Spring Surge in Sales - Bargains Abound

Today I wanted to talk a little about what is REALLY going on in the market and what that means to you.

I recently discussed the prospect of marketing one of my clients homes so they can upgrade to a home more to thier liking. During this conversation my clients told me that they didnt think now was a good time to sell because there were so many homes on the market. I would feel that way too if I didn't know what is actually happening regarding sales and market activity.

Here is what is happening:


After a significant 6 month decrease in sales volume through January, we have finally returned to the normal seasonal cycle. I have attached a chart showing that we are on the uptick in sales. Financing is still widely available for credit worthy folks and those with cash (or proceeds from the sale of thier home) for a downpayment on thier next home. The dramatic decrease in sales volume that ended in January represents all the subprime and underqualified buyers being led out the home-buyers market and into the tenant market.

In a previous email I described how Utah house prices follow a stair-step pattern upward. Many of the homes for sale in todays market are for sale by speculators and investors who are "flipping" thier homes. Most of the price reductions you see in the list prices right now are adjustments back into what the home is actually worth. Alot of these folks overestimated thier home's values based on past appreciation rates. We were appreciating at 10%-15% per year for almost 3 years. In July that rate went to almost 0%. It has taken sellers and agents (except for myself of course) a while to figure that out. So the bottom line is that alot of what you see out there for sale is over priced still. Accurately pricing your home for sale will guarantee it sells in market time. Right now that time is 3-4 months.

Now, what we see as a "bad time" to sell is actually a fine time to sell as long as you didnt buy the home on speculation less than a year ago. For the rest of us, it just takes a little longer to liquidate the home. The even better news is that with so many homes available, there are bargains out there waiting for a new owner. About 1 out of 25 of the homes for sale right now are potential bargains! Six months ago you could sell your house for full price and then you paid full price if not more for the next home. If you could sell your house for full price and get into a new home at 10% below full price, wouldn't that be worth it?

Well its definitely possible now.

Give me a call and I can talk to you about the 194 bargain properties available as of this post in
Weber and Davis counties.