and today I spent twenty minutes on the phone with the seller hearing why his home should be sold even though not one single house has sold in his city during the last 30 days that are even close to his price range. He still thinks his should should be sold.

2. Lenders have tightened qualifications and taken away many programs. Many deals are failing right now and buyers who were qualified are no longer. Lenders are being very strict- they are looking for reasons to not lend money and the appraisers are following suit- being very conservative with their appraised values. This also causes people to become frustrated and decide to not buy at all, especially for 20% less than could have bought a few months ago.

3. The media declares doom and gloom every day on every channel, all day long. According to the media we should all burn our houses down and live in caves because the fictional “national real estate market” has gone to hell and everyone who owns a home is the devil.

This causes people to sit and wait. Most buyers who want to buy are simply waiting and watching to see what will happen, just like sellers did while the market was going up. Now it’s a buyers market and the best time to buy, so what do buyers do? They sit and wait until the market becomes a seller’s market again- and then they’ll all want to buy and they’ll say it’s still a buyer’s market even when it’s not.

This is the natural order of things. People wait until it’s too late and then demand that things are they way they want them to be. Listen it’s really simple- when lots of people are buying is not the best time to buy. The best time to buy is when not as many people are buying. Supply and demand.

In a buyer’s market buyers need to get a great Realtor and make sure they are buying a solid investment, but they’ll make much more appreciation when the market appreciated rapidly again. If you buy while the market is close to it’s peak you don’t make as much as when you buy while it’s not at it’s peak.

The Salt Lake City market will now remain relatively flat in price appreciation for about 18 months until the cycle comes around again and it begins to grow more rapidly. Question is, will you wait until prices have gone up to buy or will you take advantage of opportunity to buy while you’ll get the best deal?

Utah Job Growth Shows No Sign of Slowing

 

Utah has been atop the country’s lists of states with major job growth for the last couple years and the unemployment rate in Utah has been at record lows. Now local employers are saying that things are only going to get better (or, would that be worse?)

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, released on Tuesday, shows that 52% of Utah’s employers plan on adding to their staff during the next six months, while only 3% would be decreasing their numbers. Much of the news surrounding the area’s job growth has centered around certain companies and industries, but this survey is over the breadth of business categories, meaning it will affect most of the population.

In the Orem area, over 60% of employers will be hiring, in the Ogden area 50% will be adding to their ranks and in Salt Lake County 47% will be hiring more people, 53% say they will remain the same, and zero said they plan to reduce staffing levels.

From the Deseret News

The strong Utah figures are in contrast to the national survey results. U.S. fourth-quarter hiring pace is expected to remain unchanged from the July-to-September period but be a little off last year’s fourth-quarter pace. Among the 14,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 27 percent foresee an increase in hiring activity and 9 percent expect a decline in the fourth quarter. Fifty-eight percent expect no change, while 6 percent were undecided.

From the Salt Lake Tribune

“Utah continues to buck the national trend and is even outperforming most of the rest of the West,” said Katz, director of Utah operations for Manpower, a Milwaukee-based global staffing firm. “It’s been that way for about two years, but when you get up around 50 percent of the employers who plan to hire, that’s one of the top rates in the nation. ”The state created 57,000 jobs last year and it appears it could create another 57,000 this year so long as there are enough bodies to fill them.”

Strong job growth has been one of the main reasons for the area’s strong real estate market. People moving into the area for jobs and raised income levels help the economy and the real estate market in the area by adding to the demand for homes. Currently the Salt Lake real estate market is stronger for buyers and with high inventory levels, a nation-leading local economy and low interest rates, this is a good time to buy.

Utah Foreclosures Rates Far Below National Average

 

According to it’s National Delinquency Survey, released today by the Mortgage Bankers Association, the percentage of Utahn’s with loans in foreclosure at the end of the second quarter 2007 dropped from 0.74% (second quarter 2006) to 0.55%. This puts Utah’s foreclosure rate 61% lower than the current national rate of 1.40% for the quarter.

As the Salt Lake Tribune points out, some of the factors include Utah’s economy creating jobs at one of the fastest rates in the nation, local unemployment rates at record lows, and our continued strong housing appreciation, which allows people to sell their homes and pay closing cost before needing to resort to foreclosure.

The strong local economy and job growth are two very important factors here as they help give indication as to where a real estate market is going. The strength of our local market for the last few years has been attributed to a number of factors that go beyond simple investor speculation and home rehabbing. Factors such as the strong local economy, job growth, the influx of people moving into the area, low unemployment, and significant improvements made the area’s infrastructure.

By the way, it’s fun to show all the “Chicken Little’s” how wrong they are… have a nice day.

Where are all the Singles- 2007?

 

Money magazine has it’s new list out with Best Places to live and such (the Best Places is a compilation of smaller cities). The top Utah city on the list was Cottonwood Heights at #100. I live in Cottonwood Heights and I think it should be much higher, but it’s not my list…

They also claim that you’ll find the most singles in State College, PA, Durnam, NH, and Amherst Center, MA (all college towns of course). But they might all be fatty’s as the skinniest people live in Marin (north of SF), Blaine(Idaho), La Plata (Idaho), Teton (Wyoming), Garfield (Colorado), and the last two counties I lived in San Francisco (CA) and Boulder (CO)counties.

Counties with the fastest growth over the last 6 six years has three northern Utah counties at the top with Tooele county (next to Salt Lake to the West) at the top spot with 112.5% growth (!), followed by Summit and Wasatch counties (next to Salt Lake to the East) at #4 and #6 respectively. I have a feeling Salt Lake county might be making the list soon with all the jobs we have coming into the county.

The youngest list is obvisouly a list of towns, not counties, or Salt Lake would again be at the top. But for youngest towns, northern Utah had three at the top, with Eagle Mountain (#12), Cedar Hills (#16), and Oquirrh at #23.

Blog Tour Rolls Into SLC Tonight

The Sellsius Blog Tour is a 24-City tour of the country by Rudy and Joe at Sellsius Blog. They’ve got an RV, a lot of free time, and some large livers- and they’re rolling into the valley July 23rd.

There will be an industry party at the Cottonwood Oyster Bar, Tonight at 6pm where you can meet some of the local real estate bloggers, real estate people, or just have a drink and socialize. The tour kicks off the Big Apple and ends at the Bloggers Connect event in San Francisco.

Here’s the route. As you can see- these guys love the coasts, pandering to the largest crowds possible, and completely despise the south (they told me so themselves). It would have been much simpler for them to straight-shot from Denver to AZ and then up the coast, but they zig-zagged over to SLC just to see the LDS temple (Rudy is Mormon) and to get a shake from Iceberg (Joe judges ice cream for a national competition sponsored by Ben and Jerry’s).

Don’t tell, but while in town they will be staying in their RV, parking it in the parking lot of the Dan’s grocery at Highland at Fort Union. They do not have permission to do so and may well have their RV impounded. Of course they’ll need to cancel the rest of the tour, but there is Crystal Inn within walking distance of Dan’s so they should have a place to crash after the arrest.

This isn’t the first time the guys have been in town. Last time we met up Rudy got toasted and spent the night in the slammer with a dude named “Big Al”. He won’t talk about it.

Alright, I made some of that up, but not all of it. The tour party will, in fact, be Tonight at Oyster Bar- 6pm. There’s usually a good turn-out at these things so you might want to come early.

See you there…

Salt Lake City Real Estate Market is Healthy, Balanced

 

Real estate markets go in cycles. They appreciate, slow down, equalize, and then appreciate again. Investing in real estate is not just about location, it’s about timing as well. There are good investments in any real estate market, but when you buy while the market is appreciating, you’ll ride a bigger wave than if the market is slow.

The Salt lake City real estate market doesn’t seem to follow national trends. The closest historical gauge of the future of our market seems to be looking at California’s market and plan on the opposite. In the early 1990’s, as California’s market crashed Salt Lake soared. During the tech boom, and until around 2005 California’s markets boomed and we were slow. Since 2005 as California has gone soft- we have been very strong. This seems to be the natural order of things…

Anytime the market appreciates as we have been doing- there becomes a growing speculation about where the market is headed and when it will slow. Sellers are the last to see things slow, and buyers find any reason to think the market is slowing and want to find the deals, even while the market is very hot.

Currently Salt Lake has a great real estate market. Prices continue to be strong, which is good for sellers- but there are a lot of good homes on the market, which is good for buyers. Prices continue to appreciate, which is good for everyone (except those who sit and watch).

Tons of jobs are moving into the area, which is one of the reasons the market is strong.  This type of market is good for both sides and is a balanced market. My advice for anyone in the market to buy or sell real estate is get one of the best agents in the business to help you and you’ll do very well.

First-time buyer price range (under $250,000) is always the strongest, and now FHA loans go up to $320,000 in Salt Lake county so that opens the doors for more people to buy. West Jordan, Taylorsville, Holladay, Cottonwood, and West Valley all seem to be strong right now. Southern areas such as Riverton, Herriman, South Jordan, Draper, Lehi, and Bluffdale seem to be a bit slower with so much inventory in the mid price ranges. Condos downtown are slower I think because of all the new condos being built and that are planned- many people are holding off for the new ones.

The mid-range market ($250-$500) seems to have a lot of inventory, but in some areas, such as Sugarhouse, Millcreek, and Canyon Rim there are some great homes that are selling fast in the $300-$400 range.

At least this is what I see with my team (we sell about a home every other day).

Here’s a current sales graph representing all homes listed in Salt lake County from Jan 1- July 5, 2007:

Interesting point to notice- the price range that has had the second-most new listings this year is $500,000-$749,000 with 1808 new listings (but only 399 sales). By contrast, the $180-$199,900 range has had 1325 new listings and 803 sales.

The average priced new listing this year (Salt Lake County) has been $358,556.

Average days on market for the year (all price ranges) is 54 days.

Driving in Utah

Ever since the Vatican released it’s list of ten commandments for driving, there has been discussion around the issue. KSL.com also has a discussion going about Utah drivers and their opinions about it. I’m going to take this opportunity to publish my own list of ten commandments for driving, specifically directed toward Utah drivers.

When I was a teenager I wrote music with friends and we even recorded a bunch. Mostly it was sappy love songs or extremely hard thrashing metal with distorted guitars, drumming as hard and fast as we could play, and screaming over the top. This was good music to us, mostly because we addressed the most pressing issues of the world in our songs. One of the songs I wrote was called, “Get the F@#% out of the Passing Lane”. This was a moving song. (pun intented).

It was mostly aimed at minivans because I’ve long been curious about how minivan owners seem to drive by a different set of rules than the rest of us, but it applies to everyone. One verse went like this;

It’s elegant, refined, and drives home the frustration a teenager  with a sports car feels when driving behind slow vehicles. Utah doesn’t have the worst drivers in my opinions, but some of the crap that flies for acceptable driving around here is pretty lame. AOLAutos ranks it’s top five best and worst drivers as

So here is my own Ten Commandments of driving;

I remember in Colorado I would guest host a Saturday radio program and the first time I was introduced I said, “Hello. I appreciate the chance to be here and I would like to take this opportunity to say- the left lane is called the ‘passing lane’ for a reason.”

For the most complete, and entertaining list of driving pet peeves- you must see Real Lans

The Natural Cycle of a Real Estate Market

    

As the real estate market was rising nationally the last few years the media went hog wild over the frenzy and everywhere you looked there was someone or something telling you that real estate was HOT HOT HOT! Prices were going through the roof and there was unprecedented growth and people were becoming multi-millionaires from selling their homes. It was craziness.

Now the “national market” is going through a correction because it has to- there was too much too fast. In some areas prices and inventory levels are going to decrease. Is that a good thing? Yes, it is. It’s healthy for each market to go through it’s cycle. This ebb and flow is good and allows each market to grow and then collect itself and catch up, and then eventually grow again.

Often when an area does go through a slowing or correction, the prices do not actually go down, but rather just don’t go up as fast. Usually the decline of a market is actually just a decline in it’s growth rate.

Areas can see rapid appreciation for different reasons. Usually it’s because of either speculatory (investment) buying or a major influx of people in a short amount of time. When an area has too many properties being bought and sold solely for investment purposes, the market values rise quickly, but this can create hollow values, because the values rise faster than the populations ability to afford them.

When an investor buys a home for $200,000, puts $70,000 into remodeling and then sells that home two months later for $400,000, that home gained 100 percent appreciation in two months. No worries. But if that happens to 20% of the homes being sold in an area over a year, and the prices are now growing exponentially while the area wages are staying the same, you have trouble.

Eventually this can catch up to the market when people are no longer able to pay the prices of the homes. The other thing that happens during this time is people begin to notice how much these neighboring homes are being sold for and they want in on the action. When a market heats up and prices begin to rise quickly everybody starts throwing their homes on the market and the market becomes flooded with property.

Eventually when the demand slows, but people are still wanting to sell for more and more, those home-sellers (who are always the last to accept the end of a growth period) will need to adjust for this and the market can correct itself. Historically this has happened through a period of prices staying relatively flat and growth slowing for a period of time until the demand increases again.

When both factors happen at the same time (investors flipping homes and people throwing their homes on the market to get the high prices), and when new homes are built rapidly in the area because of the demand and the construction brings jobs related to that construction it can really make things interesting. Because these jobs are created by, and sustained by, the real estate market.

This is what happened in Vegas between 2001 and 2005- people began to move into the area, then investors starting buying and flipping homes, and then home builders began building homes as fast as humanly possible and they were hiring people to help build all of these homes and to staff the expanding casinos and the market appreciated over 50% in a year. When the market reached the point where the demand was no longer there (everyone had bought a new home?) and all of these builders no longer needed the help and the construction crews needed to sell but couldn’t and the prices had been artificially driven up by the investors, what happened to the market? It’s now in a period of decline.

According to Marc Garrison, founder of The National Association of Real Estate Investors (NAREI), there are four main components of the real estate cycle every area experiences. These are Expansion, Equilibrium, Decline and Absorption.

It’s important to note that this cycle not only applies to large geographic areas, but also applies to cities and even neighborhoods.

Expansion brings job growth, population growth and a high demand on the infrastructure of an area. Roads need to be built, restaurants open, hospitals expand and prices rise.

Equilibrium is when things begin to slow and settle. Prices have reached their limits, or beyond, and this period of time brings high prices and as a natural consequence less businesses move into, or expand in, the area. Governments are less likely to offer incentives to businesses to move into the area and job growth slows.

Decline then occurs as the job growth stops and businesses begin to relocate to save money and the demand for housing decreases. During this time, prices become stagnant or even decline as rents and occupancy go down. Usually this decline is merely a slowing of the growth rate, but in markets where the rise was too fast the decline must result in a correction (decline) of prices.

Absorption occurs as the lower prices and occupancy fall below the national averages and/or the area becomes attractive again to businesses looking to relocate. Governments again begin to incentivize business to move into the area and the population begins to grow again.

These four periods of time are all necessary and this is why real estate is so local. One market may be in a period of decline, which pushes another market into expansion. This helps explain why Utah always seems to follow California. As business move from the left coast into Salt Lake City, Provo or Odgen, the market here expands as their markets decline.

Currently the Salt Lake market is in a period of expansion while much of the country, especially along the coasts are in decline. Hopefully, with all of the job growth, our market will see this period last for another couple of years.

Just as nature has it’s seasons, real estate markets have a healthy way of transitioning from period to period. Experiencing these transitions and understanding them can give home buyers and sellers not only an understanding around them, but hopefully, more peace while trying to navigate through the moving process.

Originally posted August 27, 2006

Seth Godin to Speak in Salt Lake City May 24th

 

Popular author and blogger extraordinaire Seth Godin has included Salt Lake City into his blogging tour and will be speaking at the Salt Palace Convention Center this month. Seth has authored books such as Purple Cow, Small is the New Big, and All Marketers Are Liars and is now promoting his new book The Dip ( A Little Book that Teaches You When to Quit and When to Stick) . He is a frequent contributing editor to Fast Company, was recently the vice president for permission marketing at Yahoo! and is the founder of Squidoo.com.

Salt Palace Convention Center

(doors open at 1 pm for networking)

100 S. West Temple

Salt Lake City, UT  84101

May 24th 1-4 pm

Cost $50 (includes 5 copies of his book)

Register Online

*Coordinating the event and putting in a lot of time to make it happen were Phil Burns, Matthew Reinbold and Jason Alba  , who had to help coordinate everything, from booking Mr Godin, coordinating with dozens of bloggers (including me) who probably didn’t give him nearly the help he wanted, and booking a site, sponsors, and a book store to help with the event. Thanks guys.

FHA Loan Limits Raised in Salt Lake County

 

The department of Housing and Urban Development has announced that beginning today the maximum loan amount financed with an FHA (Federal Housing Administration) loan is $362,790. This is a significant increase over the previous maximum loan amount of $232,750 that will surely help many home buyers.

The announcement also states that FHA limits will be raised Tooele and Summit counties to reflect the rising home prices in each area.

HUD Regional Director John Carson said, “Homeownership plays a vital role in creating strong communities by giving families a stake in their neighborhoods and helping them to build wealth. Increasing mortgage limits and providing more relaxed requirements for FHA loans removes two major obstacles for many first-time homebuyers.”

FHA loans are insured by the goverment, making them attractive to lenders, along with their lighter requirements and minimum down payments of 3%. Although FHA does not allow the seller to pay the down payment for a buyer- there are down-payment assistance programs that essentially pay the down payment, with the seller paying for the service.

Average Median Income by State- Utah 9th Highest

         

According to the US Census Bureau, income levels didn’t increase in every state in 2005. From 2004 to 2005 average income levels in 24 states dropped, with Virginia faring the worst, dropping 5.6%, followed by Kansas (-5.5%), Wisconsin (-4.6%) and Missouri (-3.8%).

Other states saw an increase over the same period, led by Maine (+5.5%), Vermont (+5.1%), Maryland (+4.4%), Hawaii (+4.0%) and Arkansas (+3.8%).

Utah saw an increase of 2.4%, which placed the Beehive State with the 9th highest median income in the nation at $53,693.

The highest median income in the country in 2005 belonged to New Jersey ($60,246), followed by Maryland ($59,762), Hawaii ($58,854 ), New Hampshire ($57,850 ), Connecticut ($56,889 ), Alaska ($56,398 ), Minnesota ($56,098 ), Massachusetts ($54,888 ).

The median income for the country in 2005 was $46,071, which was 0.4% higher than the previous year.

Higher Education makes a significant impact on how much most people earn.

Approximately 63% of the population who earn over $60,000/year have at least a college bachelors degree, with only 3% of those people not finishing high school. Of those people who did not finish high school, 69% make less than $30,000/year.

Of those people who have earned a graduate degree, almost 90% of them make over $30,000/year and 79% make over $40,000 annually.

And how much income do you need to make before you are considered to be rich? The largest number of people surved think earning between $100,000-$200,000 makes you rich.

(Charts by New York Times)

Local Blogging Classes

           

Local blogger Newspapergrl will be teaching two classes on blogging soon. If you are local and are wanting to get into blogging you could do much worse than learning from Janet, she’s an accomplished blogger.

Introduction to Blogging - Learn How to Blog

Wednesday, March 7, 2007
7pm-8pm
Cherishing Place (a private home)
272 South 540 East
Lehi, Utah

Wednesday, March 14, 2007
7pm-8pm
LDS Employment Center by Deseret Industries
437 South 500 East
American Fork, Utah

There is room for up to 30 people at the American Fork class and 15 at Cherishing Place. Contact Janet to get yourself a spot. You can email her at (janet @ affiliateflash.com.)

Salt Lake Real Estate Appreciation Rate- 2nd in Nation

Thursday NAR released it’s report showing appreciation rates across the country. Many markets are down from their record highs this last summer. and many markets are still strong- showing again how real estate is very local. National trends do not always apply, and sometimes have no bearing whatsoever with a local market.

Salt Lake ranked as the #2 real estate market in the country for price growth in the 4th quarter of 2006 behind only Atlantic City. Prices in the area have increased, on average, from $182,000 to over $223,000 in just one year.

Top Ten markets (Chart from CNNMoney)

That means buyers are going to pay an average of over $40,000 for buying now instead of one year ago. And the outlook for Salt Lake is strong in 2007. Buyers who are in no hurry to buy may want to prepare to pay much more as prices continue to grow in the area. Waiting for that “great deal” may end up costing you a lot of money.

New Jersey is suddenly at the top of the list and in the number 3 spot. There must be some price-correcting or good things happening out there on the right coast.

Read more HERE

Lehi Soon to Have Utah’s Tallest Building

             

Frank Gehry, the Pritzker Prize winning architect, will soon be adding a new splash to Lehi, Utah as he designs an 85-acre mixed-use project  that will feature the state’s tallest building.

The 45-story, five star hotel and convention center will be 220,000 square feet, stand at 450 feet, and will have an estimated 300 rooms.

The project will also include a 500,000-square-foot, 10,000-seat arena, an amphitheater, 2,500 condo and multi-floor residential units, and 1.12 million square feet of retail space. Not to mention a boating lake, a wakeboard cable water park and 61 acres of open space.

“We have some of the world’s greatest natural architecture in Utah. Our buildings will reflect that. Along the walkways, we will have buildings hovering over the water or recess back to reflect the canyons’ structure,” said Brandt Anderson, a Provo-based entrepreneur who is funding the project. “As you look at the development, the first thing that strikes you is the openness of it. The majority of parking will be underground in order to leave more than 70 percent of space open.”

“This is a very unique site,” Andersen said. “And as an iconic piece of property between Salt Lake County and Utah County, it was crucial that we create, and bring in someone who could help us create, a development that would stand as an icon for the state, and particularly for Lehi city. In thinking that, there was obviously no other choice than world-famous Frank Gehry.”

Anderson, who was born in Florida and later attended BYU, founded bank-software business uSight eight years ago, when he was 21 years old. In 2004 Inc. magazine named it America’s #2 company. In 2005 Anderson founder investment company G Code Ventures, which is the investment company behind the Lehi project. Anderson also has pruchased a team in the NBA’s developmental league (name not yet announced), which will eventually play games in the new arena being built as part of the project.

The new project is the latest in a recent-year boom of growth Lehi and the point-of-the-mountain area of Lehi and Draper. Draper will soon have the areas first and only IKEA, which is slated to open this spring.

“We have Thanksgiving Point, Cabela’s, Micron, the Terrace at Traverse Mountain that’s literally a city in itself with 30,000 to 40,000 people, a possible lifestyle center and now, this, a Frank Gehry-designed project. This is the last major location to grow along the Wasatch Front,” Lehi Mayor Howard Johnson said.

Anderson is also trying to get an additional freeway exit added about a mile north of the SR 92 (Highland/Alpine) exit to help ease traffic in the area.

Salt Lake Tribune Day Late on Story

   

Today the Salt Lake Tribune ran a story on the front page of the Money section titled, “Zillow’s Zany’s Zestimates“. The article basically says the same thing my post yesterday says- that Zillow is very inaccurate, especially in Utah because this is a non-disclosure state.

Their approach was a bit different as the piece mainly put the blame on Realtors, which is strange because the state’s status as non-disclosure is determined by lawmakers, but had the overall story feeling like a next-day news break.

Also cited were some examples of home values and the estimates given on the website. One home was estimated on Zillow to be worth $1,800,000 with 1900 SF but reality has 2400 SF and was appraised for $350,000. I’m a bit rusty on my math, but that’s a margin of error of about 500%.

Like I said yesterday, I think it’s good for consumers to have information. If it were up to me all the information would be open to everyone, including sold and sales data and MLS comments. Either way, it is still always advised to seek the professional advice of an experienced Realtor when selling or buying a home.

Top Ten Real Estate Markets for 2007- Salt Lake City Ranks #4

          

CNNMoney published it’s 2007 Real Estate Outlook on Thursday, which takes a look at different markets across the country and gives CNN’s opinion of the top ten places to own real estate in 2007.

For their predictions of the 100 largest metropolitan areas across the country they also enlisted counsel from Moody’s Economy.com and real estate valuation company Fiserv Lending Solutions.

Salt Lake City ranks #4 for projected appreciation in 2007 behind McAllen-Mission and El Paso Texas and Albuquerque New Mexico.

Salt Lake also has the highest Median Home Price on the top ten list at $186,230. Median price is, of course, not the average sales price. The average sales price in Salt Lake County is around $240,000- median price is the mid-point for prices in an area, meaning that 50% of properties (including condos) are priced higher and 50% are priced lower than that amount.

Salt Lake also ranks as the #3 fastest appreciating metro in
America (at 19.2%) for 2006.

Orem (just South of Salt Lake City) also ranks as the #3 safest city in
America.

And with the areas incredible economic and job growth in the next few years, things are looking good for home owners in the area.

Utah Housing Market Among Nations Best

    

After ranking dead last three years ago (thanks to the appraisers), Utah now ranks second in the nation in appreciation rates, reports the Salt Lake Tribune today. The November 30, 2006  report comes from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which also shows that urban areas of the state have increased about 40% in the last three years,  rural areas have appreciated over 50%.

In the last two quarters of 2006, Utah ranks as the top state for appreciation at 10.1%.

Top Ten States for Appreciation

1 Idaho- 17.5%

2 Utah- 17.4%

3 Oregon- 17%

4 Arizona- 16.4%

5 Washington- 16.4%

6 Florida- 15.1%

7 Wyoming- 14.3%

8 New Mexico- 14.1%

9 Hawaii- 13.3%

10 Maryland- 13.1%

The bottom 5 states (including District of Columbia) are:

51 Michigan- -0.55%

50 Ohio- 1.02%

49 Massachusetts- 1.11%

48 Indiana- 2.33%

47 Nebraska- 3.22%

Of the top Metropolitan areas in the country, Utah has three cities in the top 50

St. George ranks #9 with 20.58% appreciation

Salt Lake City ranks #10 with 20.43% appreciation

Provo/Orem ranks #18 with 17.55% appreciation

Topping the list is Bend, Oregon with 30.37%, followed by Boise, Idaho with 26.48% and Biloxi, MS with 23.26%.

Salt Lake City Explodes with Growth

        

The Salt Lake City area has been growing for decades. And why not, it’s a nice place to live and a great place to raise a family, plus it’s one of the best recreational cities in the country.

But the area is no longer just growing- it is exploding!

Here are some of the major developments happening right now or in the very near future;

Valley Fair Mall remodel- Scott Satterfield and Greg Helm of Satterfield Helm Management have bought West Valley City’s Valley Fair Mall at 3500 South and 2700 West and plan to spend more than $50Million renovating it into an open-air mall. Costco has already signed on as an anchor tenant and many businesses have expressed interest. That entire area has seen a lot of expansion in the last few years with the E-Center, Hollywood Connection entertainment complex and the dozens of restaurants, hotels and stores being built.

Kennecott Land Development- Kennecott Land plans to develop more than 80,000 acres of land along Salt Lake’s west bench over the next 20-50 years. It’s first development, Daybreak, is 4126 acres of parks, trails, a private man-made lake, and open space and will have 13,000 homes, 5.2 million SF of office space, 2.4 million SF of retail space and 1.5 million SF of industrial space. And that’s just the first development.

Downtown City Creek- Downtown Salt Lake is being completely transformed with the demolition and complete rebuild of 20 acres right in the heart of the city. City Creek will have 2 Million square feet of office space, 928,000 square feet of retail space, 5600 underground parking stalls, over 400 high-rise condos (not including additional future residential developments), a sky-walk over State Street and more than 6 full acres of open-air pedestrian walkways and paths, including a glass-roof arcade, gardens and fountains. Water will flow throughout the green space, descending more than 47 feet from one end to the other.

Trolley Square Remodel- Another 20,000 square feet of retail space is being added to historic Trolley Square during it’s renovation. Also planned are outdoor features, such as water fountains, dining areas, and fireplaces.

Real Salt Lake Soccer Stadium-Uath’s professional soccer team, Real Salt Lake, is buildinga 42-acre $180 Million stadium and hotel in Sandy. But that’s only part of the plan- the entire project will be $650 Million, 136-acre multi-use project.

IKEA Draper-IKEA has broken ground on its new 310,000 SF Draper location and is hiring 350 workers for it’s spring 2007 opening. The store will sit on 22.5 acres and will also feature a 300-seat restaurant.

KraftMade Facility-Kraftmade Cabinetry is building a new $106 Million 700,000 SF manufacturing plant in West Jordan at 9800 S. 6200 West that will bring an additional 1300 new jobs to the area.

Add these projects to the 2600-acre Traverse Mountain community and new 150,000 SF Cabelasin Lehi and the new LDS temples being built in Draper and South Jordan and you have a valley bursting with development and growth.

Testing Your Home for Meth

                      

Last year Utah state Senator Bob Bennett introduced a $3.5 Million spending bill that included $600,000 to fight meth in Utah. The bill was approved by the Senate and signed into law last year.

Now, Health Department officials in Cache, Box Elder, and Rich Counties have created a meth-testing program where residences can have a home tested for the toxic drug and it’s meth-related chemicals for $150.

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug and is made from common household chemicals. The drug stimulates the central nervous system and when it is produced, can leave a residue throughout the building it is made or used. This residue can be harmful and even deadly and can be found in walls, floors, plumbing, furniture, and even counter-tops and fixtures.

There aren’t any other areas around the state where local health departments will provide this service (although private companies are available), but Logan Police Sgt. Bret Randall says he thinks the service will be popular and other counties around the state will copy the program. “Your main customer will be the Realtors”, Randall says.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration says that it considers meth the number one drug threat in Utah with 49 kilograms seized statewide in 2005 and with it’s lingering harmful effects.

When selling a home that has had meth in it, you need to have the home certified clean by the state before occupants are allowed to inhabit the home.

Once the home has been certified by the state, you no longer need to disclose that the home had meth present in it. The state just passed that into law two years ago and now when a home that has been certified clean it should not be stigmatized with the “meth house” label.

To test your home for meth in the Salt Lake area click HERE.

Utah Unemployment Rate at Record Low 2.5%

  

The job market in Utah was already one of the lowest in the nation at 4.2% in September, and now, incredibly, it’s even lower at 2.5%. Mark Knold, senior economist for Utah Workforce Services, says “Ultimate ‘full employment’ would be everyone working, but that never really happens. This is as close as you get.”

The Utah job market grew by 5%, three times the national average, in October and with thousands of jobs being created over the next couple years, many employers are fearful about finding workers to fill the need.”This is a huge issue for us,” says Fred Lampropoulos, founder and CEO of Merit Medical Systems Inc. “In fact, the single most pressing issue in our business is to retain and attract talent. We’re looking for another 50 to 100 [people] and I tell you, it’s tough.”

The construction industry has added 14,800 jobs during the last 12 months and that growth is expected to remain steady as works ramps up on the new $1Billion redevelopment of downtown Salt Lake City. “Right now, we’re in pretty good shape,” acknowledges Randy Price, human resources director for Big-D Construction, “but as work and jobs come and go, we are going to need more talent.”

Jeff Thredgold, a consultant to Zions Bank, says that the state’s labor pool probably won’t be filling any time soon. “The biggest challenge in the region is where to find people to hire.” Jobs are being created faster than people are moving into the state to fill them.

In October there were only 33,000 adult Utahns officially unemployed. Nationally the unemployment rate is at 4.4 percent.

Outdoor Smoking Ban Passes in Salt Lake City

 

The Salt Lake City Council voted unanimously last night to pass an ordinance banning smoking in outdoor public places. This means that it will be against ordinance to smoke in Library Square, on trails, public parks and baseball diamonds, golf courses, soccer fields, city cemetery, and within 25 feet of bus stops and 50 feet of public gatherings of 100 or more people on city property.

Councilwoman Jill Remington Love says, “What we’re really after is a cultural change. We’re really trying to create safe, healthy places with our parks.” 

The initial proposed fine for breaking the ordinance was around $300, but was lowered and passed at $25. Enforcement will be nominal.

Before the ordinance can take effect, it must be signed by the mayor and published in major newspapers, which should take another week or two.

According to the Surgeon General nine other cities in Utah already prohibit smoking in parks;  Clinton, Hyde Park, Logan, Midvale, Riverton, Sandy, South Jordan, Spanish Fork, and West Jordan.

There are close to 600 cities across the country that have outdoor smoking ordinances.

Utah Becomes Resort Haven

      

Mountain News released it’s Industry Report today showing that Utah is the place to build luxury mountain resorts. Affirming what local s have known all along, Utah has some incredible space for resorts and a quality of life not commonly found elsewhere.

From the report;

“With its dramatic rock outcroppings, destination ski areas, and still affordable land values, Utah is fast becoming the go-to state for luxury accommodations and resort developments hoping to become the next Aspen or Sun Valley.”

And with it’s easy access (30 minutes or less) to world-class ski and mountain resorts, Salt Lake City is becoming more of a resort destination itself.

One of the best parts of living in Salt Lake City is the abundance of recreational activities all year round.

In the summer there is incredible hiking and biking trails, dozens of lakes, and Moab has been rated as the top mountain biking and 4-wheeling destination in the world several times. There are rivers to run, Draper has world-class hand-gliding, and there are thousands of miles of trails and adventure.

During Autumn you’ll see some of the most breath-taking canyon views with amazing colors from millions of leaves changing shade. You’ll find great camping, hunting and ATV trails all along the Wasatch Mountain range.

In the winter there is world class skiing within thirty minutes of downtown Salt Lake City, Ogden or Park City. There is ice skating, snow mobiling and even snow sledding runs with ropes that pull you up the mountain.

Four full seasons grace the area with rich, natural beauty and outdoor opportunities. If you enjoy nature and beauty, Utah offers you more of it than most anywhere else in the world. For more information on living in Utah call 801-545-7272.

BlueRoof.com/ Utah Jazz Video Slam Dunk Contest Begins

BlueRoof has teamed up with the Utah Jazz to create the biggest slam dunk contest in the state. For all ages, the contest is simple, just film yourself or someone else slam-dunking (wearing a FREE BlueRoof.com T-shirt or logo), upload it onto YouTube, and copy/paste the YouTube URL on to the promo page of BlueRoof.com.

Then come back to BlueRoof.com between December 1-8 to vote for your favorite slam dunks. The top three vote-getters will be shown on the JumboTron in the Delta Center and on the televised half-time show and the crowd will determine which dunk wins.

See examples HERE.

The winning dunk will receive four tickets to an upcoming Utah Jazz basketball game, a autographed team basketball and an autographed game jersey.

You can pick up a free BlueRoof.com T-shirt at the Delta Center ticket office or at the BlueRoof offices at 6955 Union Park Center, Cottonwood Heights, Ut 84121. Or you can print out the logo and pin in on to your shirt, or even just write it on a shirt with marker.

Show us what you’ve got and we’ll show it to a crowd of 20,000 people and give you, a child, or friend a chance at celebrity.

Trolley Square to be Remodeled

             

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Trolley Square will keep it’s exterior look as it is remodeled, beginning in January. The mall was built in the 1970’s over an old trolley complex, giving it it’s name, and currently has a dark feel with a lot of dead-end hallways and no real identity. With the movie theatres and comedy shows, the mall has strong community support and adds a lot to the area’s culture.

Mark Blancarte, vice president of development for Blake Hunt Ventures, which is partnering with mall owner ScanlanKemperBard in the renovation said better design will add about 20,000 square feet of retail space to the mall, which currently has about 160,000-square-feet.

Trolley Square is not only a state and nationally registered historic site, but sits in a prime location between 600-700 East and 500-600 South. The 97 ft. historic water tower, which was built to hold 50,000 gallons of water, lights up to tell the day’s weather (updated twice daily).

     Solid blue means clear. 

     Flashing Blue means cloudy.

     Solid Red means rain.

     Flashing Red means snow.

Blancarte also says there will be some outdoor features, such as water fountains, dining areas, and fireplaces.

About 30% of Trolley Square’s 3 million customers each year are tourists. Renovating such a great landmark will add to Salt Lake’s charm and secure the mall’s future in the area.

Strong Q3 Appreciation for Salt Lake Area

             

Third Quarter appreciation remained strong along the entire Wasatch Front. Salt Lake and Utah counties experienced especially strong price increases, with some areas appreciating as much as 40% but most areas keeping in line with a healthy growth rate of around 10-20% year-over-year.

Many home buyers who have waited, trying to find that one perfect house are going to end up paying a lot more. And interest has gone up a bit and could go up more.

The Utah market is definately not as hot as was this summer or even a month ago, mostly because of the seasonal slowdown as the weather gets cooler and we head into the holidays.

Overall, Salt Lake County prices went up 24% to an average of $283,955. Condominiums rose 17% to an average of $168,562.

Utah County saw a 30% increase in prices to an average of $284,619, with condominiums rising 7.5% to $149,190.

Juab County home sales were up 26% to $165,165.

Weber County home sales were up 14%, with prices rising 10% to an average of $168,417.

Davis County reported a price increase of 18% to $236,723, with condos averaging $137,645.

Morgan County sales increased 50%, reflecting 33 homes being sold in the third quarter this year, compared to 22 homes being sold last year. Prices averaged a 62% increase at $326,408.

In Park City, total home sales decreased 27.5%, and condominium sales dropped 62% from last year. Home prices rose by 14% to an average of $826,802 with condo prices rising 32% to an average of $563,065.

Tooele County reported ho