Reader comments
Home sales plunging in Utah

The realtors and brokers will be along soon. The Utah housing market has a long way to fall even though you don't like it. Get used to it.

Utah is just lagging when it comes to the severe housing woes it's about to endure. The quote in the article "it isn't a bad market, it's a changing market" seems really off base. When there is a huge drop in sales this only increases supply making home prices drop. As for Adkins home selling for 749k - just let it go and break even if you can. You'll be lucky if you can walk away with no loss. Many of us from CA and other places have had mind blowing loses. Hang on tight - it's going to be a bumpy ride.

How can this be? I just read an article recently saying Utah wasn't being effected very much at all. Oh wait. That was an article according to realtors. This article is about the actual numbers. You don't think the realtors would try to make things look better than they are just so someone would feel comfortable buying a home right now do they? I am going to have to re-evaluate how honest I think realtors are now! DUH!

The statistics don't lie. A price correction is needed considering household incomes. However, life goes on. If you are considering the purchase of a home, do it when the time & price are right for you. I believe that home prices still have a ways to fall, but I don't think it's the end of the world either. As the dollar continues it's decline, home prices are artificially coming down even more. I expect the housing market to continue to be tough on builder, realtors, & brokers alike.

Put the numbers into context: 1st Quarter of last year was astromically and unsustainably high. Homebuilders have almost stopped building, slowing supply. Utah's population is still booming increasing demand. Rental vacancy is extremely low or non-existent. Home prices have dropped. Income is still on the rise. Mortgages are still obtainable if you have good credit. Utah is a great place to live, and with more and more people moving here everyday . . . they're going to have to put a roof over their heads eventually. The market has no choice but to turn. It'll likely be sooner rather than later.

These numbers are a joke...the market is much worse than these realtor fabricated numbers. Look at the chart..it says Draper is up from last year...its the home of Suncrest. Prices in Draper are off at least 25%..some worse. This is a propoganda fluff piece. What a joke...all I want is the truth, and we're not getting it from this article. Oh, and yes, its going to get worse as we march toward a 30 yr fix of over 7 by this time next year.

The only marketing plan realtors come up with is lowering the price. Why realtors have such a protected market is beyond me.

The Wasatch Front was one of the last to the housing bubble party and will be one of the last to the collapse, but it is coming.

The notoriously conservative banks lost their way for a few years. We will be back to "talk to me when you have a 20% down payment" by next year. Many areas of the country are already there. If you can't save a 20% down payment you really don't have the discipline or financial ability to own a home.

Uh...income is not on the rise here..raises are miniscule compared to inflation, like everywhere else. The comment by Analyze this...he must be a realtor, because only a realtor could make a dumb comment like that.

Homes have come down to a more reasonable level. For those of us looking for a good buy the time has come. Look for desperate builders in good rental areas. New construction seems to have the best buys with desperate builders trying to liquidate. Stay away from the interest only loans and buy a home you can afford. If you can't sell, look for good renters or do a lease with option to purchase to offset you're house payment. Rates are still great and the rental market is only getting stronger. And lastly, quit listening to the media; they are the ones that started this mess.

I agree with analyze this. Market Conditions have dropped off a bit, however, we are bumping along the bottom and should see an upswing relatively soon. Building Permits are increasing greatly from this year. With the spring weather homes sales will increase and prices will edge up. Unfortunately, if you wait you will miss the lowest prices, so buy now. Buyer's have a ton of negotiating power right now and can present offers that would not have warranted a second glance last year.

The artificial inflation of housing prices was a major contributor to the problem. A couple of years ago things went nuts and now homeowners are saying, "what? My house is worth more?" because they compare to where it was and aren't willing to drop to a reasonable level. There are plenty of people who want to buy homes and can get financing in the range below $200K but the houses aren't there. As long as they keep building homes for just the wealthy and the existing homes hang on to the exaggeratedly inflated prices, buyers are scarce. First time buyers, especially with young families an single wage-earners are left out in the cold.

Now they're blaming it on financing when it was the "creative financing" that got people into the subprime market and adjustable rate mortgages. Going back to a more traditional financing in order to stabilize the economy is a good thing but still there is a limit to what people can afford to buy. Obviously the subprime didn't give them the edge they were hoping to find. Now they face foreclosures. People need to buy within their means, but where are those homes they could actually afford?

People often misinterpret the statistics. Just because the median price declines it doesn't mean that every property in a given market has declined in value. In the case of the Summit County condo statistic in the article, the prior year included many sales in several new relatively high priced condominium projects. They are now sold out and the "average" sale recently has included a higher percentage of older, smaller units. You have to compare "comparable" properties in order to obtain any meaningful figures. Condo prices (within the same project) have gone down in some areas of Summit Country. The decline is generally in the 5% to 10% range, not the 30%+ quoted in the article.

Should you be a seller entering the market, you need to be the "Best of the Best!" Pay attention to detail and know that buyers are looking more than ever at condition. Competion is strong & Utah prices are holding steady. Be flexible with your PRICE but PERFECT with your Condition! Be selective when hiring a Realtor, interview several agents including a call to their Brokers. The decision you make just may be the decidng factor to your successful and profitable experience. Realtor are bound by a "Code of Ethics" and protect your personal property rights! Be deligent, home ownership is still the American Dream!

I sold new homes in Vegas and the funny thing is if you read the Las Vegas Review journal a year and a half ago it would be almost identical to what you are reading here in Utah. Las Vegas has a great economy too, but if people can't sell their homes in our feeder markets i.e. California, Nevada, Arizona, then home prices will continue to fall. My wife and I just recently moved back and went house shopping, what a joke. You have all these little builders who are living a pipe dream with some of these prices. Anyone can definitely afford to wait. Prices will decline further.

Pretenders get what they deserve. Solvency will always rule. What about all the tricky toys cluttering drive ways and garages? They will be gone also. You reap what you sow. Get a clue--live within your means folks, quit pretending.

This is a needed correction in a market that was inflated due to easy credit.

Make no mistake... It will be painful for those who bought high, and for those who invested big with thoughts of huge returns, but in a year or two, prices will be back in line with values and incomes and our economy will better off.

To Conejo (added emphasis on the last syllable): Realtors don't cause housing prices to fluctuate any more than charter ship captains cause the waters of Lake Powell to rise and fall.

Everyone is in the same boat. Market forces are far beyond the control of any group or individuals.

For the market as it is today, not how it was, or how you wish it to be: houses properly priced are selling. If they are not selling, they are not properly priced.

Time to wake up! And trust me, it ain't gonna be a pretty day. Prices are going to drop significantly, like most other places where housing prices were fueled by speculation, speculation, speculation. (I can't even count how many people I know in Utah who now call themselves "real estate investors.") Sure, Utah's a great place to live. But no one can pay $300k for a "starter home" when they only make $30k for a "starter wage."

Welcome to economic reality.

People have woken up from the delusion that a house is some kind of magical risk free investment and now see them as places to live with both advantages and drawbacks over renting.
Most of the housing craze of recent years was home buyers imagining they were investing in magic money machines. They bought the biggest things they could get a note for because they were told it would mean more profits.

Home sales will slow, but prices here in utah are not going to drop significantly. People will just hold onto their homes for the time being. Prices in utah are DIRT CHEAP still, compared with much of the rest of the country. Mark my words, there is and will continue to be a slowing of new construction and sales, but the market will not tank here.