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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Home sales in Salt Lake County rose by 15 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2009, although home prices dropped.
The median price of single-family dwellings in Salt Lake County was down 8.8 percent year-over-year, to $217,000.
More than 1,700 homes and 350 condos were sold according to a report by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors.
Real estate agents say an $8,000 federal tax credit that expires this month helped boost sales. Bill Heiner, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors estimates the tax credit could have driven as much as a third of sales.
"I know it increased the activity a ton," he said.
According to Internal Revenue Service data, more than 21,000 Utahns have collected $161 million in federal home-buying tax credits. To qualify, buyers must go under contract by April 30 and close by June 30.
Many Utah Realtors, who saw the tax incentive create an urgency among buyers, fear sales will suffer now that it is expiring.
Heiner hopes there won't be a steep drop-off that lasts for the rest of the year. He says mortgage rates are still low -- although they are inching upward -- making homes generally more affordable than at any time in the past three years.
"I think there will be life after the tax credit," he said.
Carbacho-Burgos of economic forecasting firm Economy.com agrees and says Utah's housing market should be starting to recover on it own, although the pace of sales could be slow. Carbacho-Burgos also predicts a slight dip in sales during the third-quarter of the year.
"Prices of course are another story," he said. "We don't expect the median home price in Utah will bottom until the end of this year or the first couple of months in 2011."
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
