Has the Housing Market Hit Bottom? What do the numbers say?

Last August I was predicting that January of 2009 would be the worst month for home sales that we have ever seen. It was.

People kept asking when the bottom was going to be, but it contintued to elude us, things kept going down. So where is the bottom for home sales? It looks like it was January of 2009. Looking back at the statistics for this year you can see that home sales bottomed out in January. There were even 2 months where Salt Lake experienced an increase in homes sold compared with the year before. If Salt Lake were to maintain 1,000 home sales for the next 3 months, this year will be almost identical to 2008 in the total number of homes sold. That would show a true bottom in home sales. (Not necessarily prices, this requires a switch in supply and demand. Meaning demand is lower than last year and there is potentially a larger supply that still hasn't hit the market.)

Right now we are expecting an increase in the number of homes sold from last October by at least 10%. If we keep this trend, ceteris paribus, then it truly looks like we have hit the bottom in home sales. This means, opportunity, opportunity, opportunity. Enjoy the opportunity!