Percentage of Short Sales in Logan Rising

The good news is that Cache County Real Estate inventory has substantially declined over the last month. There are 48 less Logan Real Estate listings as there were a month ago.

While the overall number of Logan homes for sale is down, the number of short sale homes is not, and the percentage of listings that are short sales are rising. 6.54% of the total residential real estate listings on the MLS right now are short sales, the highest percentage of short sales Cache Valley has seen.

One of the main reasons we are seeing an increase in short sale listings, is because home prices are decreasing. There are less sellers that have equity, and so when borrowers get into financial trouble, short selling becomes one of their only choices.

Over the last three months the median sales price of homes in Cache County was $157,800, with an average of $168,711. In comparison, people that bought homes during the summer of 2007, the median sales price was $168,775 and the average sales price was 15.8% higher at $200,442.

Logan Home Sales Improved; But Still Poor

The good news is that home sales in Logan Utah were improved compared with the last two months, but they were still substantially less than average numbers for this time of year. Experts greatly underestimated how much the tax credit would push home purchases forwards, and we are still seeing lingering effects of the home buyer tax credits that expired earlier this year.

Reported so far, 54 MLS listed homes in Logan Utah were reported as sold. This is up by nearly 17% from the 45 residential homes that were reported sold at this time last month. However, it is down 32.5% compared with home sales during November of last year.

Logan Real estate inventory dramatically declined compared with a month ago. Cache County now has 794 residential homes for sale. This is the lowest number of residential listings since May. At Novembers sales pace, this gives Cache County just over 14 months of active real estate supply. There are 57 more homes on the market compared with this time a year ago.

Prices of homes in Cache County continue to decline. The current median list price of $179,950 is down almost $5,000 from a month ago, and down almost $10,000 from the median list price at the beginning of December last year. The average list price of $223,813 is also down, by more than $23,000 from one year ago.
The homes that are selling are among the least expensive of those listed. During November the average sales price was $164,139, with a median point of just $153,700.

Short Sale Numbers Up in Logan

While overall real estate inventory is on the decline as the Winter Months begin, the number of short sale homes is up. Decreased home prices in Cache County are leading to more underwater homeowners, and more Logan Short Sales.

There are 828 residential homes for sale in Cache County right now. 51 (6.16%) of these homes are short sales. One interesting trend is that the number of short sales in Logan city itself has substantially risen. Logan has 21 short sales, up from 14 last month. The smaller cities in Cache Valley have 30 short sale listings, down from 35 last month.

October Home Sales Down 55%

During the third quarter, home sales in Cache County were down by more than 37%. That was in large part due to the expiration of the home buyer tax credits. Personally, I thought that during the fourth quarter we would start seeing some more normal home sale numbers. Well, it looks like from October's home sales numbers I was wrong. Cache County home sales were down by more 54.55% last month compared with October of 2009. Reported thus far, just 45 residential homes have been reported as sold. This is the lowest month of home sales since January.

While 45, home sales is a low number for October, the 55% decline is a little misleading. The initial home buyer tax credit ended in November of last year, so there were very high home sales numbers during October of last year. From 2000 - 2004, October averaged 69 home sales each month. From 2005-2009, an average of 97 Cache County Homes sold each month.

Due to the season, not due to lots of home selling, the amount of Logan Utah Real Estate is declining. We currently have 844 residential homes for sale in Cache County. This is down 3.1% from a month a go, but up 11.7% from this time last year. At Octobers home sales pace, Cache County Real Estate has 18.75 months of active inventory.

Logan real estate values also continue to decline. Homes just keep getting less expensive. The median list price of Cache Valley Homes is now down to $184,900, while the average list is down to $226,390. This is still quite high considering that the median price of homes sold during October was just $160,000.

One slightly positive aspect of this months real estate numbers is that the number of under contract homes is actually up from last month. 101 residential homes are under contract compared with 99 a month ago. This should mean that November home sales will be better than October.

Cache Valley Short Sales Up

The number of homes listed under "short sale" status in Cache county is likely at an all time high. There are currently 49 Short Sale Homes for sale in Cache County. This is the highest it's been since I started keeping track over a year ago.

Total real estate inventory is also at an all time home. Right now there are 873 MLS listings in Logan. This is a 123 more listings than we had at this time a year ago. With inventory high, and prices declining, we will likely see the number of short sale homes increase over the next few months.

What Price Range is The Hardest To Sell Right Now?

The air is starting to cool, and Winter in Cache Valley is coming. The winter months are typically the slowest months for home selling. But which homes will have the hardest time selling? Which type of Logan homes will have the easiest time selling?

For the most part, the more expensive homes will have the most competition if buyer behavior is similar to the way it has been in the past year. Homes priced above half a million have been nearly impossible to sell. There are currently 28 Cache Valley Homes for sale priced above $500,000, but only 5 in this range that sold in the last 365 days. Last year, homes priced between $400,000 and $500,000 had a better chance of selling than those priced between $300,000 and $400,000. Homes priced between $120,000 and $140,000 sold best.

One good metric for determining the health of the market is by determining months of inventory. The months of inventory are determined by comparing the actual home sales over the past year, with the number of homes in each price range that are actually for sale. So, if no new homes were listed for sale, it would take this many months for all of the existing properties to sell.

The graph below shows the months of inventory broken down by different price ranges. Logan Utah Real Estate has more than a years worth of inventory for homes priced above $200,000. Homes priced between $120,000 and $140,000 have just 5.21 months of inventory. I excluded the over $500,000 homes from the graph, because they currently have 67 months of active inventory.

If you really don't need to sell, then don't even try right now, especially if your home is worth more than $200,000.

Q3 Cache County Home Sales Down 37.85%

For Cache Valley Real Estate, the third quarter is usually the best quarter of the year in terms of home sales. It encompasses the summer months when most people prefer moving. But not this year. Q3 home sales were way down.

So how bad were home sales during the third quarter in Cache County Utah?

Well, they were down by 37.85%, from last year, and last years third quarter stats were down from the year before that, which were down from 2007, which was down from 2006. To get things in perspective, there has only been two quarters in the last five years that had lower total home sales, both of those quarters happened during the winter.

The prices of Cache County Homes sold was down 3.43% compared with Q3 of last year. The median sales price was $161,000 while the average sales price of $179,171 was at its lowest level in four years.

What Will Happen to Cache County Home Prices?

What will happen to home prices in Cache County in the near future? We don't really know. But by looking at past statistics and results we can make some educated guesses.

The biggest factor determining future prices is the amount of real estate inventory. The more houses there are for sale, the more home prices will come down. Another factor that will determine future prices is the number of foreclosures that will be hitting the market. Foreclosures not only add to the total inventory, but they also generally have lower sales prices, lowering overall values. Here are current real estate inventory levels compared with previous years.

If there had never been a boom in home prices, where would prices now be if home prices appreciated at a normal gradual pace? Assuming that Cache County home prices were "normal" from 1997-2001, the green and red lines show what the median and average home price would be if home prices went up at exactly 3% each year. At this pace the median price would be $150,048.92 right now. Last months median sales price was $155,580. The average sales price at this rate would $161,919. Septembers average sold price was $161,482.

Under this model, Logan Real Estate prices are just slightly above what they would be at gradual appreciation. However, this doesn't mean that prices will stop dropping. Real estate values are determined by economic conditions in the area. If the economy worsens, prices could drop well below the "normal" values. With 880 current homes for sale in Logan, we will likely see prices drop well below the normal lines. There are more than 13 months of real estate inventory at Septembers home sales pace.

Where would home sales be, if we never had a housing boom?

Despite what Realtors might tell you, home sales in Cache County Utah are down. With the way things are looking, 2010 will likely be the worst year for home sales in Logan since 2002. Home sales this year actually started off close to average, thanks to the home buying tax credit. But, compared with the past five years, home sales during the second half of the year have been pretty dismal.

While home sales are way down from the past five years, they really may not be that far from where they would be if there never was a housing boom. If there weren't hundreds of unqualified buyers and investors buying homes they shouldn't have bought, where would home sales be now?

This graph shows us home sales in Cache County since 1997. The Logan Real Estate boom really started in about 2002. Annual home sales in 2006 were more than double what they were in 1999. And while Cache County is growing, it certainly didn't double over the course of 7 years. Over the past decade growth in Cache County has averaged less than 3% per year. If home sales increased at a gradual, 3% level each year from 2001's home sales levels, we would have had about 913 home sales this year. About 50 more sales than we will actually have based on my projections.

Now the question is, what does this mean for the future? Because home sales were so much higher than normal levels during the boom, will they be less than "normal levels" during the recovery?

They could be less. There are now a lot of potential buyers less likely to want to buy because of what they saw happen to peers who lost equity. There are also good numbers of people who bought at the peak of the housing market, and have faced short sale or foreclosure. These people will not be able to buy for years.

I think the answer to this question really has very little to do with what happened in the past, but has lots to do with how the economy recovers. If the Logan Utah economy recovers, then we should see, a slow but steady increase in sales of Logan Utah Homes. If the economy digresses, and is hit harder, then home sales will probably continue to fall.

September Home Sales an Prices Down in Logan

September was another awfully bad month for real estate in Logan Utah. Only 59 listed homes have been reported as sold on the MLS so far, and the average sold price is down nearly 12% from a year ago.

Cache County home sales were down by 33.7% compared with September of last year. They were down 13% from last month, which was a really bad month for home sales. This marks the lowest September of home sales since 2002. I thought that the tax credit hangover was over, and that the real estate sales numbers would normalize, but it appears as if it will be more time until we see home sales numbers increase.

Cache County Real Estate prices also appear to be dropping. The September sales price was just $162,582, down 11.96% from a year ago. The median sales price was just $155,850. Prices will likely continue to drop as inventory is still too high. There are currently 871 residential homes for sale in the Logan Utah area. This is 116 more listings than at this time last year.

The next few months don't look like they will be much different for home sales. There are currently 99 homes under contract. This is down from 108 under contract properties at this time last month.

Foreclosures and HUD Home Numbers are Up In Logan

The fact is that foreclosure numbers in Cache Valley are increasing. There are currently more foreclosure and HUD Homes for sale than I have ever seen before. The increased foreclosure numbers are result of declining home prices, overextended borrowers, and a poor economy.

When I first started selling real estate over five years ago, there was rarely more than one or two HUD homes each month.

There are currently 12 homes for sale in Cache County that are HUD properties. These include townhouses, condos, manufactured homes, ramblers and bungalows. Most of these homes are priced at less than $100,000, and the most expensive of the HUD homes currently for sale has a list price of $145,000. Some of the properties are only available to people who want to owner occupy them, but most of these homes are now open to all bidders.

Click this link if you want to view the currently listed HUD Homes for sale in Logan Utah.

Read More at Real Estate Logan - Number of Hud Homes Up in Logan Utah

Lease Option Homes in Logan Utah

The slow real estate market has increased the number of homes for sale in Logan UT that are offering lease options. Right now there are 22 lease option homes for sale in Logan. A couple years ago, I assisted some sellers with a lease option. At that time there were only three other homes being offered as lease options.

Click this link if you would like to view the current Lease Option Homes for Sale in Logan Utah.

With a “Lease Option,” or “Rent to Own home,” sellers rent their home out giving the renter the option to buy the home at a future date. Lease option contracts usually require a substantial down payment. The down payment will be subtracted from the purchase price in the event that the renter buys the house. Lease options also generally have a portion of the rent that goes towards the option as well.

Read more at Logan Real Estate Blog - Lease Options Up in Logan

Cache County August Home Sales Numbers Improved

The good news is that home sales numbers for Cache County Utah during August were substantially improved compared with last month. The bad news is that although the 68 homes sold is an improvement, it is still down nearly 40% compared with last August of last year. This graph shows the comparison of home sales numbers during 2010, compared with the average monthly home sales over the previous five years.



The other good news is that it looks like September home sales will be even better than August home sales. There are more Cache County Homes under contract than there have been in the last two months. We currently have 107 homes under contract compared with just 98 at this time last month.



One interesting thing about the Logan Utah Homes that sold during August is that they were bigger than homes that have sold over the previous four months. The average home that sold was 2,489 square feet, and had an average original list price of $221.767. During April, the average original list price of homes sold was just $176,975, and the average square footage was 2,093 square feet. I think this statistic shows that a much larger percentage of August home sales were made by non first time buyers, whereas, during April the large majority of homes were purchased by first time buyers.

Short Sale Numbers Up in Logan

The number of homes listed as short sales has risen in Logan over the past month. While the total number of Cache County real estate listings is nearly identical to a month ago, the percentage of these homes requiring bank approval has increased. 4.75 percent of the listed homes in Cache Valley are short sales.

How Do Cache County 2010 Home Sales Compare With Previous Years?

Those who read my blog regularly know that Cache County Home sales were way down last month. I decide to run a little comparison, to see how this years Logan Real Estate sales compare with the average over the previous five years. Here are the results:

Overall, home sales are down, but were down just slightly before the Tax Credit Expiration. May home sales were above the average, as that is the month when most of the last minute tax credit recipients closed. But July home sales were pitiful. As you can see July is usually the second best month for closings. August, which is traditionally the best month for home sales appears as if it won't be much better than July. Hopefully things will get closer to end the year off as the results of the Tax Credits wear off.

Logan July Home Sales Were Really Low

From watching the statistics and market trends over recent months, I knew that July home sales were going to low. But, I didn't think they would be this bad. I look outside, and the 90 degree temperatures sure don't indicate that its the middle of winter. My unofficial statistics show that last month was the worst July for home sales in Logan Utah since the MLS started keeping stats in 1997.

July Cache County Home Sales were down 47% compared with July of 2009, and were less than half of last months home sales. Clearly, the tax credit had a drastic impact on the movement of home sales. Historically, July is one of the biggest months for Logan UT Real Estate.

The sad news is that it doesn't look like this is just a one month statistical blip either. So far, August sales don't look like they will be much improved. When I did my statistics at the beginning of last month there were 98 under contract homes in Cache County. Right now there are just 98.

The number of Utah Homes for Sale is rising. Cache County now has 906 residential homes for sale, which is an all time high. At July's home sales pace this represents more than 17 months of active inventory. If you are one of the 900 Cache Valley home sellers, and need to sell, now is the time to do something drastic. It looks like it is going to be a long winter for Real Estate in Cache Valley.

One really peculiar stat that stuck out to me was the average days on market. This may have just been an anomaly from a limited sample size, but the average days on market during July was down. This doesn't indicate that homes are selling faster, it just shows that many of the recently listed homes priced their homes right from the beginning and were able to sell.

Cache County Tops 900 Home Listings

The Home Buying Tax Credit has clearly had its impact on Logan Utah Real Estate. Unfortunately, not all of it is positive. Because many buyers moved their home purchases forward, we have seen a decrease in home sales over the normally heavy summer months. While home sales are slower than they've been recently, there has still been a high number of new home listings hit the market. This has brought us to a record high level of real estate inventory.

There are more homes for sale right now than there has ever been in Cache County. Right now 907 residential Cache Valley Homes for Sale appear on the MLS. As you can see from the graph, inventory levels dropped below 2009 levels during May, right at the end of the second home buying tax credit. Since that point they have steadily trended up. Overall, these high levels of inventory are creating a high absorption rate and will place downward pressure on home values. How low they will go, nobody knows. I just know that there are lots of homes for sale in Logan Utah.

Cache County Multi Family Home Sales Jan-June

Multi Family Home Sales in Cache County have been pretty slow through the first six months of the year. Just five Logan duplexes, and 8 four-plexes have sold thus far. The duplex sales numbers are actually down from a year ago when six duplexes sold in the first six months of the year. Right now there are 15 duplexes for sale in the Logan area. The median list price of these duplexes is $155,000, with an average price of $167,000. The duplexes that have sold this year have been very inexpensive with an average sales price of just $122,690.

Fourplex sales are up a little bit compared with a year ago, but most of the fourplexes that have sold were less expensive than previous years. The median price of the 8 fourplexes sold was just $228,450.

Click this link if you're interested in investing in real estate and want to view multi-family properties for sale in Cache County

Cache County Land Sales Improved! Just 5 Years of Real Estate Inventory

There is some improved news for Land Owners in Cache Valley, 2010 land sales are up 33% compared to the first six months of last year.

So far there has been 48 land parcels sold in Cache County this year. 17 of these were residential lots less than half an acre. The median price of these residential lots was $56,000 and the average sales price was $53,517. There are 11 plots of land under contract right now.

While Cache Valley land sales are improved, it still has a long way to go to before the Logan real estate market is balanced and land owners can expect their properties to sell for what they want, and in a timely manner. There are currently 203 lots less than half acre currently for sale, and an additional 302 lots for sale on parcels bigger than .5 acres. At this sales pace, Cache County has about five years worth of active real estate inventory.

June Sales Still Good - But Summer Sales in Logan Will Be Down

Cache County home sales for June were pretty good. 105 MLS homes have been reported sold thus far, an improvement of 5.71% compared with June of last year. June home sales numbers weren't quite as good as May's numbers, and were down by about 8%.

The average price of home sales in Cache County was substantially up during June compared with the last four months. This is a sign that many of the June home sales were not first time buyers, and were not effected by the home buying tax credits. The average price of Cache County Homes Sold during June was $180,724, with a median price of $161,000.

While home sales for the first half of 2010 were pretty positive, so far, the second half of the year doesn't happen to look so good. July is traditionally one of the strongest months for home sales. This month, there will probably be less than a hundred Cache County Homes sold. Right now Cache County has just 99 homes under contract. This is less than half the number of under contract homes as there were in May. Only about 70% of Under Contract properties actually close.

Logan Real Estate also has a record high number of listings on the market. Right now there are 883 active residential homes for sale in Cache County Utah. The price of these homes for sale has dropped. The median price of Cache County residential real estate is $189,900 and the average price is $244,129. If buyer activity doesn't start picking up, we will likely see prices continue to drop this winter.

Cache County Home Sales Up, Condo Sales Way up for First Half of 2010

It's hard to believe, but 2010 is nearly half way over. Real Estate sales in Cache County are up for the first half of the year compared with the first half of last year, and Cache Valley Condo sales are more than double what they were last year.

For single family houses in Cache County Utah, sales were up 8.76% from a year ago. There wasn't really a price disparity between the percentage change of more expensive homes and less expensive homes. Cache Valley homes priced below $200,000 saw a sales increase of 8.76%, and Home's priced above $200,000 saw an increase by 8.77%. Last year, homes priced above $200,000 saw a 41% decline compared with the first half of 2008.

Sales of Condos in Logan Utah were more than double last years numbers. 92 Condos and Townhouses sold this year compared with just 43 at this time last year. The average price of condos also declined, the average sold price this year of $124,100 is 10.66% less than last year. The median sales price of condos was just down by 5.14%.

While the quantity of homes that sold was up, prices were way down. The median price of homes sold in Cache County through the first half of the year was $156,000, down 8.18% compared with last years median price of $169,900. The average sold price was down slightly more at 8.54%.

Most of the individual cities in Cache County saw improvements in home sales, with the exception of Providence, and Hyde Park Real Estate. Logan Real Estate sales were up 18.14%, Smithfield Real Estate Sales Rose 26.79%, Hyrum Real Estate Sales increased 24.5%, Nibley Real Estate sales improved 20.6%, Wellsville Real Estate saw 5 more home sales, North Logan Real Estate sales increased 26.7%, and the rural Cache County communities saw home sales improvements of 16.33%.

Short Sale Numbers Slightly Up in Logan

While Total Real Estate inventory in Cache County is up, the number of short sales is also up, but still significantly less than a couple months ago. The number of Cache County Short Sale listings rose from 29 to 33, an increase of less than half a percent.

Record HIGH number of Home Listings in Cache County

Right now there are 854 residential homes for sale in Cache County Utah. By my records, this is the highest amount of Real Estate Inventory Cache County has ever had. The previous high I ever noted was 850 in July of last year.

So what does this mean?

In basic economics, it simply means that there is more supply than demand. When this happens, prices will drop. What it means overall is that it is not a good time to try and sell Logan Utah Real Estate. There will still be hundreds of Cache County homes that can and will sell, but the homes that do sell will be those that offer the best value. If you NEED to sell your home you want to make sure you have it priced low, and have it clean and presentable. Showings will be down, so those showings you get, you need to make count. If you don't NEED to sell, you might be better off by just taking your home off the market and learn to enjoy where you now live.

If you need to relocate, it's better to drastically drop the price on your house now rather than to leave it vacant for months or years. Doing so will reduce the overall loss. The high inventory, especially among the high end homes also means that many sellers may want to consider lease options or renting their homes out if the losses that need to be taken will be too much.

There are other variables, other factors of course, and with real estate what really matters is the amount of competition in a particular price range or area. Next month I plan to do my break down by price ranges, and by home sizes for the amount of real estate inventory. That will give us a better idea of which type of Cache Valley homes for sale have most saturated the market.

Cache County Home Sales Up 36%, Inventory Also Way Up

Home sales in Cache County during May were way up. The 114 Cache County homes reported sold on the WFRMLS mark the highest single month of home sales in Cache County in nearly 22 months, with the exception of July of last year when 117 residential homes sold. Many of these home sales can be attributed to the expiration of the home buyer tax credit at the end of April. For the number of homes that sold, this represents a 36% increase compared with May of last year, and a 16.67% increase compared with April.

Prices of May home sales was down by 6% compared with May of last year. The average price of Cache Valley homes sold was $168,614 while the median price was $153,220. The median price was one of the lowest monthly medians since early 2006. The homes that sold were also smaller than normal, with an average square footage of 2,098 square feet.
Because many of the home purchases were advanced as result of the government stimulus, the future Logan Real Estate market isn't looking quite as bright. Real Estate inventory is way up, there are 58 more homes on the market than there were just a month ago. The current 839 Cache County Homes for Sale is getting close to the highest number of home listings Cache County has ever had.

Home sales in the next few months should be down for Cache Valley Real Estate. The 162 homes that are currently under contract is down 29% from last month. We should expect a drop in real estate activity during June and July as hangover from the tax credit. It will be interesting to see what happens with the local real estate market at the end of the summer.

Cornerstone Real Estate Top Brokerage for Home Sales in May

Of the different real estate brokerages in Cache County during May, Cornerstone Real Estate Professionals was by far the number one Logan Real Estate brokerage again. For the month May Cornerstone had 31 residential closings just in Cache County, 9 more than any other local brokerage. Cornerstone also had 10 other Utah Real Estate closings that were mostly in Weber and Davis County.

Residential Home Sales in Cache County for May:

1. Cornerstone .................................31
2. Parker Real Estate ......................22
3. Coldwell Banker ...........................21
4. Youngblood Real Estate ..............17
5. Century 21 ....................................15
6. @Home Realty Network ............15

Short Sales in Logan Down 33%

So I just ran the numbers to see the latest trends for Logan Utah Short Sales, and unless the MLS changed the way short sales are calculated, short sale numbers in Logan are way down. Of the 812 homes listed for sale right now, just 29 Logan Real Estate listings are short sales. This is nearly 33% less than last time I ran the numbers a month in a half ago.

Just 3.59% of the homes listed for sale in Cache County are listed as Short Sales. This is substantially down from the stable trend over the past six months.

Logan Real Estate Inventory Back UP

After the huge decline in Real Estate inventory at the beginning of the month, when home buyers rushed to get properties under contract at the end of April, Logan Utah Real Estate inventory is up again.

There are currently 812 homes for Sale in Cache County. This is 32 more homes on the market than two weeks ago. The number of home sales in may does look like it will be pretty strong. During May thus far, there has already been more than 65 residential homes sold.

Cornerstone Real Estate #1 Cache County Brokerage for April

Once again Cornerstone Real Estate had more real estate transactions than any other Cache County Brokerage during April. In fact, Cornerstone had more buyer buyer transactions than any other brokerage had total real estate transactions.

Cornerstone Real Estate Professionals had twice as many transactions as @Home Realty Network and Parker Real Estate, and had ten more than Coldwell Banker.

Logan Real Estate Market Looking REALLY Good

The Logan Utah Real Estate market is looking really good. It's partially due to the homebuyer tax credit, but might also be partially due to an improved economy and more optimism for the future of Utah Real Estate.

During April, Cache County Real Estate sales were up almost 18% compared with last April. They were up almost 16% compared to the good sales numbers we had during March. So far, 95 residential homes on the MLS have been reported as sold.

In the near future, don't expect home sales to slow down. Right now there are 227 residential homes for sale under contract in Cache County. While some of these will fall through, that represents a substantial number of closings that will happen over the next few months.

The prices of homes that have sold in recent months is down, this is in large part due to the large number of purchases involved with first time home buyers. The average price of the homes sold during April was $163,795, down 6.48% from last years average price.

For other positive news, real estate inventory is also down, finally. This is in large part due to the increased buyer activity and the large number of homes that are under contract. It's possible that a lot of sellers took their homes off the market when didn't sell during the tax credit time. There are currently 774 Cache County Homes for Sale. And this actually includes a good number of "phantom listings" where the homes don't actually exist. This is actually less homes than were for sale during May of last year when the Logan area had 787 residential homes listed.

After seeing these numbers, I am very optimistic about the future of the Logan housing market. It looks like things have really turned around and are headed towards a balanced, normal, real estate market.

Logan Real Estate is Busy - 205 Under Contract Homes

Logan Real Estate is busy right now. With the expiration of the home buyer tax credits, buyers and real estate agents are rushing to get things done. While there hasn't necessarily been a huge number of closings in the last week, there has been a very large number of homes go under contract.

On Monday there were 820 listed homes in Cache County. Right now, there are just 807. This is really positive to see the inventory moving in the downward direction, especially being that it is normally such a big season for listing homes. Cache County Real Estate Inventory has dropped substantially over the last few days.

The biggest reason inventory has gone down, is because so many properties are going under contract. Two weeks ago there were 172 Logan Homes for Sale Under Contract, right now there are 205! This bodes well for future Logan Real Estate sales.

Over the last week there were only 13 homes listed on the MLS that were reported sold. I'm betting this number is actually higher, but many of the agents are so busy right now that they haven't had time to update the stats.

All the tax credit craziness will end in just two days, and the real estate market will be reliant on its own power again. There will definitely be a little lag for seasonal levels for home sales during July and August as many buyers advanced their home purchases to qualify for the tax credits. It will be really interesting to see how Northern Utah Real Estate fares this summer.

800 Homes on the Market in Cache County

It is official. There are now 800 homes for sale in Cache County Utah. In the last week, 21 homes went under contract, in total 171 homes are now under contract. The end of April looks like it will be even stronger for total home sales.

Number of Short Sale Homes Down in Logan

The Number of Homes listed as Short Sales in Logan Utah is down compared with last month. There are currently just 11 Short Sale homes for sale in Logan. The percentage of total Short Sales in Cache County is also down, 5.66% of the 799 properties for sale in Cache County are Short Sales. The total number of short sales is actually slightly up, as many of the outlying cities in Cache Valley saw an increase. In total, there are 44 listed short sale homes for sale.

Home Sales, Under Contracts, and # Of Listings in Cache County Up

The number of homes sold in Cache County during March was up 16.25% compared with March of last year. 80 residential Cache County homes sold, which is up 35% from February's home sale numbers. The number of homes under contract has also risen in the last month. There are currently 167 residential properties under contract in Cache Valley. This is up 15% from just two weeks ago. A lot of buyers are active right now in effort to beat the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. This means that we will see strong home sales numbers over the next few months.

While increased number of home sales is positive for the recovery of the Logan Real Estate economy, there are also more homes currently for sale.

Right now Cache County has 794 residential homes for sale. This is more actively listed MLS homes than there has ever been at the beginning of April.

Prices of homes sold in Cache County has declined recently. During March, homes sold for about 10% less than they did during March of last year. The average sold price was $170,902 and the median point was $152,250.

The price per square footage has also dropped. The average home that sold in Cache County during march was 2,263 square foot, and sold for just under $76 per square foot.

Cornerstone Real Estate #1 Brokerage for Q1 Home Sales

The numbers are in, and for the first quarter of 2010 Cornerstone Real Estate Professionals is the number one Logan Utah Real Estate brokerage in terms of total home sales.

Even more impressive is the huge advantage Cornerstone has for the number of buyer transactions among the major Cache Valley Real Estate brokerages. For the second quarter, Cornerstone had nearly three times more buyers transactions than Parker Real Estate, Youngblood Real Estate, and ERA Advantage Realty. It also had nearly twice as many transactions as Century 21, @Home Realty Network, and Coldwell Banker.

From: Cornerstone #1 Cache County Real Estate Brokerage.