Salt Lake City Real Estate Blog |
Salt Lake City, Utah Homes and Condos |
If a home buyer uses a FHA loan for their purchase of a home, all or part of the down payment can be a gift from a family member. FHA loans currently require just 3.5% down too.
Kevin Coyle MBA, Associate Broker Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com 801-243-0699 (Mobile) Stonebrook Real Estate
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a couple clients ask me what their home was worth. In both cases I came up with a value for their home based on the most recent sales of homes nearest and most similar to their home.
One home is in West Jordan and I determined that it was worth about $195,000. They checked on Zillow.com and Zillow said it was worth about $220,000. The home is worth $195,000.
The second home is in Holladay and the owner was concerned because Zillow said their home was worth $275,000. I did an analysis of their home and it is worth about $360,000.
Utah is a non-disclosure state meaning that the sale price of homes are not public record. As a result Zillow isn’t very accurate in determining your home’s value in Utah. Zillow is a great resource, just not for determining the value of Salt Lake City and Utah homes.
An experienced Salt Lake City Realtor can determine your home’s value, the level of inventory in your area and advise you on what to do to help get your home sold.
Kevin Coyle MBA, Associate Broker Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com 801-243-0699 (Cel) Stonebrook Real EstateThere are some key items to consider when attempting to put a value on a home including square feet, condition and improvements, age, lot size and location. Values of homes vary greatly from Salt Lake City to Sandy and from Mill Creek to West Valley City and everywhere in between.
When I became a Salt Lake City Realtor in 1999, I thought I understood this, but I soon realized that values can vary not only from city to city, but from neighborhood to neighborhood. The best example I can think of is the neighborhoods of Salt Lake City, but the same can be true in any area.
All of the various neighborhoods have values of their own and they can change in just a block or two. The value in Liberty Wells is different from 9th and 9th. Lower Sugar House is different from 15th and 15th. 15th and 15th is not the same as Harvard Yale. In Rose Park values increase as you go North. Upper Aves is not the same as Lower Aves or Federal Heights. Condo communities across the street from one another can be different. You get the idea.
When buyers go it alone without a Realtor, it’s risky business and this is one of the many reasons why. You might think you know the value of that home, but do you really? If you were off by just 3% on a $250,000 house, that’s $7,500. Also, if the price was to high, the appraisal might fail during your attempt to buy that Salt Lake City home and then the transaction becomes really tricky.
There’s more to buying Salt Lake City homes than most people think. Hiring an experienced Salt Lake City Realtor to help you with your home search and all the details, can make your home buying experience much more enjoyable and smooth.
Hire and experienced Salt Lake City Realtor, it’s worth it!
Kevin Coyle Assocaite Broker, MBA Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com 801-243-0699 (Cel) Stonebrook Real EstateI just read two articles about Salt Lake City as a place to live and Salt Lake City foreclosed homes.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune and Realty Trac, the number of home foreclosures in Salt Lake City is at it’s highest levels since the beginning of our downward trending real estate market. Sounds like doom and gloom, but not if you’re renting and thinking about buying.
The second article came from Portfolio.com which ranked Salt Lake City #5 out of 67 cities for quality of life. Two key factors they used to determine this ranking were that “No market has a lower jobless rate for workers between the ages of 25 and 64 than Salt Lake City and only Washington has a larger share of homes with at least nine rooms. One-fifth of Salt Lake City’s houses are that size.”
Our unemployment is low, you get a lot of home for the money and our foreclosures are at an all time high. Our quality of life is great here, I wouldn’t live anywhere else! And again, as I mentioned last week, interest rates are very low.
It’s a great time to buy Salt Lake City homes and condos! Representing SLC Home Buyers is what I do best. Let me know if I can help you.
Sincerely,
Kevin Coyle MBA, Associate Broker Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com 801-243-0699 (Cel) Stonebrook Real EstateA client of mine locked her interest rate last Friday at 4.625% for a 30 year fixed rate conventional mortgage! That’s an amazing interest rate! If you’ve been waiting to lock your loan or are thinking about refinancing, you and your lender should be watching interest rates very closely right now.
At the end of March 2010, the Federal Reserve ended their policy of buying mortgage backed securities to keep mortgage rates low. I blogged about this on March 29, 2010. So far, this change in policy doesn’t appear to have affected interest rates. Rates are still in the low 5% range for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage which is about where they were in March.
If interest rates start to climb, that would decrease the buying power for buyers of Salt Lake City homes and condos. Let’s hope these low rates continue!
Kevin Coyle Associate Broker, GRI, MBA Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com 801-243-0699 (Mobile) Stonebrook Real EstateThe Federal Tax Credit, up to $8,000 for First Time Home Buyers and $6,500 for Repeat Home Buyers, requires that you have a home under contract by April 30, 2010 and close on that home by June 30, 2010. So far I haven’t heard or read anything about an extension.
Home sales in Salt Lake County are surging. Since October 2009, home sales have shown double-digit gains on a year-over year basis.
In fact, if you compare home sales from October 2009 through March 2010 with the same six-month period a year earlier, home/condo sales have climbed an astonishing 31 percent (5,230 sales vs. 3,990 sales)!
This year is indeed a turnaround from the past three years. The sales increases we’ve seen are in line with what economist James Wood predicted in a report commissioned by the Salt Lake Board earlier this year. Wood predicted that as many as 10,000 single-family homes could be sold this year in Salt Lake County, a nearly 10 percent increase compared to sales in 2009.
Much of the sales increases are due to low mortgage interest rates, more affordable home prices and the federal government’s home buyer tax credit.
These conditions continue to make this year the right time to buy a home. It’s a message all potential home buyers need to hear.
The Salt Lake Tribune highlighted the successful statewide and national Open House event held on April 10.
“The events are coming at a time when single-family home sales in the Salt Lake City area appear to be perking up,” the Tribune reported.
Preliminary numbers from the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS for the first quarter of 2010 indicate that single-family home sales were up 21 percent, although the median price was down 10 percent — or $219,000 from $243,000 from the same period a year ago.
Dave Anderton, a spokesman for the Salt Lake Board, said the event today is being held in conjunction with a similar nationwide initiative promoted by the National Board of REALTORS.
“Open houses are popular with potential buyers and a good sales tool,” Anderton said. “People like to see what is available to them.”
California continues to teeter on the verge of financial collapse. The dire situation is forcing businesses and people to flee the Golden state and move to Utah, named the Best Managed State in 2008 by the Pew Center.
Bryan Kohler, CEO of the Salt Lake Board, highlighted the economic advantages Utah offers to businesses and peopl in an April 1 column in City Weekly.
The Federal Reserve has been buying fixed rate mortgage backed securtities for over a year now and the program expires this week. This program has kept interest rates at historic lows hovering around 5% for a 30 year fixed rate residential mortgage. A mortgage backed security is a package of many mortgages grouped together that is sold to a large financial institution and domestic or foreign governments.
From what I’ve read, it sounds like the Federal Reserve does not plan to extend the program at this time, but you know they will be watching closely to monitor the situation. They/We (It’s the government) have a lot invested.
Many analysts are speculating that this will mean that there will be an increase in interest rates in the months to come, but again, it would seem like the Federal Reserve would do everything they can to keep rates low in order to continue this economic recovery.
Kevin
The long term recovery of the Salt Lake City real estate market will be somewhat effected by the availability of jobs.
There are two links below. The first is a map which shows the changes in unemployment for every County in every State in our nation. The time frame starts at January 2007 and goes until December 2009. It really puts the economic downturn into perspective and you can see why some areas of our country have been hit so hard.
The second is a table which ranks unemployment by state. The lower the number, the lower the unemployment rate. As of January 2010, Utah had an unemployment rate of 6.8% and was tied for 8th place with Montana. This is actually pretty good considering 4th place went to Kansas with an unemployment rate of 6.4%. We’re not far behind.
http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html
http://www.bls.gov/web/laumstrk.htm
Kevin
Kevin Coyle
Associate Broker, GRI, MBA
Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com
801-243-0699 (Mobile)
Stonebrook Real Estate
After writing last weeks Blog entry, I started wondering what percentage of Salt Lake condos actually sold FHA in the last 6 months. So I went to the Wasatch Front MLS and did a little research. I chose to evaluate three areas and price ranges.
Area and price range 1 is Salt Lake City, all prices, because SLC has the highest density of condos in the area. I did a search for condos sold from Gateway to 700 East and from South Temple down to 600 South in all price ranges.
Area and price range 2 was Salt Lake County under $250,000
Area and price range 3 is Salt Lake County above $250,000
Area 1 Salt Lake City all prices:
In the last 6 months, 137 downtown Salt Lake City condos sold and I have listed the way they were financed below:
42% Conventional Loans (57 condos) 29% FHA Loans (40 condos) 27% Cash (37 condos) 2% Other (3 condos)29% of these condos sold with an FHA loan. This is a substantial amount and if FHA condo financing was eliminated, this would be bad, but FHA loans for condos aren’t going away, they only eliminated spot check approvals for non-FHA approved condos. So there will still be a percentage of condos that will be financed with FHA loans, it’ll just be a smaller percentage. So downtown Salt Lake City looks better than I thought it would.
Area 2, Salt Lake County under $250,000:
In the last 6 months, 913 Salt Lake County condos under $250,000 sold and I have listed the way they were financed below:
25% Conventional Loans (226 condos) 60% FHA Loans (545 condos) 11% Cash (100 condos) 4% Other (42 condos)60% had FHA financing. This is significant! Due to this high percentage, if I was buying a condo in suburban Salt Lake County outside of downtown Salt Lake City under $250,000, I’d be buying one that is in an FHA approved condo complex, even if I wasn’t doing an FHA loan. I think I’d look at single family homes too.
Area 3: Salt Lake County over $250,000:
In the last 6 months, 85 condos sold and I have listed the way they were financed below:
55% Conventional Loans (47 condos) 15% FHA Loans (13 condos) 25% Cash (21 condos) 5% Other (4 condos)Here only 15% of condos in Salt Lake County over $250,000 sold with an FHA loan. This is probably due to the fact that condos over $250,000 aren’t typically bought by first time buyers and therefore the buyers have more of a down payment. This looks pretty good.
If a condominium project wants to be FHA approved, they can fill out the paper work and try to get FHA approval. The process takes at least 60 days and can take longer. Applying doesn’t guarantee approval either.
So it appears that the elimination of spot approvals for FHA condo loans will have the greatest effect on suburban Salt Lake County condos outside of downtown Salt Lake City, under $250,000. As you can see from the numbers, there are a lot of condos effected by this.
If I was buying a suburban Salt Lake County condo under $250,000, I would buy one in an FHA approved complex even if I wasn’t doing an FHA loan. Until there are low down payment Conventional loans for condos or FHA reinstates spot approvals, non-FHA condos under $250,000 in our area will be hard to sell.
The Salt Lake City real estate market is constantly changing and having an experienced Realtor to be your guide can make your home search a lot more enjoyable. If you need help with the purchase of a Salt Lake City home, condo or duplex, contact me. I’ve been a Salt Lake City Realtor since 1999 and over the last year, 80% of my clients were buyers!
Kevin Kevin Coyle Associate Broker, GRI, MBA Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com 801-243-0699 (Mobile) Stonebrook Real EstateFHA loans have been the recent choice for low down payment residential buyers offering loan programs that require just 3.5% down. Recently FHA decided that they will only lend on condos that are on the FHA approved condo list. FHA use to allow for spot approvals if a condo was not on the list and this policy changed in February 2010.
So now buyers of condos not on the FHA approved list will need to go with a conventional loan and unfortunately that means a bigger down payment and higher credit requirements. I’ve checked with lenders I frequently work with and 10% down is a possibility if you have really good credit, but it’s not easy to find and many lender require 20% down for a Conventional condo loan.
This will decrease the number of buyers for condos in projects that are not FHA approved which will most likely effect values in these condo projects. FHA approved condos may end up actually benefiting from this and there may be more demand for inexpensive single family homes too, but that’s yet to be seen.
The Salt Lake City real estate market is constantly changing. If you need help with the purchase of a Salt Lake City home, condo or duplex, contact me. I’ve been a local Realtor for 10 plus years and over the last year, 80% of my client have been buyers.
Kevin Kevin Coyle Associate Broker, GRI, MBA Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com 801-243-0699 (Mobile) Stonebrook Real EstateI was down in Sandy last week right before sunset at a friend’s house with a view. I noticed that the gap between Herriman, Riverton and South Jordan has shrunk quite a bit over the last 10 years, filled in with homes and businesses. Most of that growth occurred prior to Summer 2007 while the market was booming.
According to the 2010 Utah Econocmic Summary put out by the Governor’s office, the state of Utah had the second fastest population growth rate in the nation, at 2.1%.
This growth is second only to our neighbor to the East, Wyoming. In 2009, Utah had a population of 2.8 million. Wyoming had only about 532,000 people. The average U.S. state is growing at a rate of 0.9%. Utah is more than double that! So we’re growing pretty fast.
The projections for population in Utah by 2020 is 3.7 million people. The average person in Utah is 27 years old.
Considering that between 75 and 80% of Utah’s population currently live on the Wasatch Front and about 35% of the population live in Salt Lake County, it seems like our long term outlook for the value of real estate in Salt Lake and the Wasatch Front is good, because demand will likely be there.
Eventually young people buy homes and the first time home buyer creates more opportunities for current home owners to move up or down. In time our down market will change and demand for Salt Lake City homes will increase.
Right now a smart buyer can get a lot home for the money compared to a few years ago and finance that Salt Lake City home at historically low interest rates. It’s also possible to get up to an $8,000 tax credit.
One last thing and this is important. The average person lives in their home for 5 to 7 years which from now would be 2015 to 2017. So let me ask you 3 questions:
Do you think prices will be higher in 2015?
Do you think interest rates will be lower?
Do you think the federal government will be giving tax credits up to $8,000 if you buy a home?
Kevin
Kevin Coyle Associate Broker, GRI, MBA Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com 801-243-0699 (Mobile) Stonebrook Real EstateBecause of FHA we still have low down payment options, 3.5% down, for the purchase of owner occupied homes and condos in Salt Lake City and across the nation. There has always been a list of condominium projects that were FHA approved and if the condo you wanted to buy was not in an FHA approved condo project, FHA would allow spot approvals, but that’s about to change.
Spot approval will be eliminated February 1, 2010. Now the only way to buy a condo with an FHA loan, is if it’s on the FHA approved condo list.
Low down payment owner occupied Conventional Loans require at least 10% down and good credit. With FHA, you can buy that condo with 3.5% down if it’s on the approved list and meets the other FHA requirements.
So is the condo you want to buy on the FHA approved condo list? Here’s a link to the list:
https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm
Kevin
Kevin Coyle Associate Broker, GRI, MBA Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com 801-243-0699 (Mobile) Stonebrook Real Estate
The $8,000 First Time Home Buyer tax credit has been extended. In addition to the extension, an additional tax credit for Repeat Home buyers has been added up to $6,500. The deadline for these two programs is to have a home under contract by April 30, 2010, and close it by June 30, 2010. The First Time buyer’s has to have not owned a home which was a primary residence for the last 3 years. The Repeat Home Buyers have to have lived in there home (primary residence) for at least 5 consecutive years of the last 8 years.
Also part of this bill, is an extension of the tax credit for military personnel that have served at least 90 days outside of the United States. The deadline for this part is June 30, 2011. This bill also contained a provision to extend unemployment by 14 weeks in all states and additional 6 weeks on top of that in states where unemployment exceeds 8.5%.
For details on the tax credits, go to: http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/
If you need help with the purchase of a Salt Lake City home, condo or duplex, please contact me. I’ve been a Salt Lake City realtor for over 10 years and this year so far, 80% of my clients have been Buyers of homes and condos in the Salt Lake City metro area.
Kevin
Kevin Coyle
Realtor, Associate Broker, MBA
Stonebrook Real Estate
Mobile: 801-243-0699
Office: 801-466-8977