Real Estate News

Check out these bits of real estate news for the Wasatch Front -

Forbes says Salt Lake is practically recession-proof:

The nation may be facing a number of economic challenges, but in cities like Salt Lake things are just fine, says a new article from Forbes magazine. Salt Lake City came in at No. 6 on Forbes’s “10 Recession-Proof Cities” list because the city has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country (even though the rate has seen a rise) and the state is still creating jobs. Forbes also factored in a report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors that projected that “Salt Lake City would be one of the few large cities in the country not to suffer a decline in gross metropolitan product from the mortgage crisis.”
To calculate the cities with the healthiest economies, Forbes analyzed key measures in the country’s 50 largest metros: unemployment and job growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year ending February 2008, the most recent home price data from the National Association of REALTORS®, and information on gross metropolitan product growth from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Decline in Utah housing sales slows to 11 percent

Home and condo sales in Utah may have been down nearly 11 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the previous quarter, but new statistics from the Utah Association of REALTORS® indicate the state may begin to see some stabilization in its home sales.
The statewide 10.86 percent quarter-to-quarter drop in home sales is the lowest decrease since the second quarter of last year — before stricter lending standards made it more difficult for buyers to obtain home loans. After the credit crunch, home sales in Utah dropped by nearly 25 percent in the third quarter while fourth quarter 2007 figures showed a quarterly sales decrease of about 33 percent.
Home and condo prices in Utah averaged $272,503 in the first quarter of 2008, down about 2.5 percent from the fourth quarter. Without Park City figures, which tend to inflate the numbers, the average price was $243,409, about flat from the previous quarter.
Although prices were up in a number of areas around the state, some of the best news came out of Washington County where home and condo prices saw respectable quarterly increases of about 4 and 5 percent after falling for much of 2007.