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.

Why it IS a good time to Sell Cache Valley Real Estate

Yesterday there was an article in the Herald Journal that had a pretty negative tone about the Logan Utah real estate market. It quoted me, and apparently riled up a bunch of local real estate agents. They called the local Realtor Board, and complained about the comments I said.

Personally, I didn’t think that the article was that bad. It stated the facts, and explained some of the reasoning of why home sales in January were so low. Sometimes we have to face the reality. We can’t sugar coat everything. The article came across more negatively than I would have liked, but lets face the facts. A journalists goal is to get their articles read, and striking headlines are more often read than boring sales statistic numbers.

With that said, If you price your home right, it is actually a good time to sell for several reasons. One thing to remember is that you only need to sell your house to ONE potential buyer.

1. Buyers Have Urgency - There are lots of potential buyers out there who have a sense of urgency to buy. The home buyer tax credits require that homes go under contract by the end of April. Mortgage interest rates are likely at the lowest they will ever be. Many people realize this, and want to take advantage of mortgage savings.
2. Great Time to Upgrade - There are lots of deals out there if you are looking to upgrade. The deal you get on the house you upgrade to can far exceed the loss you would take on the sell of your house. If you lose $5,000 on the sell of your house, but get $25,000 in equity on the home you purchase you have a net gain of $20,000. The low interest rates and great deals on homes for sale in Logan have personally tempted me into possibly upgrading.
3. Spring is in the Air – Spring is traditionally a huge season for looking for homes for sale in Cache Valley. New potential buyers are starting their home search every day. Remember, they are only going to be buying one house. There are also lots of buyers out there who have seen everything currently on the market that matches their criteria and are looking for something better. They know that lots of new listings are coming out each day and are waiting to find the best home possible.
4. It is NOT a Buyers Market for Starter Homes - Homes priced below $161,000 are actually selling at balanced market paces. Many have multiple offers. It is not a buyers market at all for the less expensive properties for sale in Cache County. Cache Valley home prices between $160,000 and $180,000 are also selling at almost balanced market paces.

While many of the higher end homes won’t sell this year, some will. For many sellers, it is a GREAT time to sell in Cache Valley. You only need to sell your home once.