Wow, what a week! I received my second dose of the Moderna vaccine last Friday, we had a few days of amazing spring weather and now it’s snowing again this morning! I’ve spread mulch in the flower beds, fixed the sprinklers, set up the patio furniture, skied and rode my bike. I love this transitional time of year!
Our local real estate market continues to have super low inventory of homes for sale and extremely high buyer demand. It’s kind of the same market that we’ve been experiencing over the last year, but it’s become even a little crazier than last year with some homes selling from 5% to 20% over asking price.
So let’s take a look at the stats for the 1st quarter of 2021 in Salt Lake County.
1st Quarter Median Price Change in Salt Lake County:
The median price of a single family home in Salt Lake County increased from $401,000 at the end of the 1st quarter 2020, to $475,000 for the 1st quarter of 2021, an 18.5% increase. This is the biggest one year increase in the median price of a single family home in Salt Lake County that we’ve seen since the first year of the housing recovery when the median price of a single family home in Salt Lake County increased 19.4%, from $190,000 for the 1st quarter of 2012 to $227,000 for 1st quarter 2013.
If you look at the chart above, you’ll see that 2,802 homes were listed for sale and 2,381 homes were sold in the 1st quarter 2021, which is 421 more homes listed than sold. This is better than the previous two quarters where more homes were sold than listed. However it’s still way below what we saw in the 1st quarter 2020 when 3,419 homes were listed and just 2,467 homes sold, a surplus of 952 homes.
Inventory of single family homes in Salt Lake County remains very low with 393 homes currently for sale and 1,294 homes under contract, which is about nine days of inventory. There are seven days of inventory under $800,000.
The median price of a condo/townhome in Salt Lake County increased from $290,000 at the end of the 1st quarter 2020, to $334,000 for the 1st quarter of 2021, a 15.2% increase. This is the biggest ever first quarter one year increase of the median value for a condo/townhome in Salt Lake County.
If you look at the chart above, you’ll see that 1,097 condo/townhomes homes were listed for sale and 1,010 sold in the 1st quarter 2021, which is 87 more listed than sold, so inventory remains very tight.
Current inventory of condo/townhomes in Salt Lake County remains very low with 141 units for sale and 907 under contract, which is about five days of inventory.
COVID-19 Vaccine and the housing market:
I mentioned earlier that I’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 last Friday with my second dose of the Moderna vaccine, and I feel good about that. However, when I check the stats by state for the percentage of population that is fully vaccinated, Utah currently ranks #51 out of 50 states plus Washington DC .
Only 13% of the people in Utah are fully vaccinated. In comparison, New Mexico is in first place with 26% of its population fully vaccinated and the national average is 18.5%. Even California has fully vaccinated 18% of its people, and their population is twelve times ours.
This concerns me in regards to our health, our economy and our housing market. Part of the reason we have such a shortage of housing is people haven’t wanted to let strangers into their home. We need to get back to normal.
That said, House Bill 294 was signed by our governor on March 24th, and this bill eliminates the statewide mask mandate effective this Saturday April 10th and eliminates all restrictions by July 1st. I’m glad I signed up as soon as I could to get the vaccine and I hope people get with the program. Things are moving fast!
These are crazy times right now, and having an experienced full service Realtor pays off. I get involved with most of my clients months before they list their home for sale or start searching for a home.
If you want to start to plan, or just want to talk real estate, contact me. It’s always great to catch up and connect with old friends and talk about their real estate needs!
I will be expanding the SLC Homes News with a new look and feel in the months ahead, so stay tuned!
Thank you!
Kev
Kevin Coyle
REALTOR BROKER MBA CRS
SLC Homes
E: Kevin@SLCHomes.com
M: (801) 243-0699
“Providing Representation for Home Buyers & Sellers throughout Salt Lake”
