This news was just released by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. It looks like the federal tax credit is working!
Home Sales Surge 31% Over Past Six Months
Home sales in Salt Lake County are surging. Since October 2009, home sales have shown double-digit gains on a year-over year basis.
In fact, if you compare home sales from October 2009 through March 2010 with the same six-month period a year earlier, home/condo sales have climbed an astonishing 31 percent (5,230 sales vs. 3,990 sales)!
This year is indeed a turnaround from the past three years. The sales increases we’ve seen are in line with what economist James Wood predicted in a report commissioned by the Salt Lake Board earlier this year. Wood predicted that as many as 10,000 single-family homes could be sold this year in Salt Lake County, a nearly 10 percent increase compared to sales in 2009.
Much of the sales increases are due to low mortgage interest rates, more affordable home prices and the federal government’s home buyer tax credit.
These conditions continue to make this year the right time to buy a home. It’s a message all potential home buyers need to hear.
Salt Lake Board of Realtors in the News
REALTORS: Come In and Make Yourself At Home
The Salt Lake Tribune highlighted the successful statewide and national Open House event held on April 10.
“The events are coming at a time when single-family home sales in the Salt Lake City area appear to be perking up,” the Tribune reported.
Preliminary numbers from the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS for the first quarter of 2010 indicate that single-family home sales were up 21 percent, although the median price was down 10 percent — or $219,000 from $243,000 from the same period a year ago.
Dave Anderton, a spokesman for the Salt Lake Board, said the event today is being held in conjunction with a similar nationwide initiative promoted by the National Board of REALTORS.
“Open houses are popular with potential buyers and a good sales tool,” Anderton said. “People like to see what is available to them.”
The Golden State vs. The Best Managed State
California continues to teeter on the verge of financial collapse. The dire situation is forcing businesses and people to flee the Golden state and move to Utah, named the Best Managed State in 2008 by the Pew Center.
Bryan Kohler, CEO of the Salt Lake Board, highlighted the economic advantages Utah offers to businesses and peopl in an April 1 column in City Weekly.
