Housing Market

Q1 2020: Salt Lake City Market Update

The Salt Lake City housing market has been on FIRE for the last several years. Due to extreme housing shortages for the huge influx of people moving here for jobs, home prices have been rising steadily for quite some time. It’s been tough for buyers to find homes, especially on the lower end of the price spectrum.

No one expected the Salt Lake housing market to be any slower this spring. Every prediction has been that things would stay hot in our area for the foreseeable future, with home prices continuing to rise at a regular pace.

The COVID-19 Impact

Of course, these predictions were all made before COVID-19 hit in the United States. And while there’s no question that the virus has had a huge economic impact, including the housing market, it’s hard to say exactly how things are going to shake out.

Right now, people are still finding ways to work with Realtors® to buy and sell homes. It hasn’t seemed to reduce listings or change how quickly offers are put on the table. As long as buyers continue to come to Utah and there is a shortage of inventory, it’s hard to see things changing much in our market, though it is true that some people have pulled out of contracts due to their own financial uncertainty.

It will be interesting to see what happens with progress on new construction because of the pandemic. Due to how much we need new homes, everyone’s hopeful that the impact won’t be too large.

Price

The median sold price for Salt Lake City homes during the first quarter of this year was $362,500. Last year, that number was $325,000, which is an increase of 11.54%. Wow! So, you can see how strong 2020 has started off when it comes to home prices, and you can also see that price increases aren’t slowing down at all.

This number is also up from $347,500 during just the last quarter of 2019.

The median home price during the first quarter of 2017 was $275,000. You’re sitting on some pretty nice equity if you bought a home in our area just a couple of years ago! If you buy a home now, you’re likely to see some nice equity increases over the next few years (Zillow is predicting 4.2% this year).

Days on Market

Salt Lake City-area homes are selling very quickly due to just how little housing inventory there is for all the people who are moving here for jobs and our strong economy.

Homes are at a median of 24 days on the market versus 30 days on the market last year. We’ll have to wait and see how that changes during the second quarter of the year with the pandemic going on.

However, note that the median was 20 days during the same period in 2017 and 2018, so things have slowed a bit since then.

Number of Homes Sold

There were 3,360 homes sold in the first quarter of this year versus 3,279 last year. This is another indicator that the housing market has been off to an equally strong start in 2020.

Interest Rates

Just a quick note about mortgage interest rates before I sign off! March saw some truly bonkers interest rate fluctuations between the COVID-19 epidemic and the Fed cutting rates (and a lot of things going on behind the scenes with bonds and investors). Let’s just say that interest rates are historically low and seem to be stabilizing over the past little bit.

I highly recommend meeting with a lender and getting your application in so you can lock in your rate as soon as you see one you like. We’re all hoping to see a little more stability now!

In short, it’s likely still going to be a great year to sell here in Salt Lake City and will also be a good time to try to find just the right home for you. If you’d like any help buying or selling during this time (or in the future), please get in touch! I’m here to do everything I can to meet your real estate needs.

Aubrey D.

Ryan has helped me buy and sell houses on more than one occasion. His tireless efforts and tenacious expertise made the process as simple as possible, especially considering the amount of work involved. Ryan has always been reachable and quick to respond, and has proven that he works with my best interests in mind. When faced with the challenge of matching multiple offers and terms with the most desirable end, Ryan ensures that I feel well cared for. A+, would recommend.

Brandon B.

My wife and I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Ryan for the purchases of two homes and the sale of another. Throughout these processes he consistently made us feel like we were his top priority. Ryan helped us find our first home when we were a young couple and needed all of the experience and expertise we could get. He made the process enjoyable and smooth. When it was time to search for our second home, there was no doubt we wanted Ryan to help us again. When we found the house we had been dreaming of, he handled all of the challenges the purchase presented. Ryan really listened to our wants and concerns. He was thorough and reliable. He made the process easy, understandable, and enjoyable, and he was an exceptional advocate for us throughout the entire process. There is no question that when it comes time again for us to buy or sell that Ryan will be our agent.

Jake R.

When we decided to buy our first house, we had no idea what we were doing or what we were looking for. Choosing Ryan to help us with the purchase was the best decision we made. He knew everything! When he would show us houses, he could easily point out problem areas or issues that would fixing in the near future. He had the foresight to use a plumber to inspect the pipes, which saved us thousands of dollars that would otherwise been paid after we closed on the home. When we were having problems with our own mortgage broker, Ryan sought out advice from his own trusted mortgage brokers to ensure that we got the loan we needed. Finally, Ryan has a fantastic sense of how to best utilize home spaces, so he was always giving us ideas on how we could update potential houses to make them more functional. He absolutely went above and beyond what we ever could have imagined. If any of you are looking for a new home and need a realtor, we HIGHLY recommend Ryan!!! You won’t regret it.

Billy H.

Ryan did an excellent job listing our home as our listing agent. He met with us ahead of time, suggested a list of things to work on around the house to get it ready for the market, and listed it in a timely manner. We had multiple showings right away and received several offers on the first day of showing. We were in a time crunch due to work and school schedules and Ryan was always attuned to our needs to sell the home quickly before school started. While under contract, Ryan worked with the buyers over several issues and ultimately was able to negotiate a closing that both parties were comfortable with even though there were discussions of walking away from the sale on both sides. Ryan is calm, professional, and knowledgeable, and really demonstrated the value of such an agent during our sale. We have recommended and trusted him to help us purchase multiple homes as well as represent several families members to do the same. I would definitely recommend Ryan Eborn for your real estate needs.