In the News

Market Update

The Salt Lake Board of REALTORS® said today that single-family home sales in Salt Lake County in the first quarter fell 24 percent compared to the first quarter in 2008, while the median sales price fell by less than 1 percent.

 

In the three months ended March 31, there were 1,423 single-family existing homes sold in Salt Lake County, down from 1,868 homes sold in the same quarter in 2008. Of the 33 ZIP Codes tracked by the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS®, home sales fell in all but nine ZIP Codes. The biggest sales decline was in 84104 (Glendale), where sales fell 70 percent. Cities like Cottonwood, Draper, Herriman, Holladay, downtown Salt Lake City and Sandy all saw increases in sales compared to last year.

 

While home sales continued to fall, the median price of all single-family homes sold during the quarter fell only slightly to $240,000, down 0.8 percent compared to a median price of $242,000 a year earlier. Single-family home prices are down 6 percent compared to the summer of 2007, when single-family home prices peaked at $255,000.

 

Condominium sales in Salt Lake County fell to 304 transactions in the first quarter, down 36.5 percent compared to 479 condo sales in the first quarter of 2008. The median price of condos fell to $160,450, down 8.3 percent from $174,900 a year ago.

 

The median sales price of all homes and condos sold in Salt Lake County peaked in June 2007 at $243,700. When compared to March 2009, the median sales price has fallen 8 percent.

 

“The effects of a national recession have impacted homes sales in Salt Lake County,” said Ryan Kirkham, president of the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS®. “The good news is that home buyers today can take advantage of historically low mortgage interest rates as well as tax credits and grants that will only be available this year.”

 

The median cumulative days on the market to sell a home in the first quarter was 148 days, up from 108 days in the first quarter of 2008.

 

Based on current sales trends in Salt Lake County over the past three months, the absorption rate (an indication of how long it would take to sell total existing inventory) is 9.8 months. Last month the absorption rate was 11.9 months.