Reader comments
Utah County is slowly starting to rebound

Yes, let's ask the realtors about the market.

"You'd better buy now. Prices will never be this good again!"

"Don't miss this chance. It is a buyers' market!"

"We've hit rock bottom. Prices are going up and you will be priced out of your dream home."


You can hear a realtor say these lines today or last year or 10 years ago.

Story never changes.

Puhleeeese!
Sales are up since December when it was 20 degrees outside??? You can't make this stuff up.

Have you ever met a realtor who didn't think real estate was selling?

December is traditionally a bad month for homes. There is an annual problem every December that gets in the way of home buying--Christmas!

You're being way too hard on this guy. He admitted that things aren't rosy, but added that the market may have bottomed. It's true, the market may have bottomed in December 07/January 08 because it was pretty darn bad. In January, the stock market bottomed as far as we know (it's up 15% since then). But he never said "buy now or you'll be priced out of the market." This guy actually seems to be one of the more realistic realtors I've heard.

We need to realize that even after the bottom is in, real estate prices won't increase much more beyond the rate of inflation (at most) for lots of years. This guys seems to know that.

I watch the stock market every day- it's up from Jan but not 15%?? what market are you talking about?

The Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500 are all down between 4.5-5% year-to-date.

Until housing inventory comes down I expect pricing to fall. There's still plenty of room to fall on homes $350K and above.

I guess it really depends on what industries you are focusing on. The S&P is up 11% right now from January's lows I believe. My portfolio is currently invested in home builder stocks and I'm up 24% so far since March, however, my IRA is only up 5% so far. But if you have some flexibility in your investment portfolio it's easy to jump in and out of the market with the swings we're seeing.

Talk about "hot new article", It's what, June? and the DN is quoting stats from December, somebody was a little slow to get this article out.

The article makes a point though.. Utah County has about a year and a half of housing inventory, and a lot of that are huge high end spec home McMansions that aren't affordable and will probably not be sellable for years... The Utah County economy is good, but the housing mix is out of whack.

I highly question the 98% selling price quoted in the article. My experience as a real estate broker in Utah County, tells me that they are not taking into account seller concessions (seller-paid, buyer's closing costs and down payment assistance, etc...) When I do market studies for my clients, I have to go in and manually adjust the sales price of each of the comparables I am using. In doing this, I have found that selling prices are much less than the 98% quoted by the article. If you want to sell your home, stick to sold data (forget what others are asking for their homes and focus on the homes that are actually selling - and keep it recent - 120 days or less). When comparing sold prices, make sure you take into account seller paid concessions. In my opinion, honest and frank consumer education will pull us out of this mess, much quicker than any selected statistics intended to "restore consumer confidence"!

Anon,

Thanks for sharing that! I already knew all that but many don't. An honest broker...PRICELESS!!!

You know, I went to my grandsons graduation on Friday at BYU. Last time I went there was my daughters graduations in 1987 and 1994. I asked my daughters why they had the graduation at BYU and was told the classes were too big to have in the high school auditorium (like my class of 1958 calif). That is when I started buying real estate and renting the houses out. The majority of these students will need homes at some time (maybe within 3 short years) since thousands are graduating and only hundreds of building permits are being taken out. Guess you can figure what is on the horizon - interest rates are good so get with it children, now is the time!

Great information from Mr. Oldroyd. The Utah County Board has factual information that can be provided by the board or by any competent Realtor at any time.It is good for sellers to know the facts from a professional. Maybe we should all ask how much of our current slowdown was caused by the reporting of the National Real Estate situation as if it was here. Real Estate is regional. One of my biggest facinations has been upon attending National Conventions to talk to people and find thier were several completely different Real Estate markets going on around the country any and every year. Real Estate is not national it is regional! Our ecomony and job growth have been good here. Our area does seem to as do our local TV stations to over respond and over emphasis the negative. Consumers, buyers or sellers who get good information will do well and make good decisions in our current Real Esate market.

Anonymous 10:17 - You're comments are typical realtor lies. You make me so angry. As an economist I can tell you that you are highly uninformed about how markets work. You have been subject to the propaganda of your dishonest peers. I would love it if you could please explain how this credit crunch is somehow different here in Utah than it is nationally? Same large banks bought the sub-prime packages - these banks aren't in Utah. Tell me why you think a decrease in California prices won't affect how much home a Californian can buy when they move to Utah. Explain to me how the Federal Reserve increasing or decreasing teh fed funds rates effects the local market differently than the national market. Explain to me how reseting ARMS does not work the same way in Utah. Explain to me how Bush's tax relief Bills are somehow different in Utah than Nationally - particularly the one that allows people not to be taxed on releif of debt from short sales. You have no clue what you are talking about! Lastly, if you are honest, in a couple years when the NATIONAL market rebounds and ...

Economist? Really? As an economist, maybe you can explain that Utah's economy affected by job growth, foreclosure rate, spec homes invested in, even how many ARMs were given, are very diferent than California's, Nevada's, Arizona's, and Florida's and regionalizes Utah's "market". I'm not saying things are good but again as an economist, maybe you can explain how supply and demand affects PRICES IN UTAH. I would dare say that with the decrease in new homes being built in Utah, the influx of people moving in, the growth from children growing up and needing housing of their own in the state, job growth, and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, it may improve despite losses in other areas.

I sat out of the market a year before buying a home last month. I went through no less than 500 homes in Utah County. Prices will continue to fall, given the inventory, especially out west. Buyers, offer at least 10% less on any offer because the market is not finished declining. I spoke with hundreds of real estate agents, most of which I would not give you a nickel for. Too many of them listed homes too high. They do not get out much and compare prices across the valley, and they did a lousy job of helping sellers prepare their home for selling. Starter homes sales are keeping this market alive. Buyers be patient. Come in lower and negotiate up. Be willing to walk. Make certain you have a good agent who can get you the right deal. I didn't use an agent. They said it would cost me nothing to use an agent. How, then, do they explain that when I told the listing agent I had no representing agent, most came down in price automatically? Do your homework. Some agents are worth their commission, but not so many. Realize that most sellers are clueless. Be smart!

I am trying to buy right now and I have been for a while. Everyone keeps telling me I need an agent to negotiate for me. Is that true? I just keep holding off because it seems that you would go down in price if they don't have to pay your realtor. I am smart in the title and mortgage side of a sale so I thought I could do this myself. Could you give me some tips on negotiation and figuring out how much the house is worth and what to offer the first time? Do you just come down 10%? How do sellers figure out their asking price?