How was October???

Well, Halloween is over and November moving fast. We are already on the 5th day of November. Time passed so quickly these days, I wanted to give you an updated on the General Real Estate Market in your area. These areas include Utah counties: Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber, and Tooele.

As of late, this market has seen incredible increases of homes for sale. There are approx. 17,645 homes for sale (These numbers reflect Homes that are listed on the Multiple Listing Service or MLS). There are also approx 1,300 For Sale By Owners (These numbers are getting fewer and fewer due to the difficulty of the market right now). So the Grand total of homes for sale in our area is approaching 20,000.

There was less than 1,300 homes sold in the last month (Again this information comes from the MLS), which translates to 14 months of homes to be sold in the Wasatch Front! If you are a seller this means you need to ask the question, "What am I doing different to sell my home?". Another great question to ask is: "Do I have 14 months to sell?". These are great questions to ask right now, given the drastic change in the current market.

The average days on market (Time a home sits on the market before being sold) is looking pretty good for the area. It is 50 days on market. Homes priced above $500,000 are looking at 80 Days on Market (DOM). Homes priced in the $400,000 range are looking at 57 DOM. 55 DOM for homes priced in the $300,000 range. And finally 47 DOM for homes priced in the $200,000 range. The average days to sell a home is dependant on several factors:

First and foremost is PRICE. As a professional real estate agent I am seeing that sellers are reluctant to price their homes where the market is telling them to. The real estate market is an interesting animal. The Seller does not determine the market. The agent does not determine the market. The buyer is the one who will determine and control the lions share of the market. The remainder will be determined by the supply and demand of the market (economic factors).

Second will be general needs of the buyer. This means: Total Beds, Total Baths, Square Footage etc. These are the basics that a buyer is looking for. Lot size and swimming pool may be included in this second factor. If you do not have the right combo of basics this could equate to more time spent on the market.

Third is Location. I put this one third on factors that determine Days on Market. I have seen people change decisions about location due to price and general basics such as an additional bedroom for no additional cost, just located in slightly different location! Buyers always like additions.

Fourth is Amenities & Additions. What is an amenity? Click Here to find out! So Amenities include: Lake/Mountain/Valley Views, Parks, Exercise Club/Restaurant etc. Additions would include: 3rd Car Garage, Jetted Tub, Two-Tone Paint, Upgraded Flooring, Fire Place, Extra Laundry Room or Kitchen. These would all contribute to the 4Th factor effecting DOM.

Finally curb appeal/showing will effect DOM. If your place has expensive landscaping both front and back, it is possible that that alone will be the selling point for a lot of buyers. Conversely, if your property looks like the next redneck joke, there's a good bet your property will be sitting on the market for much longer than the average! Never underestimate the power of curb appeal! The way the home shows inside will be a huge factor for most buyers. As agents, we understand that junk will be gone or hideous carpet or furniture will be out when a buyer moves in, but the fact remains that those items do influence a lot of buyers. So make sure the house shows well.