Last week was full on winter in the mountains and the valley, but it’s feeling like spring again today. Some crazy weather to go along with our crazy housing market!
As you know, I watch inventory levels closely, and over the last few weeks it seems like there is nothing for sale. As I mentioned in last month’s SLC Homes News, residential property in Salt Lake County is in high demand and there is an inventory shortage of 5,500 housing units.
The table below shows the inventory of residential property for sale and under contract for today and for the previous 10 years on February 23rd of that year.
Residential property includes all single family homes, condominiums, townhomes and twin homes.
| Salt Lake County | ||
| Residentail Property For Sale & Under Contract | ||
| Date | For Sale | Under Contract |
| 2/23/21 | 465 | 2,154 |
| 2/23/20 | 1,229 | 2,112 |
| 2/23/19 | 2,159 | 2,041 |
| 2/23/18 | 1,699 | 2,481 |
| 2/23/17 | 1,680 | 2,374 |
| 2/23/16 | 2,269 | 2,337 |
| 2/23/15 | 3,340 | 2,286 |
| 2/23/14 | 3,774 | 1,645 |
| 2/23/13 | 3,252 | 1,848 |
| 2/23/12 | 4,678 | 1,712 |
| 2/23/11 | 6,593 | 1,348 |
So today there are 62% less properties for sale in Salt Lake County than there were on this day in 2020 and 74% less than the average for the previous five years.
Right now in Sat Lake County, there are only 70 single family homes for sale priced at $500,000 or less, 22 on the east side and 48 on the west side. The are 494 homes in that range that are currently under contract. That works out to 4.3 days of inventory.
Keep in mind that the median price of a single family home in Salt Lake County for the 4th quarter of 2020 was $440,000, so $500,000 or less is about what the average buyer can afford. These numbers are shocking!
There are 72 condominiums and townhomes for sale in Salt Lake County priced at $500,000 or less, 35 on the east side and 37 on the west side. There are 612 units currently under contract, which is 3.5 days of inventory. The median price for condos and townhomes for the 4th quarter of 2020 was $325,000.
Buying a home in this market requires financial strength with at least 20% down and making your offer as streamline as it can be with as few contingencies as possible, in order to win the bidding wars that are taking place at this time. Some buyers are getting gift funds from family to help them get up to 20% down.
You’d think that selling a home in this market would therefore be easy, but that’s not the case. It’s easy to compare and contrast offers when there are only 2 to 6 offers on the table, but what happens when there are 10, 20 or over 30 offers? That’s what’s happening right now.
This is a time when having one experienced full service Realtor pays off to keep the process connected! It’s not just the negotiation, I get involved with most of my clients months before they list their home for sale, so we can create a plan if they are buying another home and so we can discuss what they need to do to get their home ready to sell.
Preparing your home for sale is still a thing in a hot market, because it will effect buyer response to your home and will help the appraiser justify what the buyer is willing to pay.
In a crazy market like this, you need the best representation you can get. I’ve been a Realtor in Salt Lake since 1999, and absolutely love what I do, and I can’t do it without you. I greatly appreciate your referrals and repeat business!
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”
