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Keith McCord ReportingThere's an old line about real estate --Location, location, location. And, right now in Utah it's hot, hot, hot! The market, at present, is sizzling and will probably stay strong through the end of the year.
Realtors are happy to the point of shaking their heads in disbelief. One realtor KSL spoke with today said a house in the Avenues went on the market this morning for 1.2-million. He was expecting to have three offers by the end of the day.
For Sale: Large or small house, old or new, Sugarhouse area, or Harvard-Yale, or Sandy, or Draper, or Riverton. Doesn't really matter right now how realtors are writing up the listings, the houses are selling and fast! In a word, realtors are busy.
After three years of relatively flat sales, and equally flat asking prices, the prices for new and existing homes has jumped. It started in the 4th quarter last year and is still moving up.
Debra Sjoblom, Pres. Salt Lake Bd. of Realtors: “The market is really turning around, more and more people, there’s a sense of urgency that it’s time to get in it because things are going so much higher.”
Some of the increased market activity is due to fact that people know that the low interest rates won't be this way forever. So how good is it? Consider these first quarter numbers:
--Homes in Salt Lake County have appreciated in value more than 8%;
--Davis County, almost 10;
--Tooele 3.3;
The board of realtors believes that by years-end the value of your home will be worth at least 10 percent more than it was in January.
So, is it a "buyers" or sellers" market right now? It's both, really. Buyers are getting good deals now and sellers can get a good price. And if you're going to put up a "For Sale" sign, be ready to pack up.
Debra Sjoblom, Pres. Salt Lake Bd. of Realtors: "Yes, they're going quite quickly. They're going quite quickly. I mean you take a listing, and you need to be ready right out of the chute to show it and sell it and be prepared to move, because that is happening."
Economists say the brisk real estate market could active into 2006.
