Year over Year Inventory is Down

We are seeing more positive signs for the Logan Real Estate Market, the number of homes for sale, the active inventory is down from levels in June of last year as well as June of 2009. There are currently 802 homes for sale in Cache County Utah. At this time a year ago there were 839 MLS listed properties.



The reduced number of homes for sale is one indicator that we have seen a bottom in the market, and that things are starting to improve. This doesn't necessarily mean that home prices wont' drop more, in fact they likely still will, prices almost always lag behind home sales.

For some more positive real estate news, home sales were improved last month compared with April, and the number of homes currently under contract is up from a month ago. May saw 86 residential homes sale, up from just 66 in April. Right now there are 151 under contract properties, up from 148 a month ago. This indicates that June sales will be improved over May.

The homes that sold last month had the highest median and average prices we've seen since January. The Average sales price was $172,430, while the median sales price was $155,950.



This doesn't mean prices are going up, just that there were more expensive homes that sold last month.

Nationwide home prices are now at levels they were in 2002. The housing bubble nationally has completely erased, and then some. However that statistic doesn't really apply to us. This isn't Atlanta Real Estate, this is Cache Valley Real Estate. Our real estate values haven't fallen that far. May's average sales price of $172,430 is at about the average price we saw in the Summer of 2006.

Home Sales Way Down, But Future Should Be Better

After a fairly strong March, April home sales in Cache County were really pretty dismal. They were down 15% compared with last month, and 32% from April home sales of a year ago. Last year April home sales were higher than normal as result of the Home Buying Tax Credits.



The good news is that May home sales should be much improved. There are now 148 homes under contract. If 70% of these under contract homes close during May, that will represent more than 100 home sales.

Logan Real Estate inventory is also on the rise as home sales are slow and more people are listing their homes now that the weather is actually starting to get nice. There are currently 786 homes for sale in Cache County. This is 12 more listings than at this time a year ago, and eleven months of inventory at Aprils sales pace.



The list price of homes for sale in Cache Valley has remained stable over the last month, but the average sales price during April was abnormally low. The average sales price in April was just $160,756, while the median sales price was just $144,025. Right now the average list price of Cache County Homes is $218,844. Home prices aren't expected to rise anytime soon, as long as the amount of real estate inventory remains this high.

Logan Home Sales UP 44%

March Home Sales in Cache County did pretty good compared with the last eight months. The 76 residential homes sold was the highest single month we've seen since June of last year. Compared with February, home sales were up by a whopping 44%.

Compared with a year ago, March home sales were actually down slightly. We have to remember that a year ago at this time the home buyer tax credit was just about to expire, so those numbers were artificially high. Overall these home signs are a good sign for the Logan Real Estate market.

While home sales are up, the number of home for sale are as well. The total number of Cache Valley MLS listings has risen to 754 homes for sale, up from 711 last month. At March's sales pace, this gives Cache County a total of 9.92 months of inventory. The good news is that this inventory is down substantially from a year ago when there were 818 residential listings. Inventory is still high, but if home sales continue to increase throughout the summer we will see a decrease in real estate values dropping.

Short Sales Rising as Home Prices Declining

The number of short sale homes in Logan Utah continues to rise as home prices decline. Nationwide, the average median home sales price is now at 2002 levels, it's not that low in Logan, but over the last three months the median sales price of $156,250 is the lowest Cache County has seen since 2007. The current average list prices are the lowest they've been in even longer.


Cache County currently has 64 short sale listings in Cache Valley, or 8.82% of the 726 Logan MLS listings.

Prices Down, Sales Down for Cache County Real Estate

Cache County home sales during February weren't exactly great. I thought we were going to see an improvement in home sales during February, but it wasn't the case. Home sales were down 19% compared with February of last year and 8.7% compared with January.

Real estate inventory did see an increase since my last post, but it is still substantially down compared with February of last year. Right now Cache County has 711 MLS homes for sale. This is down by 5.5% compared with last month, and is even less than real estate inventory in March of 2009. Last years inventory may have been artificially high though as many sellers listed their homes early in homes of finding a buyer who was looking to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit. At February's sales pace, the 711 homes for sale gives Cache County 16.9 months of active inventory.



The good news for Logan UT Real Estate is that home sales look like they will improve this month. There are currently 102 home listings under contract. At this time last month, there were only 71 under contract properties. This is the highest monthly total since November.



Of the homes sold during February the median sold price was $158,000 and the average sales price was $167,773. This is down nearly 7 % from a year ago.

Less than 700 Homes for Sale in Cache Valley

Good news. Real Estate Inventory in Cache Valley Utah continues to drop. There are now just 699 MLS listings in Cache Valley.



This is the lowest Logan real estate inventory levels have been in more than a year. Traditionally, there are more listings at the end of February than the beginning. This year the trend has reversed as at the beginning of the mont there were 704 Logan homes for sale. This is a positive sign that the housing market might return to balanced levels near the end of the year.

The number of listed short sale homes in Cache County has declined one home, but with less homes for sale, the percentage of short sales actually rose. 8.58% of the active home listings are short sales including 29 properties in Logan, and 35 homes in the outlying Cache Valley communities.

January Year Over Year Home Sales Improved

The Logan Real Estate market is clearly not recovered from the great housing recession yet, but there are some positive signs.

January Home Sales were the best they've been since 2008, and up by 15% from last year. Reported thus far, 46 residential homes in Cache County have been reported as sold.

Logan Real Estate inventory has actually dropped over the last month from 716 listed homes to 714. Typically, the number of homes for sale increases from January to February, this is also a good sign for the real estate market. Although inventory is down from a month ago, there are still 17 more homes for sale in Cache County than there was at this time last year. At January's sales pace this represents 15 months of active inventory, which is quite high.



The list price of real estate in Cache Valley continues to drop. Last month the median price of homes for sale was $179,900. This month that median price is down $5,400 to $174,500.