Monday, July 6, 2009

June Cache Valley Home Sales Up

June was the best month for home sales in Cache County Utah in nine months. Nearly 100 residential properties sold. Home sales were up by 26% compared with May, and even up 6% compared with June of last year. This is the first time Cache Valley year over year sales have improved in 2009.




While home sales are up, prices are down. The average price of homes sold in June was $174,894. Down nearly 10% from the average sold price a year ago. Cache Valley Homes sold for an average of $81 per square foot.



Home sales are improving, but there are still too many homes for sale in Cache Valley for prices to appreciate. There are currently 845 residential listings on the for sale on the MLS. This is nearly twice as many homes as there were just two years ago.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Logan Duplexes Didn't Sell During the First Half of The Year

Like most Cache County Real Estate, multi family property sales are down this year. 

In fact, duplex sales during the first six months of 2009 are almost non existent despite the fact that rents are up. Only 6 duplexes and 5 fourplexes sold between January and June. Duplex sales were down by nearly 79% compared to last year. 




There are currently 14 duplexes, 7 triplexes, and 28 fourplexes for sale in Cache Valley. 


2009 Cache County Land Sales

Half way through 2009 it is clear that demand for Cache Valley Land is way down. 

For all parcels of land,  sales are down 58.44% compared to the first six months of last year. For residential lots on less than half an acre, land sales are down 42.86%. Prices of the residential lots selling is significantly down as well. The median price of lots less than half an acre sold for $48,950, down 11.4% from last year. 


Expect land prices to continue to drop. There are currently 209 residential lots listed for sale in Cache County on less than half an acre. This doesn't include the hundreds of available lots that aren't listed. At the rate lots sold in the first half of the year, Cache County has more than 5 years worth of listed inventory. Until things drastically change, only the most affordable land will sell. If you're looking to buy land, don't be afraid to offer low.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Cache County Home Sales down 25%

2009 is half way over. Home sales in Cache County are clearly down. Over the past six months sales of Cache County Houses are down 25.16% and Condo sales are down 24.56%. Average and median prices of homes are also down. The median sales price dropped by 5% and the average sales price was down 6.73%.


One interesting disparity is the difference between home sales more and less than $200,000. While homes priced less than $200,000 were only down 15.54%, home sales for prices above $200,000 were down by more than 41%. Home sales were also significantly down in Wellsville, not because Wellsville is less popular this year, but because most of the Wellsville Homes for Sale are too expensive. 

Logan Short Sales on the Rise

It looks like the number of Short Sale Homes in Cache Valley are on the rise. There are currently 38 active properties in Cache County listed on the MLS that require bank approval. Just two months ago there were just 25. With 848 active residential homes for sale in Cache County, 1 in every 23 homes for sale requires a short sale. Compared with the rest of Utah, this number is actually very low. 

Buying Utah short sale homes can sometimes be a great way too get a deal on properties. It can also be a huge hassle and waste of time you could be spend buying other homes for sale. 

New Housing Stimulus for Utah? There Might Be a New Home Run Grant

    • Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert said Tuesday he is considering a second round of state stimulus to the housing market, similar to the $6,000 Home Run Grant incentive to homebuyers that helped generate $376.7 million in home sales in the past three months
    • The specifics of the new stimulus program are still being worked out
    • one possibility the group is considering would be a smaller grant that could be given to more people and could potentially include the purchase of existing homes.
    • Another option would use state funds to provide an advance on the $8,000 federal tax credit to first-time homebuyers, who would then have to repay the state when the federal money arrived.
    • The Home Run Grant Program, proposed by Huntsman and approved by the Legislature earlier this year, used $10 million in federal stimulus money to entice prospective homebuyers into purchasing a never-lived-in home.
    • An economic analysis of the program projected that it would create more than 7,200 jobs, generate nearly $240 million in wages and $20 million in property taxes.