Top Ten Suburbs to Sell A Home

MSN today posted an article about a Forbes.com article that lists the Top Ten Suburbs to Sell a Home right now. To make the determination of which cities were the top, they took data from Altos Research. They took suburbs in the country’s 75 largest Census-defined metro areas based on the last 90 days of sales activity, then narrowed it to those cities with an inventory of at least 75 homes on the market.

They then eliminated suburbs where it currently takes more than 125 days to sell the average home and eliminated any suburb where year-over-year price declines were steeper than 10% or where more than 50% of sellers had reduced their asking price to sell their home.

Cities that make the cut include;

10. Montclair, N.J.

Location: 13 miles west of New York City

9. Waltham, Mass.

Location: 26 miles west of Boston

8. Encinitas, Calif.

Location: 28 miles north of San Diego

7. Matthews, N.C.

Location: 12 miles southeast of Charlotte

6. Midvale, Utah

Location: 13 miles south of Salt Lake City

5. Sugar Land, Texas

Location: 20 miles southwest of Houston

4. Kennesaw, Ga.

Location: 28 miles northwest of Atlanta

3. Venice, Calif.

Location: 16 miles west of Los Angeles

2. Bedford, Texas

Location: 22 miles west of Dallas

1. Berkeley, Calif.

Location: 14 miles northeast of San Francisco

The article says what was left wasn’t a set of awe-inspiring hidden gems where sellers are awash in bidding wars. Nationwide, low-interest rates and low prices caused existing home sales to rise 5.5% in September, but in many areas of the country, sellers are finding relatively few buyers. But, “If you have to sell a house, sell in these places,” says Michael Simonsen, chief executive of Altos Research.

Top State Governments

 

The PEW Center on the States has released it’s report grading all the states on how well their governments work and accomplish goals and objectives. They look at a lot of factors, including;

• Elected officials, the state budget office and agency personnel have appropriate data on the relationship between costs and performance and use these data when making resource-allocation decisions. • Agency managers have the appropriate information required to make program management decisions.• The governor and agency managers have appropriate data that enable them to assess the actual performance of policies and programs.• The public has appropriate access to information about the state, the performance of state programs and state services and is able to provide input to state policy makers.

People• The state regularly conducts and updates a thorough analysis of its human-capital needs.• The state acquires the employees it needs.• The state retains a skilled workforce.

• The state develops its workforce.

• The state manages its workforce-performance programs effectively.

Money• The state uses a long-term perspective to make budget decisions.• The state’s budget process is transparent, easy to follow and inclusive.• The state’s financial management activities support structural balance

between ongoing revenues and expenditures.

• The state’s procurement activities are conducted efficiently and supported

with effective internal controls.

• The state systematically assesses the effectiveness of its financial operations

and management.

Infrastructure• The state regularly conducts a thorough analysis of its infrastructure needs and has a transparent process for selecting infrastructure projects.• The state has an effective process for monitoring infrastructure projects throughout their design and construction.• The state maintains its infrastructure according to generally recognized engineering practices.

• The state comprehensively manages its infrastructure.

• The state creates effective intergovernmental and interstate infrastructure coordination networks.

That’s a lot of criteria and a lot of research. So, how did the state’s rank?

The top state governments in information (with A’s) were Utah, Washington, Missouri, Virginia, and Michigan.

For handling money the best government was Utah, which took the only A in the nation, follwed by Washington, Nebraska, Virginia, and Delaware, with A minuses.

Infastructure, again Utah was the top state, and the only state earning an A. With A minuses were Florida, Kentucky and Michigan.

The report says of Utah, “there’s a lot to cheer about. Utah manages itself with savvy business acumen. Financial decisions are made wisely, with an eye toward return on investment and long-term performance in all facets of state government.”

Of Virginia, the reports states, “Virginia proves that tracking data—and holding employees accountable for outcomes—can work wondrous efficiencies.”

And of Washington, the report says, “Washington has been a consistent leader in results-based governance. It was ahead of nearly all other states in controlling spending by keeping track of where investments were and were not paying off.”

New Hampshire had the worst grade in the country, with an overall D+. The study says, “The governor, who serves a two-year term, doesn’t necessarily appoint—and cannot remove—his own agency heads, who serve four-year terms. So the governor can spend lots of time banging heads with other members of his own cabinet. “The basic system of government is designed to make it difficult to transform anything,” explains one former state official.”

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.

Salt Lake Real Estate Market Still on Top for 2007

I know, I know…. the market is supposed to be horrible and everything bad and the sky should be falling. But even so, average prices aren’t dropping in Salt Lake County and the local economy is soaring. All factors indicate that our local real estate market will continue to move toward a flat sales rate for a while with the seasonal slowdown and the high inventory levels, but we have no bubble in Salt Lake and real estate will continue to be a solid financial investment.

In fact, we’re still the #1 market in the country for appreciation in 2007.

(update) According to the latest MSN report on 12-28-07, Salt lake was #3 in the nation, Provo and Ogden were also in the top 5 in the country.

Utah has the nations fifth-lowest foreclosure rate.

Salt Lake’s real estate market has appreciated 12.9% year-over-year for third quarter 2007.

And job growth is still booming (Utah remains far and away the best economically performing state in the nation, said Mark Knold, senior labor market economist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services) and we still have record-low unemplyment rates.

In fact, accroding to Kelly K. Matthews, executive vice president and economist for Wells Fargo Bank, Utah’s economy is the best it’s ever been and will continue to be so at least through the first half of next year!

Sorry to all of you “sky-is-falling” people out there…

Salt Lake Market Ranked #5 in Nation for Appreciation

 

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) released it’s report about real estate appreciation today and Salt Lake ranks fifth in the nation with a third quarter appreciation of +2.44%, a year-over-year increase of +13.37% and a 5 year appreciation of +60.17%.

Some people think since we aren’t breaking records right now the market must be bad, but in Salt Lake City we’re back to a normal market- other than having so much frickin’ inventory on the market. But good news- the number of active listings on the market actually started to go down a few weeks ago and has continued- finally!

Provo ranks #2, Logan ranks #11, Ogden ranks #4, and Salt Lake City ranks #5 in the report.

 

From the MSN report:

Prices are still rising in many areas. Texas, North Carolina, Washington and Utah put four cities from each state making the 20 best-performers list.

City rankings are listed by metropolitan areas. The OFHEO’s House Price Index is published on a quarterly basis and tracks average house-price changes in repeat sales or refinancings of the same single-family properties. The index is based on analysis of data obtained from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from more than 30 million repeat transactions over the past 30 years.

Although there are still 1000 homes selling every month in SL county, pent-up demand caused by many buyers waiting and watching, along with our incredibly strong local economy and record-low unemployment should fuel a healthy housing market in Salt Lake again next year.

Things I Like About the Current Market

 

The current market in Salt Lake is this;

Lots of inventory, some people are watching to see what’s going on, lenders are beginning to realize they don’t have to completely shut down all loans to stay profitable, and lots of people are buying and selling houses still.

Still, regardless of the good and bad and everything- there are hundreds of people buying and selling homes every week in Salt lake county. And of course hundreds more are being bought and sold in surrounding counties as well.

Here are some of the things I like about the current market…

Everyone I talk to is not an “investor”. It drove me crazy the last couple years that everyone I spoke to claimed to be a real estate investor. Whether they had purchased rentals or flipped any houses or not- they all fancied themselves as an investor because they all wanted to be one. And they all thought they knew everything about real estate. They didn’t, they still don’t and now they can finally shut up and go back to being accountants and store clerks and fireman and whatever else they do for a career. They can let the real estate professionals be real estate professionals.

Far fewer For Sale By Owner’s. Not that there is anything wrong with trying to sell your house without an agent, but many of these people (because the market was so hot) were just a bit mean about their views toward agents. Some people will always be mean about agents, just as some people hate attorneys or think paying someone to change your oil is a waste of money. That’s just human nature- there will always be the fringe minority that has opposing views toward any given thing. Now that sellers need more help selling it’s nice for agents to be wanted more. We mostly work with buyers anyway.

Buyers market= Good for buyers. Most of our clients are buyers so this market is great for our clients. There is a great selection of homes on the market, interest rates are fantastic, prices are reasonable, and indicators show it’s a good time to buy and that prices will continue to increase so buying will be a solid investment. Sellers are still getting good prices for their homes and buyers are getting to choose from more inventory.

Many agents are leaving the industry. This is great news for everyone. Many of the part-time and new agents are leaving, which means they won’t be around to hurt any clients and give the real professionals a bad name. There are simply too many people in the business- real estate agents, lenders, title people, etc. This should be a great time to trim some of the fat from the business and allow the best to do their business. Of course there will still be far too many in the industry next year and the year after, but that’s just how it is. Many people who have gotten into the business the last few years really never should have. They chased dreams of riches and easy money and now many are seeing that this business is about clients and working your butt off for those clients. It’s working every day of the week, not being able to take vacations because your clients need you, stressing about deals, dealing with ungrateful people sometimes and rude people on the other side of the transaction that you have to deal with for the sake of the client’s best interest. It’s late nights and a lot of humility, starting out in this business and it’s not for everyone- in fact over 90% of the people who get a license- fail.

Two people can see the same experience very differently. A basketball goes into the basket as the clock ticks to zero- One team screams with excitement as they win and the other team sobs about their loss. A ball went into a basket, but different people feel very differently about that. Many people don’t like this market, but many people do- including me.

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’s Mid-Priced Housing Market Softens, Lower Priced Market Stays Strong

The housing market for homes priced between $400,000-$800,000 in northern Utah is showing signs of softening due to high inventory levels. We are not going through a correction or a decline, simply a slowing. The Salt Lake Tribune today reports that homes priced over $500,000 are being hit the hardest, which I can confirm. I listed a home for $509,900 two days ago and when I pulled comps there were hundreds of active homes in the area, in the price range that we need to compete against.

The media likes to play up anything they can, including a shifting housing market, but things aren’t usually nearly as dramatic as the media makes them out to be. The media is chicken little, running around screaming about anything they can, while I’m out in the field everyday seeing what’s actually happening.

(Searching between $500-$700k on BlueRoof.com in the south end of valley returns almost 500 homes for sale)

In the lower price ranges homes are still flying off the market in days, many still getting multiple offers. Three of the homes I have listed under $250,000 in the last couple weeks sold within the first couple days at full price or more.

Some areas of town are seeing this more than others. The south end of the Salt lake Valley and the northern part of Utah county are seeing the most inventory in the $500,000 price range, making it difficult to sell in those areas. Even in Sugarhouse, where homes usually sell very quaickly, are sitting longer. I have two listing around $400,000 in Sugarhouse that have been on the market for more than a month. Our team just put one under contract for over $500K in Sugarhouse, but it was priced very well.

Looking at data from the MLS the number of active listings in Salt lake County has risen each week for the past two months and has increased from 5212 active listings on June 1st to 6984 on August 17th, representing an increase of 1772 homes, or a 35% increase in the last two months. That’s a lot of inventory coming on the market, and a lot of that is in the south end of the valley.

The average days on market has risen, but not by much (from 27 days in August 2006 to 33 days this year), showing that homes that are priced well are still selling fairly quickly.

Another sign of the softening market is that less people are trying to sell For Sale By Owner (FSBO), seeing their homes sit on the market longer and getting less activity. We’ve been having quite a few FSBO sellers contact us recently to ask about listing their properties, many have been trying to sell for months and are now realizing they may need a good Realtor now that the market isn’t a seller’s market like it was last year.

One listing I have at $1,250,000 in the south end of the valley has seen more activity than some of our homes listed in that mid-price level around $500k, even though there are more homes over $1Million on the market this year than last.

The market continues to stay strong overall because of the nation-leading job growth and people moving into the area. And the area is still experiencing appreciation (probably 6-8% this year), with some area prices rising by more than 15% for the year, especially in the under $250k price ranges. The Deseret news has an article from yesterday saying the local market is still rosy.

Overall, it’s a good time to buy in the Salt Lake area because there is such a great inventory, prices are steady and sellers that need to sell are pricing their homes accordingly, and with the job growth and influx of people moving into the area we should see a good, healthy growth and appreciation over the next few years. It is still very easy to qualify for a loan and first time home buyers would be wise to buy now and have their money work for them instead of throwing it away on rent.

For the latest area stats see chart.

Crime Rates Per State

 

Looking at the crime rates in different states, Utah looks like a pretty safe place to live.

How safe is your state?

Utah Real Estate Prices Continue Hot Streak

     

According to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), Salt Lake City ranked fourth in the country for appreciation last year with home prices rising 19.8%. Following only Bend, Oregon (21.4%), Wenatchee, Washington, and Salt Lake’s southern neighbor, Provo-Orem (19.9%).

The Salt Lake Tribune  published an article today about the rising home prices, stating, “Utah’s home price appreciation, the worst in the country just three years ago, is now the best nationwide.”

             

Nationally, home prices rose  5.9% during that time period, while all of Utah’s major metropolitan areas posted major gains in the past year. And it’s not only sales prices that have been strong, but time on market has been great, with well-priced homes moving fairly quickly, and over-priced homes not selling. This tells me that the market is not inflating itself, but is being driven by healthy factors, such as jobs and demand.

Also from the article;

Much of Utah’s current real estate boom has to do with the state’s strong job market, said Andrew Leventis, economist with Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Job growth in the state, among the highest nationally, is expected to continue strong through this year and next. “Employment and house prices are closely linked,” Leventis said. Another factor in Utah’s favor is affordability. Utahns struggling to afford a home may think otherwise, but Utah still has “fairly affordable housing,” Leventis said.

The Salt Lake real estate market should remain strong for the next few years with the continued job and population growth and the influx of buyers from out of state. One reason I feel good about the growth in the northern Utah market is the fact that the appreciation rate is under 20%, meaning it is not rising too much too fast, which would make it unsustainable. This year the local market should appreciate 10-12% and that is about as good as it gets.

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)

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Most Searched For Terms in Real Estate

            

When it comes to real estate in America, what do people search for? Before I began writing this I made a list of my own to see just how close I could nail it. I mean, after all, I’m a real estate vet with years of experience and I run a couple of the most-visited real estate web sites in Utah, so I should have some pretty good guesses, right?

Here’s my list of what I thought the most searched for terms that drove people to my websites would be (excluding the website names):

1-“real estate”

2- “homes”

3- “homes for sale”

4- “realtor.com”

5- “real estate for sale”

These are generic terms and not area specific. My top list of terms searched for in northern Utah, my market would be:

1- “salt lake real estate”

2- “Salt lake city real estate”

3- “real estate salt lake city, ut”

4- “utah homes”

5- “salt lake homes”

Both seem like fairly straight-forward lists, so how close am I?

PropBot says:

This is interesting because on thier site you basically just type in anything, like a search engine, so a lot o fpeople probably search for things like 3bd, 2 bth home in Tulsa. What’s really interesting is that a specific home is ranked #7.0

Escape Homes says the top terms on their site are:

According to HitWise, the top-searched real estate terms are:

A lot of people use search engines to type in domain names instead of putting the domain name into the address bar- just out of habit or for the spell-check or something.

RealtyTimes columnist Jordan Glogau did some reasearch and found:

This is some great research because it shows how people search in different categories. I would think more people would search for California then New York, with more people living there and so many more homes there.

And then for BlueRoof.com. During the last 30 days here are the top search terms people typed into all search engines to find BlueRoof. Of course this is not a list of the top terms searched for- rather, it’s a list of the top keywords that people searched for and then were taken to BlueRoof- it’s still interesting to see which keywords have been used most frequently. I’m sure most sites have the top terms as being their site name, but the top search terms bringing people to BlueRoof.com are:

So, again many people use the search engines to type in domain names instead of the address bar. And if you take out the people who actually searched specifically for BlueRoof the top keywords would be:

1- homes for sale in Utah

2- salt lake city real estate

3- utah homes

4- real estate utah

5- homes for sale utah

6- real estate in utah

7- salt lake real estate

8- salt lake city homes

9- homes for sale in salt lake city

10- salt lake city homes for sale

So most people are searching for similar terms when coming to BlueRoof. When I look at my other website, which doesn’t have a brand name like BlueRoof does, the top terms for the last month are:

The main surprise to me is how few people actually searched for the keyword MLS. I would think many more people would. If anyone has any additional stats on keyword searches or on your own website acitivity (you don’t need to share numbers like I did) please share them or give a link where we can see them. 

Homes Getting Greener

      

More than 300 building professionals gathered Wednesday at the second annual Salt Lake Sustainable Building Conference, along with Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon. They discussed new advances in technology and the implementation of green processes and materials.

Green building incorporates everything from using recycled materials and natural lighting to solar panels and wind-generated power and drought-tolerant landscaping in new construction.

Tree House
Joe Prudden, Architect
According to Dream Green Homes, this home could be close to a “zero energy home” by being designed for passive solar heating and passive cooling.

Earth-Sheltered Atrium Home
Ferid Abbasher, Architect

This home is fascinating. Due to the oval shape of the inner atrium (the courtyard), the living room, the kitchen and dining and the bedrooms all face maximum sunlight, sometimes from the south, at other times from the east and the west; this allows passive solar heating for these spaces. Masonry walls and foundations are made of recycled concrete blocks with recycled paper fillings. Recycled glass is used or floor insulation.

 

Surface water can easily be utilized in this EcoHouse design
to reduce the domestic water consumption expenses. Being
earth-sheltered, the water tank is protected from extremely
low or high temperatures. The earth falls around the tank
are profiled in such a way as to funnel the rainwater into the tank.

The collected water is then thoroughly treated for domestic consumption using the state-of-the-art StormTreat System™ produced by StormTreat Systems, Inc. Rainwater is treated by 100% biological means and is 100% safe for domestic use.

         

One company leading the way in Utah is Kennecott Land, which owns hundreds of thousands of acres along the west bench of the Salt Lake valley and will be developing over 20,000 homes over the next 25 years. In October, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded Kennecott Land a “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” Silver rating for the Daybreak Elementary School and Community Center, which uses a ground-source heating and cooling system and is estimated to save roughly 25 cents per square foot. Peter McMahon, president of Kennecott Land, which owns Daybreak in South Jordan, said while other homebuilders may incorporate some green building aspects, Kennecott Land likely does more. “We capture all of our stormwater,” McMahon said. “We use the lake as both an amenity and in irrigation. We do a lot of natural landscaping. We do a whole variety of environmental management things.”

More at DeseretNews
 

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

January Website Traffic is Strong

  

Even in the colder months of winter, the Salt Lake real estate market, historically seeing a seasonal slowdown, has continued to see good growth and appreciation. The local market tends to cool off with the weather and January and February are traditionally the slowest months of the year for sales in the area, but this year the market seems unusually strong.

Our websites have seen very strong traffic in January and the first part of February, with people staying on the sites longer and doing more searches.

     

After the holidays and new year, more people began searching online. And the buyers are not just in the Salt Lake area, as only 55% of the visitors to the site were in Utah. Denver was tops among out-of-state cities bringing us traffic, taking the place of usual top cities LA and San Francisco (the left coast always seems to bring people to Utah).

                  

Buyers who wait until spring to purchase will be sorry they did, as they’ll certainly be paying for their procrastination- literally. The most important ingredients to real estate investing is location, square footage, and timing. And whether looking to buy for the investment or for a place to call home, there’s no use in paying more than you need to.

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.

Utah to Add Over 1300 Jobs in Outdoors Sector

  

The already record-low unemployment rate of 2.5% in Utah may be in for another shock as three companies announce the addition of 1335 jobs to the state.

The announcements came yesterday at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market trade show. Utah already has about 36,000 people employed in the outdoors industry, contributing a direct annual impact on the state of $4.5 billion, according to trade show president, Frank Huegelmeyer. “The best incentives are free in the state of Utah.” he said. “If you want to own the mountain, you have to be on the mountain.”

Backcountry.com, which already employs 430 workers in the state, and sells more than 250 brands of outdoor gear, will spend $4.8 million expanding its Park City and West Valley City operations, adding 1250 jobs. The company says 274 of the jobs will be high-paying jobs well above northern Utah’s average wage level.

Smith Optics makes and distributes ski goggles and helmets and will be opening a 120,000 square-foot operation in Clearfield that will employ 60 people.

Peregrine Outfitters is a distributor of over 6000 outdoor accessories and will be opening a distribution center in Ogden on March first with 25 employees.

Additionally, Amer Sports recently announced that it is making Ogden, Utah the headquarters of its North American winter sports division. The company owns the brands Suunto, Salomon, and Atomic among others.

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.

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.

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.

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 home sales up 10% and prices up22% to $178,116.

Washington County saw the amount of homes sold down 29%, but prices were up 24% to an average of $351,295. Condo prices were up 6% to $194,767.

The Brigham/Tremonton area saw the total number of homes being sold rising more than 20% with the average sales price rising 8% to $148,623.

The Cache/Rich area prices went up 8% to $175,023

In Carbon/Emery areas sales prices rose 24% to an average of $104,653.

In Central Utah prices increased nearly 17% to $128,861.

The Grand/San Juan area had price increases of 16% to $181,653.

Iron County showed prices up 19% to $247,096.

In the Uintah Basin area prices rose 25% to an average of $182,307.

And finally, in Wasatch County, prices rose an incredible 60% over last year to an average of $384,929.

This is a great time to buy a home in Utah because sellers aren’t all pricing their homes as high and there aren’t as many multiple offers to compete with. And right now interest rates are still very low. We anticipate more strong price increases in 2007 with strong job growth and steady population growth.

Top 40 Business Expansion Markets for 2006

           

ExpansionManagement.com released it’s findings yesterday for the Top 40 expansion markets in the country. Heading up the list for growth potential this year is New Orleans with its rebuilding opportunities, followed by Tulsa, El Paso, Burningham and Oklahoma City.

Salt Lake City makes the list at #23, showing the Utah real estate market’s continuing strength. And ranks #50 on it’s list of America’s Hottest Cities. That list puts Nashville at the top spot ahead of Phoenix, Atlanta, Dallas and San Antonio.

Describing where the information comes, the company says, “As in years past, the primary sources of data for the Top 40 Real Estate Markets ranking are The National Real Estate Index (NREI), which is produced by Global Real Analytics (www.nrei.info), for the 1st quarter of 2006; Grubb & Ellis’ Office Market Trends and Industrial Market Trends (www.grubb-ellis.com) for the 2nd quarter 2006; and RS Means’ 2006 Construction Cost Index (CCI), a product line of Reed Construction Data (www.rsmeans.com).”

           

The Salt Lake area is already seeing historically low unemployment and job growth that is ranked fourth in the nation.

“Jobs — there seems to be a lot of them brewing in this state,” said Mark Knold, senior economist for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “We’re approaching 5 percent employment growth, combined with the unemployment rate continuing to go lower. It really is very low. . . . This is an economy maxed out, an economy going at full speed, 80 miles an hour on a 70 mile-an-hour highway.”

Utah’s Job Growth Among Nations Best

       

The Salt Lake Tribune reports Utah’s job growth is continuing its record pace. According to Workforce Services the state has added over 58,000 new jobs during the past twelve months.

The article aslo reports that Utah’s unemployment rate is now at 2.8% which means, “Utah is basically in a state of full employment – meaning most anyone who wants a job can find one. ”

National Foreclosure Rates and Rankings

RealtyTrac’s list of foreclosures per Metro-Area ranks Salt Lake City 17th, with a foreclosure for every 163 houselgolds. At the top of the list is Indianapolis with a foreclosed property for every 69 households and Atlanta with one in every 70. At the bottom is Providence, Rhode Island (1 out of every 48,000 households) and Madison, Wi with one on every 9020.

Here are some of the other metro areas in the top ten.

Metro Area	% of households in foreclosure in Q1	1 foreclosure for every #households
1. Indianapolis	1.45	69
3. Dallas	1.01	99
5. Denver	0.95	105
7. Jacksonville, Fla.	0.75	133
9. Canton, Ohio	0.72	140

Salt Lake Real Estate Market Continues to be Strong

The latest appreciation rates show the Salt Lake market continues to be strong across the board with every zip code showing at gain of no less than 10% year-over-year, and many cities showing gains of more than 20%.

Of course reading the numbers only tells part of the story, and there are many factors that may contribute to an area gaining so rapidly. Many area’s numbers look incredible because of homes being bought, remodeled, and re-sold, which can give home’s a value increase of 50% or more in just a few months.

The overall picture is a brisk, strong real estate market that is now slowing because of the season and weather, but continues to be a very good investment.

Average Northern Utah Home Prices and Sales

Homes sales are strong in northern Utah, and Salt Lake real estate is doing very well. Here is the most recent chart (ending in 2nd quarter 2006). Notice the number of homes being listed has been fairly consistent with the fourth quarter always taking a big drop in listings taken.

This is important because it shows that the local market has been booming because of the amount of homes being sold, not because of how many people are selling. The prices continue to grow, and they took a good jump from the 1st quarter ($225,000) to 2nd quarter ($245,000).

And the better news is, based on the indicators, next year should be another strong year. Here is some data about Salt Lake real estate, and it’s trends since 2002.

Market Summary Report

                           

 

 Here is Utah county

 And here is Davis County

Here is a current market summary of the active listings on the Wasatch Front MLS. This chart shows a price range, how many homes are actively listed in that price range, and the average days on market for those homes.

Listings: 1 Residential Market Summary Date: 09/12/2006 05:30 PM State:UT  Status:1

Active Listings
$0	–	$9,999	25	114
$10,000	–	$19,999	38	120
$20,000	–	$29,999	47	73
$30,000	–	$39,999	49	94
$40,000	–	$49,999	60	73
$50,000	–	$59,999	72	94
$60,000	–	$69,999	100	90
$70,000	–	$79,999	124	83
$80,000	–	$89,999	156	87
$90,000	–	$99,999	161	65
$100,000	–	$119,999	332	59
$120,000	–	$139,999	493	51
$140,000	–	$159,999	481	46
$160,000	–	$179,999	578	45
$180,000	–	$199,999	622	49
$200,000	–	$249,999	1,338	51
$250,000	–	$299,999	1,279	56
$300,000	–	$349,999	1,028	55
$350,000	–	$399,999	824	58
$400,000	–	$449,999	570	58
$450,000	–	$499,999	537	58
$500,000	–	$599,999	663	63
$600,000	–	$699,999	449	64
$700,000	–	$799,999	287	65
$800,000	–	$899,999	186	69
$900,000	–	$999,999	125	66
$1,000,000	–	$1,249,999	123	85
$1,250,000	–	$1,499,999	112	79
$1,500,000	–	$1,749,999	64	119
$1,750,000	–	$1,999,999	74	121
$2,000,000	–	$2,499,999	49	131
$2,500,000	–	$2,999,999	48	116
$3,000,000	–	$3,999,999	36	129
$4,000,000	–	$4,999,999	14	113
$5,000,000	–	and over	21	147

The average listed home along the Wasatch Front (including all price ranges, HUD homes, short sales, and bank-owned homes) has been on the market for 60 days.

---

Utah Housing Market Continues Strong Appreciation

   

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight just released it’s latest report which shows, among many other things, that Utah is now ranked #10 nationally in year-over-year appreciation at 15.17%.

Arizona tops the list at 24.05% followed by Florida (21.28%), Idaho (20.14%) and Oregon (19.47%).

Utah’s quarter-over-quarter appreciation rate for the second quarter of 2006 (over Q2 of 2005) came in at 3.75%, which would put it #2 among the top ten states behind New Mexico (4.22%). This means that while Utah’s real estate market is strong, it also didn’t slow during the second quarter.

 

*Chart from Deseret News*

The market is, however, beginning to show it’s seasonal slowing and will most certainly slow even more as the weather grows colder, snow falls, and the holidays come around, but that is to be expected in a true four-season market like northern Utah.

What this report shows is that the demand is still high for the area, and with a net increase of over 53,900 new jobs created from June 2005 to June 2006, the real estate market should stay healthy.

The nation appreciated 10.06% during this past year overall. At the bottom of the list is Michigan at 1.01% appreciation over the last year. Above Michigan is Ohio (2.14%), Indiana (2.76%), Massachusetts (3.40%), Nebraska (3.63%), Kansas (4.15%) and Colorado (4.20%).

                   

In the top 20 Metro areas for appreciation this last year Utah’s St. George ranked #8 with a 25.15% rise in prices this last year. The top Metro area was Bend, Oregon with a staggering 36.65% jump in prices, followed by Boise, Idaho with 28.78%, Lakeland, Florida (27.13%) and the Utah/Arizona border city of Flagstaff at 26.69%.

Salt Lake City comes in at #35 in the nation with a 17.63% rise during the last year and 5.20% for the quarter. Provo comes in at #77 (12.84%) and Ogden followed at #99 (10.88%).

While the market will slow down during the winter months, the market should stay relatively good for a while with the state’s job growth as strong as it is. With the influx of people moving into the area, the strong job growth, and the countries youngest workforce, Utah’s future is looking pretty bright.

                          

Where is the Salt Lake Market heading?

The Salt Lake real estate market has been hot for the last year and it’s still cruising along. So where do you think it’s heading?

 Take the POLL.

Housing Appreciation Rates Across the Country

Arizona continues it’s strong appreciation, but is slowing down pretty fast- SELL! SELL! SELL!- (I’m only joking)… Florida still has great increases in values, and a surprise pops into the ratings for the first time in a while- some decreases. Michigan, Wisconson, Iowa and South Dakota all saw areas with some small decreases for the first quarter.

 The Wasatch Front continues to be strong and steady, and St.George, Utah continues it’s strong growth.

Metro Area Ranking Q1 2006 1-year 5-year Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN 217 1.37 4.80 23.71 Lubbock, TX 195 1.17 5.54 25.28 Lynchburg, VA 115 0.05 10.90 35.42 Macon, GA 207 0.82 5.15 21.70 Madera, CA 31 4.13 23.20 146.40 Madison, WI 180 0.22 6.38 39.29 Manchester-Nashua, NH 165 1.36 6.91 66.05 Mansfield, OH 239 -0.42 3.70 20.56 Medford, OR 39 2.92 21.76 98.00 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 182 2.15 6.27 18.76 Merced, CA 22 1.87 25.86 133.91 Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL 13 4.80 28.03 133.11 Michigan City-La Porte, IN 210 -1.24 5.03 22.17 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 136 1.23 8.41 43.57 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 167 0.95 6.77 51.79 Missoula, MT 102 0.51 12.01 61.41 Mobile, AL 87 2.59 14.61 27.36 Modesto, CA 30 1.92 23.20 132.15 Monroe, MI 266 -2.04 1.60 20.33 Montgomery, AL 129 1.59 9.18 23.01 Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA 29 6.89 23.54 62.71 Muskegon-North Shores, MI 225 1.46 4.24 21.59 Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC 41 3.32 21.62 52.06 Napa, CA 80 2.81 15.74 101.77 Naples-Marco Island, FL 2 4.55 37.73 140.42 Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, TN 131 1.99 9.01 27.06 Nassau-Suffolk, NY 96 1.89 12.94 92.72 Newark-Union, NJ-PA 94 1.45 13.30 78.91 New Haven-Milford, CT 103 1.93 11.97 71.00 New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA 90 4.34 14.32 45.33 New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ 77 2.98 16.23 86.68 Niles-Benton Harbor, MI 164 -1.85 6.91 31.41 Norwich-New London, CT 105 1.93 11.38 73.19 Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA 60 1.15 18.01 84.37 Ogden-Clearfield, UT 130 2.60 9.15 17.98 Oklahoma City, OK 144 1.44 7.99 30.82 Olympia, WA 26 4.78 24.48 66.34 Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA 228 0.52 4.10 22.46 Orlando-Kissimmee, FL 7 4.82 31.98 100.14 Oshkosh-Neenah, WI 205 1.94 5.17 26.95 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA 69 2.55 16.80 121.26 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL 25 3.21 24.86 134.39 Panama City-Lynn Haven, FL 50 1.37 20.06 100.68 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL 42 1.54 21.56 74.41 Peoria, IL 193 1.07 5.66 22.37 Philadelphia, PA 92 1.62 13.49 74.29 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottdale, AZ 4 3.75 36.52 97.34 Pittsburgh, PA 196 1.86 5.50 28.17 Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME 133 1.07 8.56 66.64 Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA 44 3.75 21.39 56.62 Port St. Lucie-Fort Pierce, FL 27 2.48 24.24 140.99 Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY 112 1.27 10.99 90.11 Prescott, AZ 8 4.79 30.83 93.42 Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA 121 1.66 10.02 92.64 Provo-Orem, UT 113 3.13 10.92 20.69 Pueblo, CO 194 1.75 5.56 22.35 Punta Gorda, FL 21 3.32 26.06 125.62 Racine, WI 162 -1.33 6.97 41.70 Raleigh-Cary, NC 168 2.61 6.77 19.78 Reading, PA 99 2.71 12.49 52.46 Redding, CA 34 5.03 22.87 130.27 Reno-Sparks, NV 58 1.80 18.17 110.09 Richmond, VA 67 3.28 17.04 61.71 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 46 3.79 21.27 141.60 Roanoke, VA 125 1.43 9.68 38.41 Rochester, MN 243 -0.61 3.52 25.57 Rochester, NY 213 -0.93 4.91 21.69 Rockford, IL 171 1.13 6.68 27.71 Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH 153 0.47 7.23 60.92 Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA 95 -0.24 13.18 112.23 Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, MI 275 -0.71 0.14 17.20 St. Cloud, MN 181 0.24 6.31 46.85 St. George, UT 1 6.88 38.40 79.75 St. Louis, MO-IL 150 1.34 7.61 39.44 Salem, OR 74 3.10 16.45 38.87 Salinas, CA 68 -0.65 16.87 107.94 Salt Lake City, UT 76 3.45 16.25 31.00 San Antonio, TX 134 0.03 8.55 29.14 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 143 0.23 8.03 108.86 San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA 88 1.15 14.60 58.68 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 81 -0.20 15.65 45.75 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA 91 1.82 13.86 106.45 Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA 55 2.95 19.18 125.93 Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, CA 114 -1.26 10.90 119.33 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 63 2.60 17.76 66.97 Santa Fe, NM 107 0.84 11.35 52.99 Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA 98 -0.27 12.62 75.23 Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, FL 12 3.75 28.23 125.04 Savannah, GA 100 2.99 12.24 53.69 Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA 123 0.41 9.77 33.43 Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA 57 3.80 18.20 54.48 Sheboygan, WI 166 0.92 6.89 29.16 Shreveport-Bossier City, LA 155 0.47 7.22 32.03 Sioux City, IA-NE-SD 240 -0.38 3.61 12.69 Sioux Falls, SD 230 -0.77 4.04 23.96 South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI 204 0.73 5.21 21.44 Spartanburg, SC 267 -2.17 1.51 12.86 Spokane, WA 52 3.12 19.66 51.43 Springfield, IL 232 1.70 3.98 17.64 Springfield, MA 119 1.43 10.43 67.83 Springfield, MO 137 1.41 8.38 28.02 Springfield, OH 200 -0.09 5.42 19.01 Stockton, CA 45 1.76 21.38 113.26 Syracuse, NY 132 1.57 8.85 38.10 Tacoma, WA 49 3.63 20.11 65.24 Tallahassee, FL 70 2.75 16.58 66.12 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 20 4.54 26.22 99.71 Toledo, OH 254 1.25 2.79 19.56 Topeka, KS 250 -0.13 3.17 25.09 Trenton-Ewing, NJ 86 2.60 14.63 83.54 Tucson, AZ 11 2.65 28.70 82.64 Tulsa, OK 221 0.41 4.77 19.31 Tuscaloosa, AL 188 0.65 5.90 25.52 Vallejo-Fairfield, CA 61 1.52 17.91 109.61 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC 40 3.40 21.75 94.05 Visalia-Porterville, CA 18 3.71 26.58 120.77 Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI 262 -0.45 1.97 18.77 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 38 2.43 21.76 113.00 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA 156 -0.15 7.20 29.20 Wausau, WI 255 -2.15 2.75 26.80 Wenatchee, WA 65 3.79 17.14 39.10 West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL 17 4.75 27.32 138.94 Wichita, KS 251 -1.12 3.06 16.41 Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ 71 3.00 16.57 73.10 Wilmington, NC 36 4.90 22.60 56.13 Winchester, VA-WV 37 4.54 22.30 106.66 Winston-Salem, NC 206 0.41 5.16 19.03 Worcester, MA 174 0.32 6.53 64.88 Yakima, WA 154 2.24 7.22 22.60 York-Hanover, PA 66 2.71 17.11 50.43 Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA 222 1.11 4.54 18.75 Yuba City, CA 59 0.80 18.16 137.93

From MSNMoney

* Note: Rankings based on annual percentage change, for all MSAs containing at least 15,000 transactions over the last 10 years.

What $1Million Will Buy You in Salt Lake

The real estate market in Salt Lake is charging along strongly with homes selling quickly and with good appreciation. Big, beautiful mountains and lakes, a strong job market, and a healthy young workforce are all contributing to the influx of corporations (and their employees) moving into the area. But even with the market as strong as it is, the area is still very affordable compared to much of the nation.

So what can you get in Salt Lake for $1Million? Here are some properties that have come on the market in the last month…

This home in Draper has 4894 Square Feet with 3 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms and 2 half baths. It has .47 acre of landscaped yard, 20′ ceilings, a gourmet kitchen, a theatre room, and hickory floors. It’s listed with Kassia Katyryniuk of Coldwell Banker.

   

 This home is in Suncrest (Draper) on top of the mountain and has 6921 Square Feet with 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths. It has a large .60 acre landscaped yard with incredible views. It’s listed with Lindsey Kraatz of Cindy Wood Realtors.

   

And this home is in Salt Lake in the Olympus Cove area. It has 5466 Square Feet with 5 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. It includes a .31 landscaped acre yard and a 3 car garage. It was built in 1992 and is listed with Mike Lindsay of Coldwell Banker.

    

Utah Real Estate Market Continues to be Strong

All the recent talk of a bubble and the cooling off of the markets on left and right coasts seems to have only strengthened the local market for Utah. Many of the people selling in the coastal regions are moving inland, away from the natural disasters and high cost of living and realizing how beautiful a place like Utah really is. And real estate is local and is effected by local factors as much as by general factors, such as interest rates.

Here’s the most recent story about the Utah market from the Salt Lake Tribune. They mention that some areas have appreciated more than 40% during the last twelve months, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that the market is headed for a bubble. It’s not- and here are some reasons why:

First, the Utah market is not only appreciating- it’s correcting from the last few years of being flat while the rest of the country went up in value.

Secondly, being undervalued has brought in some investors, but most of the homes are being sold to homeowners. When markets get too many investors buying and flipping properties, like what’s happened in Vegas the last couple years, the appreciation is hollow. It’s self-created by the market and doesn’t have a solid foundation, so eventually the market has to correct downward. Utah’s market has not been mainly because of investors

Job growth is stronger than normal now and will continue to be during the next few years. An influx of businesses moving to the area and the low employment rate mean that there is, and will be a need for homes. This is a natural and healthy way for a market to appreciate.

Utah has the youngest median age of any state in the nation. Larger families and more children means more future housing needs for the area. A large percentage of the population in any area will continue to live in that area even after becoming adults, but the rate is higher than average in Utah, probably in large part because of the focus on family in the state.

There is still room to grow. Many areas around the country are running out of room, but Utah is still relatively rural and the metro areas, such as Salt Lake, Provo and Ogden still have some elbow room that allows new communities to be built and allows for homes in the first time buyer range to be built, getting these kids and young families started in the market so they can later move up (and pay more) for a future home.

What this all means is that the overall market in Utah is healthy and will continue to be strong for a while, regardless of what happens on the coasts, where most media is focused.

How the Salt Lake Real Estate market Got Hot

I remember my first few years selling real estate here in the Salt Lake area. It was a good market back in the mid 1990’s with a lot of people moving in from out of state and the market appreciating well. We would list a property and do some good marketing and the average days on market was around 45- 60 days, which suited my sellers fine.

Once a home went under contract we would schedule an appraisal and then didn’t even think about it again because the appraisal always came in fine. Not even once did I even consider that an appraisal would be anything less than what the sales price was.

So I left the state to work in Colorado and then went to California and about five or six years ago I came back to Salt Lake and the market was totally different. It was slower and homes were taking longer to sell.

Then, about four years ago or so when Utah was ranking as one of the worst states in the nation for foreclosure rates the state decided they needed to do something to slow down these foreclosures. Well, they couldn’t tell home sellers what to price their home at and they couldn’t tell Realtors how much they could list a home for, so the only control they had was with the appraisers. So they started fining and suspending appraisers and taking away licenses and in a few years the numbers of appraisers in the are went from over 2000 to less than 900. And the appraisers were all so worried about audits and getting in trouble that they wouldn’t appraise anything anymore.

You could have three homes in your area sell for $200,000 and one sell for $201,000 and one more sell for $203,000 and try to sell a home that was upgraded to the hilt with granite and stainless steel appliances and new windows and a new roof and upgraded hardwood floors and put it on the market for $215,000 and you would get an offer for $215,000 and the appraisal would come in at $203,000. So we would call the appraiser and explain about all the upgrades but the appraiser still woudln’t change their value because they were scared. So the Salt Lake market didn’t appreciate for years. For a few years the market was just flat because no matter how much a buyer and seller were willing to negotiate- the appraisers wouldn’t come in with a value that was more than what had already sold.

Then, finally, last March or so some news channel broke a story about how the Salt Lake market was the most undervalued market in America. And then another story followed and then another and pretty soon we had a bunch of investors and people from out of state buying property here in the area. And the best part was that many were paying cash. They would sell their home in California for over a $Million and take their $500,000 and buy a home twice the size for cash. So the appraisers didn’t have any say in it. The sellers could sell and actually see some appreciation, the buyers could buy the home they wanted, and everyone would win. And the market started to appreciate.

Now the market is hot and homes are selling, but it’s a very healthy, steady appreciation (around 14-18% in most areas) and it’s fueled by job growth and people moving into the area, not just investors, so it should stay healthy for a while. Even with the market appreciating the appraisers are doing their best to be conservative, which can be tough for everyone else. It sure is nice when we get cash buyers who care more about getting a good home at a fair price then they do about one person’s opinion.

When appraisers sell their own homes hopefully they realize how frustrating it can be when some stranger decides to choose certain homes for comps and not other homes and the value comes in low. At least I hope they feel that so they can appreciate what everyone else has to go through…