From Deseret News archives:
Fiery 2006 housing market had a slow end
But steep sales prices and a glut of new listings have started to put the brakes on Utah's fiery real estate market.
In 2006, median sales prices for single-family homes along the Wasatch Front showed double-digit percent gains, according to a report released Friday by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors.
In Salt Lake County, the median home value for the year climbed to $225,000, up 21.3 percent from the median value in 2005. Utah County median values climbed 21.7 percent to $212,900. Davis County saw a 14.9 percent rise to $197,500, while Weber County's median value rose to $144,975, up 11.5 percent.
Gary Cannon, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, said the local market slowed in the third and fourth quarters, mainly because investors started to dump more homes on the market.
"2006 wasn't as good as it appears because we had a really big slowdown in the latter part of the year," Cannon said. "It's the first time in a long while where we are starting to see price reductions and added incentives from new-home builders."
While homes priced below $250,000 continue to receive multiple offers and sell quickly, a rising inventory of expensive homes priced from $400,000 to $800,000 are the slowest moving price range.
"Sellers in this range will need to be more aggressive with their pricing if they want to move their home faster," Cannon said. "On the south end of the valley, both east and west, this price range is carrying the most inventory, both new and existing."
Cannon added that affordable housing along the Wasatch Front is becoming increasingly scarce.
"I want municipalities to know that we've got a problem," Cannon said. "They've got to start listening to what the market needs."
Drew Larson, a real estate agent in Draper with Prudential Utah Real Estate, said home sellers are not very willing to drop prices.
"That's what is contributing to extra inventory," Larson said. "So and so sold their home for 'X,' so I should get 'X' or 'X plus one.' We're all competing for the same buyers.
"I noticed that in Phoenix and in Las Vegas you had to get in a lottery in 2005 to buy a home, and by 2006 they were giving away tens of thousands of dollars in incentives."
For all of 2006, the average number of days a home was listed on the market in Salt Lake County dropped to 31 from 47 in 2005, the report said.
During the year, there were 28,483 new home listings in Salt Lake County, up 9 percent from 26,186 listings in 2005.
The Salt Lake Board of Realtors report is made in conjunction with the Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service. The report tracks the median sales of existing and newly constructed homes listed through a real estate agent.
Median value is the point at which half of all homes sold in a particular ZIP code are higher in price and the other half are lower.
E-mail: danderton@desnews.com
