2013 was a phenomenal year for Salt Lake County. In fact, more homes sold in 2013 than in any of the past 7 years. That means the last time we had that many homes sell was before 2007! The President of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors® went on the record to say, “We expect 2014 will also bring strong demand for housing as Utah’s strong economy produces more jobs and in-migration/population levels continue to surge.”
Here’s a graph of the number of homes sold over the past few years:
You can clearly see that 2013 (the green line) started out in January and February very similar to 2012 (yellow) and significantly higher than 2011 (red) and 2010 (blue). For the next few months home sales were significantly higher than any other year. If you were selling your home during this time it was great! Many homes had multiple offers and sold quickly. That means you were able to sell your home at a good price. In fact if you were buying a home during that time you were fighting with multiple offers and limited inventory.
So what caused the boom?
Check out this graph from the last 18 months:
In the middle of the graph you see a dip in the red line followed by a dip in the blue line. That’s the beginning of 2013. At the beginning of the year we had low inventory (blue), low under contracts (red), increasing listings (yellow), and a low number of homes sold (green). February had new listings shoot up dramatically, but at the same time under contracts went up even more. So the inventory continued to decline even with new homes being listed. This surge in demand, without supply able to keep up, led to the boom we had last year.
In May and June the interest peaked and started to decline. New listings continued to replenish the inventory and by fourth quarter we had a buyers market again. Even with the 4th quarter decline the average single-family home price in Salt Lake County went up 11% from last year. Some of the cities with the highest increase in home prices were Holladay 84124 (up 30 percent); Taylorsville/Kearns 84123 (up 19 percent); and North Salt Lake 84116 (up 18 percent).
How does 2014 compare so far?
January started with a 17% more new listings than last year. In fact there were more new listings than there were new under contracts. That means the supply (inventory) is starting out higher than demand. This is great news for buyers because they have more options than last year, and less competition. Smart buyers will capitalize on this limited window before the spring demand catches up with the new inventory.
One thing we learned from 2013 is that those who listed their home before the peak in demand had more activity on their home than those who waited until later in the year. If you want to sell your home this year, contact us for a free, confidential, consultation. Timing and pricing is vital to getting the most for your home.
Our goBE agents are here to help you GO where you want to GO and will BE the expert you need them to BE.
