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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Think4Yourself who wrote (77420)	5/12/2007 9:52:31 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 306849

Negotiating the new market Homes under $300K go fast By Lesley Mitchell The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 04/21/2007 04:32:08 AM MDT sltrib.com Home Prices Wasatch Front home prices for the past four years by zipcode Wasatch Front real estate agents say the changing market represents some challenges for both buyers and sellers. Some advice: If your home is in the lower price range of your area, odds are it will sell quickly. Trying to move a higher-priced home? Be prepared to face longer waits or drop your asking price. Consider thoroughly cleaning and de-cluttering before putting your home on the market. For those competing against new construction, a greater investment in improvements such as paint and new flooring or substantial price concessions may be needed to attract buyers' attention. The market may be slowing, but make a lowball offer at your own risk. Some sellers, burdened with large first and second mortgages, simply cannot lower their asking price much - and homes in lower price ranges are still selling fast at or near asking price. Buyers of homes in higher price ranges may be in luck: sellers in these ranges must now be more receptive to making concessions. Lonnie Nilsson figured her Bluffdale town house would be up for sale for only two weeks in the Salt Lake Valley's strong real estate market. Try two days. Nilsson had several buyers come by for a look the first day her property went on the multiple-listing service earlier this month. By Day 2, she had several offers at full asking price. The Wasatch Front's real estate market is certainly slowing down a bit from the craziness of last year, when Utah's home-price appreciation was higher than any other state and many homes sold within days of being listed at asking price or higher. But things aren't going sour by any means. Homes are still appreciating and selling quickly - especially those such as Nilsson's, selling in the range of $300,000 or less. In fact, Salt Lake County's median selling price was up nearly 20 percent in the first quarter to $241,000 compared with the first three months in 2006, according to the Salt Lake Board of Realtors report released Friday. Davis County prices were up 25 percent to $218,000, while Tooele jumped nearly 31 percent. Utah and Weber counties both experienced double-digit price increases. More good news for sellers: The number of days homes remain on the market before they are sold held steady in most areas. Homes in Salt Lake County remained on the market an average of 40 days, up only one day from the first quarter of last year. In Davis County, homes sold in an average of 46 days, down from 56 days. Only Utah County saw a notable rise in the number of days homes remained on the market, from 61 days to 74, reflecting the ample inventory of homes for sale in the area. While much of the Realtors' report is good news, the number of homes that sold in the quarter was down in most areas - a sign the slowdown is real. Only Weber County's home sales were up in the first quarter, by 5 percent. Four percent fewer homes sold in Salt Lake County in the first quarter of 2007 compared with 2006. Sales were down nearly 2 percent in Davis and Tooele counties; Salt Lake County was off more than 4 percent. Those aren't bubble-bursting drops by any means. But "things are definitely slowing down a bit, especially in the higher price ranges," said Gary Cannon, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. "The affordable stuff really flies off the market, the more expensive stuff is staying on the market longer," Cannon said. Many sellers of more expensive homes are having to take some price reductions to attract buyers, he said. Which price range is feeling the slowdown the most? Many people selling homes priced below $300,000 are enjoying the quickest sales at the best prices, said Randy Cochrane, broker/owner of Remax Advantage in Murray. Like Cannon, Cochrane said sellers above the $300,000 range are more likely to not only have to lower their asking price but many will wait longer than anticipated to get their home sold. Linda Coleman, a real estate agent specializing in the Sandy-Draper area, said she has been amazed at how much the asking price influences how long it takes to sell a home right now. Coleman said in her area of the valley, homes under $400,000 are still selling briskly. Above that amount? "It's going to sit on the market for a while," she said. Her advice for sellers is to get real: "People are thinking the market is as good as it was last year," she said. "It's not."

To: Think4Yourself who wrote (77420)	5/12/2007 10:48:39 PM
From: Wyätt Gwyön	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 306849

remember those markets were still hot in the first half of 06 while the rest of the market was tanking i can't speak for those other markets, but Austin was not a hot market in 03/04 when the rest of the country was cooking. the bubble here got a late start and is making up for lost time. also, the fact that things are still very cheap compared to Clownifornia makes it an easier sell. here is a report from a SoCal seller relocating to Austin. interesting that the same Toll house costs almost 4x in Camarillo as it does in Austin. "So far we are leaning towards a new home in Lakeway a Toll Brothers house The Ridge at Alta Vista Estates. The same exact home plan 1 mile from our home in [Camarillo] CA is 2.1 million and in Lakeway the same plan is approx. $600K. If anyone has any input into a $500-600K home with at least 1/2-1 acre lot, help us out please." city-data.com looking through the forum headers, seems there are a ton of people moving from CA to Austin.