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All in the Day of a Realtor- Real Estate Happenings in Salt Lake City and Beyond...
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Weekly Event Update September 18, 2012
Salt Lake Home Prices On the Rise!
Latest Report & Statistics
Home prices showing steady upswing
Interest rates still at all-time lows in history!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Local Home Sales May Follow TOM
TOM Begins To Behave Himself
September
is a transition time for almost everybody. Here in Salt
Lake City and Beyond and across the US, the kids have shifted into school gear, adults
have moved out of vacation mode, and businesses are already sprucing up for the
(believe it or not) Holiday Season.
In real estate, we are looking with more than casual
interest at what’s going on nationally. Especially those measures that tend to
affect local home sales. The largest
professional association in the country is our own National Association of
Realtors®. At the beginning of the month, they broke another piece of welcome news.
This one looks like the difference between ‘indicators’ of a strengthening home
sales market -- and signs that it’s already fact.
The
NAR release was about TOM. No, as you have probably guessed, TOM isn’t some
real estate broker’s name -- it’s the Time On Market measure. For local homeowners who are selling (or planning to
sell) their properties, it’s a vital measurement of one of the two most
important characteristics of how things are going – a tip to what they may
expect when they list. Along with median price trends, it tells the story of
whether the market is hot, cool, or somewhere in between.
For
some years now, TOM has been an uncooperative sort of fellow. At least when it
came to Utah home sales. Following the
financial crisis came skyrocketing foreclosures…then the fallout from that --
painfully long TOMs marking the lengthening time it took to move homes through
the market. TOM had stretched out to a painfully long median of 98 days – close
to the longest ever.
The good news: TOM is just about
back to normal. From the cyclical peak hit in 2009, by mid-summer, he was back
“in the range of historic norms for a balanced market.” Traditional sellers were reporting the median
TOM had returned to the balanced range of six to seven weeks. IOW, TOM is
finally behaving himself.
And what about that other half of
the picture that helps guide home sales expectations?
I
think it’s too soon to tell for sure, but the head economist at NAR knows what
history tells us to expect when this kind of balanced market returns. According
to him (Lawrence Yun), “Our current forecast is for the median existing home
price to rise 4.5% to 5% this year.”
Plus another 5% in 2013!
So the transition that September
means for everyone else seems to be underway in the real estate world: and it’s
a transition back to home sales normalcy. In light of what we were looking at a
just couple of years ago, I think it’s fair to say we are delighted that
‘normal’ is the ‘new normal!’
Article
Written By ShirLee McGarry, Freelance Writer/Author and Realtor® at All
American Realty in Sandy, Utah
www.Homes4SaleUtahRealEstate.com
Buying homes Feels Right Again
The other day I read an opinion piece
that I really couldn’t agree with. The writer expected a pause in the pace of
the residential market upturn now that many of the most obvious bargains have
been snapped up. He thought that was to be expected, and that a further rebound
would be likely to follow.
His idea was based on the notion that many otherwise
well-qualified prospects – buyers who may have narrowly missed the bottom of
the market -- would now be waiting for prices to fall again. They would only
reappear once they realize that those super bargains were a once-in-a-lifetime
affair.
I’d have to say, ‘not so much.’
In my experience, individuals who are
even half-serious about buying homes in Salt Lake
City and beyond are usually not motivated by squeezing every cent from
the bottom line. Pricing is certainly a factor, but just one of many. When you
are impressed with a neighborhood, or its school district, or the particularly
appealing floor plan of a particularly appealing house -- those are what prompt
you to have your agent write up an offer. Buying homes is not like supermarket
shopping. You don’t expect any Double Coupon Days or Two-for-One Sales. You are
finding the best place for your family to live -- it’s a different animal.
I also suspect that the author had
overlooked a major factor (possibly the major factor) that has shifted
since the start of the year. It’s at least partly psychological.
Everybody has to live somewhere, and
when you evaluate whether your own best course is to buy or rent, you want to
know that the investment portion of the purchase isn’t a foolish one. There is
a huge difference between buying homes in a falling market and buying homes in
a flat or rising market. When an investment is tumbling in value, it just feels
like you should wait to buy it. Even when it’s clear that you are getting more
than your money’s worth, it can feel as if you are being self-indulgent by
acting instead of waiting.
That
was a pretty substantial roadblock throughout the whole period following the
financial meltdown. Then, as the market bottomed out, I think it began to
disappear from peoples’ minds. Now that the national press is reporting
steadily rising prices, it’s gone entirely (last week,
for instance, Fannie Mae raised its original home sales forecast for this year
by another 5%). If I am right, that is a very big deal.
Whether you are scouting for a new Utah home or thinking that the time is right to
list your own property, I am here to answer your questions and help you get
started. Call me anytime!
Written
By ShirLee McGarry, Realtor® and freelance Writer/Author at All American Realty in
Sandy, Utah.
Homes4SaleUT@gmail.com,
Website: www.Homes4SaleUtahRealEstate.com
Homes4SaleUT@gmail.com,
Website: www.Homes4SaleUtahRealEstate.com
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