It’s been 49 days since the COVID-19 Stay Safe, Stay at Home orders went into effect in Salt Lake County, and the air has never been cleaner. Yes, there are some positives! Real estate was one of the business that Salt Lake County and the state of Utah deemed essential, so home sales have continued during this time.
I put the last edition of the SLC Homes News out 49 days ago, on March 17th when all this started. In that edition, I reported that we had the lowest level of housing inventory I had ever seen since becoming a Realtor in Salt Lake, back in 1999.
In this month’s SLC Homes News, we’ll take a look at the change in inventory of available single family homes for sale in Salt Lake County, the change in the number of days of inventory of homes for sale, and a comparison of buyer showing activity in 2020 to 2019. Before we get started with that, here’s a little information on the 1st quarter 2020 results for 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 $384,000 in 4th quarter 2019, to $400,000 in the 1st quarter of 2020, a 4.2% increase. If you look at the one year change in median price, from the 1st quarter of 2019 when the median price was $356,000, to the 1st quarter 2020, the median price increased 12.4%. That’s a huge one year number for Salt Lake!
The median price of a condo/townhouse in Salt Lake County increased from $280,000 in 4th quarter 2019 to $290,000 in the 1st quarter of 2020, a 3.6% increase. If you look at the one year change in median price, from the 1st quarter of 2019 with a median price of $262,000, to the 1st quarter 2020, the median price increased by 10.7% increase. That’s also a big one year increase!
The Recent Change in Salt Lake County Housing Inventory:
In the last edition of the SLC Homes News from March 17th, I compared the number of homes for sale to the number of homes under contract in order to establish the number of days of homes for sale that were available. At that time, I reported that the housing inventory was the tightest I’ve ever seen.
The data that I presented in that newsletter was completed on March 11th which will be our benchmark. I ran the numbers again three weeks ago on April 14th and then again yesterday on May 4th to see what’s changed during this time.
I have two new tables and a graph below that show the change in the number of homes for sale, the change in inventory of homes for sale measured in the number of days available, and a table that compares the number of buyer showings this year to last year.
This first table looks at the total number of single family homes for sale in Salt Lake County on the three dates I mentioned above, and shows the percentage increase in inventory from March 11, 2020 to May 4, 2020.
| Inventory of Single Family Homes For Sale in Salt Lake County | ||||
| % Increase | ||||
| Price Range | 11-Mar-20 | 14-Apr-20 | 4-May-20 | 3/11/20 – 5/04/20 |
| $0 to $200k | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| $200k to $250k | 9 | 23 | 22 | 144% |
| $250k to $300k | 26 | 88 | 75 | 188% |
| $300k to $350k | 48 | 124 | 118 | 146% |
| $350k to $400k | 70 | 131 | 133 | 90% |
| $400k to $500k | 139 | 312 | 274 | 97% |
| $500k to $600k | 113 | 222 | 213 | 88% |
| $600k to $700K | 102 | 106 | 149 | 46% |
| $700k to $800k | 75 | 108 | 111 | 48% |
| $800k to $1,000k | 99 | 125 | 127 | 28% |
| $1,000k to $1,500k | 24 | 88 | 85 | 254% |
| $1,500k to $2,000k | 29 | 28 | 41 | 41% |
| $2,000k and Up | 41 | 42 | 36 | -12% |
| Total | 775 | 1397 | 1384 | 79% |
The data on the table above shows that the number of homes for sale significantly increased in the first five weeks after the stay at home order took effect, and then leveled off. Keep in mind that the spring selling season always has a lot of homes being put on the market and is the most popular time of year to buy and sell. So this increase occurs every year.
The second table below compares the number of days of inventory available, the formula for determining this being: (#of Homes For Sale / # of Homes Under Contract) X 30 days = # of Days of Inventory available. The fewer the days, the tighter the inventory.
| Days of Inventory Available for Single Family Homes in Salt Lake County | ||||
| % Increase | ||||
| Price Range | 11-Mar-20 | 14-Apr-20 | 4-May-20 | 3/11/20 – 5/04/20 |
| $0 to $200k | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| $200k to $250k | 7 | 16 | 17 | 138% |
| $250k to $300k | 4 | 15 | 13 | 218% |
| $300k to $350k | 8 | 20 | 15 | 98% |
| $350k to $400k | 11 | 17 | 18 | 62% |
| $400k to $500k | 13 | 35 | 26 | 98% |
| $500k to $600k | 23 | 53 | 39 | 75% |
| $600k to $700K | 36 | 53 | 55 | 51% |
| $700k to $800k | 46 | 77 | 72 | 58% |
| $800k to $1,000k | 90 | 134 | 112 | 25% |
| $1,000k to $1,500k | 25 | 147 | 134 | 441% |
| $1,500k to $2,000k | 87 | 105 | 176 | 102% |
| $2,000k and Up | 246 | 630 | 1080 | 339% |
| Total | 18 | 35 | 31 | 72% |
This table shows the same change that the one above it shows, that housing inventory increased in the first five weeks and then leveled off. So we have gone from the lowest level of housing inventory I’ve seen in my entire career, to still only having 13 to 26 days of inventory for single family homes priced from $200,000 to $500,000.
That’s still a seller’s market in a big way, and that’s what I’ve been seeing in the field, multiple offer situations with homes priced to sell all the way up to $600,000. Keep in mind that most Realtors consider a market to be a seller’s market up to 120 days of inventory, which right now is homes priced up to $1,000,000.
The graph below compares buyer showings in 2020 to 2019. The graph uses a 7 day moving average with the first week of January being the baseline. The orange line is 2020 and the blue line is 2019.
As you can see, buyer showings started to decline after March 11, 2020 and started to increase again on April 8, 2020, and have continued to climb since.
Buyer showings in Utah are currently 15.5% below where they were last year at this time. In comparison, Colorado is 33.6% lower than 2019, Arizona is 26.6% lower, Nevada is 48.4% lower, California is 37.1% lower, and New York is down the most at 76.9%.
So our real estate market is holding up well and we’re doing better than most states at this point, but I have heard from people in the medical field that our first peak for COVID-19 cases in Utah will probably not happen until some time in June or July 2020. I say first peak, because I’ve also heard there could be another peak when cold and flu season starts later in the year.
Changes in the real estate market tend to happen gradually over months, seasons and years. We are currently in the spring selling season with multiple offers still happening on homes that are priced to sell and with a continued shortage in the supply of homes for sale.
COVID-19 is having an effect on our local real estate market and will continue to effect it, but the market was so strong to begin with, we’re in good shape for now, and interest rates remain at record lows. I’ll continue to monitor the situation and will keep you informed.
Please stay vigilant on keeping you, the people you care about and everyone else, safe. A friend of mine reminded me, we wear masks in stores not just to protect ourselves, but others around us, and especially the people that work there.
If you have any questions about buying or selling real estate in and around Salt Lake County, wonder what your home is worth, or have a friend or family member that needs help buying or selling, please contact me. I’ve been a Realtor in Salt Lake since 1999, and absolutely love what I do, and I can’t do it without you.
Thank you!
Kev
REALTOR BROKER MBA CRS
E: kevin@slchomebuyer.com
M: (801) 243-0699
“Providing Representation for Home Buyers & Sellers throughout Salt Lake”
