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How is the Real Estate Market in Utah?

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Kasteel Property Management - Property Manager DRE# 5495981-PB00

With all the news going on about real estate lately, I have been asked, multiple times, if I am concerned about my real estate investments.  My answer is always no.  Utah is a great place to invest in real estate.  Currently Utah is the envy of the rest of the country.  The former Director of The Division of Real Estate for the State of Utah published a great article that gives a lot of valuable information to those of us that love and invest in real estate.

Reading or watching the news is rarely what one would call a positive or uplifting experience. Re­cent headlines are no exception. In fact, you might think the world is falling apart if you focused on the terms used to describe the real estate industry and housing market - words like crisis, deteriorating and collapse. While it is certainly true that many parts of the country are experiencing serious and in some cases even severe market adjustments, those doom and gloom headlines don't necessarily apply to our state.

So, while you may have read in recent news articles that "foreclosures are skyrocketing" you might be interest­ed to learn the fact that in Utah the number of foreclo­sures actually decreased. Yes, DECREASED. Maybe it doesn't make for the kind of eye-catching headlines that reporters are looking for, but it is a fact nevertheless.

Here are some more facts you may be interested to learn (and may even surprise you when contrasted to recent headlines). According to economic data re­cently released for 2007, Utah experienced population growth of 3.2%, which equates to over 85,000 new in­dividuals in our state. A telling sign for our economy is that over half of that 85,000 moved to Utah from out-of-state (anyone know of a good agent that could help find these people a home, or an appraiser, or mortgage broker?). The high number of move-ins is no wonder given that our state added almost 50,000 new jobs last year. Even though our economy has slowed somewhat recently, job growth for the end of December was still a healthy 3.6% (which is four times the national aver­age). Pay growth in Utah for 2007 surpassed the na­tional average at 5.5% and we had an extremely low unemployment rate of 2.7%. Given these numbers it is no surprise that Utah continually receives awards and accolades for our strong economy, including re­cently being named by the Beacon Hill Institute as "the most economically competitive state in the nation."

Besides the strong overall economic numbers, our state continues to post solid real estate numbers. Foreclosures are down and a recent quarterly re­port from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed Utah with the lowest foreclosure rate in the country for subprime ARMs. Like all things in the free mar­ket, real estate and housing rely on a healthy bal­ance of supply and demand. With some of the lowest rates in recent history and real estate on the market, supply is not a problem. Based on economic esti­mates that Utah will add another 85,000 people to our state this year, we can expect continued demand.

That said, it would be ridiculous to ignore the fact that real estate markets have tightened somewhat, even here in Utah. However, the economic indicators in Utah remain strong and the best way to overcome some of the ‘psychological' factors contributing to the slowdown of sales in Utah is to continue to grow our economy, so that people feel assured that this is still a great time to buy a home and invest in real estate.

It's a great time to invest in real estate.  Contact my office about all your Property Management, Real Estate and Mortgage needs.  I'd be happy to discuss any questions you may have or strategies you may be thinking of to get started in real estate or to improve and grow your current portfolio.

Sources: "Utah Division of Real Estate News" March 2008.

Show All Comments Sort:
Bill Kennedy
Keller Williams Greenville Upstate - Greenville, SC
Homes For Sale Greenville SC

Hey Jeff,

Welcome to Active Rain!  You'll find soon that this is HIGHLY addictive, but it's a good addiction.  There's a LOT to learn, and it's a great forum to present your ideas or ask for help.

Good luck with it!  Enjoy your time in the rain!

May 09, 2008 03:57 PM
Keith Elliott Jr
KEIRE Realty Group - Manassas, VA
Principal Broker/Owner

Hello Jeff,

Welcome to Active Rain and congrats on your first post! The opportunities to learn and network are incredible here. Best of luck to ya!

-Keith

May 09, 2008 04:37 PM
Ted Mackel
Keller Williams Realty Simi Valley - Simi Valley, CA
Simi Valley Real Estate Agent

Welcome to Activerain.  Make sure to get around and check out other blogs,  there is definately a way to do this to cut the learning curve.  AR is a great way to start!

May 09, 2008 05:04 PM
The Trumm Team Omaha Homes for Sale, Real Estate
Keller Williams Greater Omaha - Omaha, NE

Welcome to ActiveRain!

If you would like a few tips on getting the most out of ActiveRain, please visit my blog Welcome to Active Rain.  It has a few simple steps of what to do now that you have joined.

If you ever have any questions, just let me know.

Troy Trumm

May 10, 2008 11:08 AM
Rick Sergison
EXP Realty of Canada Inc., Brokerage - Pickering, ON
Durham Region Real Estate Blog

I just stopped by to welcome you to Active Rain. I hope that you find it a great benefit to your business and that you see the value that I have also found here. I am from Charlottesville Virginia and using Active Rain has really increased my business!

My main blog on Active Rain is here: Charlottesville Real Estate Blog, not the link at the bottom of this post.

I hope you will look into the many groups as there are some great group both local and broad based,....

enjoy!

May 11, 2008 11:36 AM
Dorene Shirley
The Mortgage & Property Connection - Campbell, CA
Silicon Valley Real Estate

Welcome to the Rain, make sure that you browse the site and become familiar with everything this site has to offer.  The more you browse the more you will learn.  I have found this site to be really helpful to me.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me, I will do whatever I can to help.

http://www.Doreneshirley.com

May 12, 2008 01:26 AM
* Rate A Home
Rate A Home - Saugatuck, MI

Jeff, that sounds like a wonderful report for your area. It is tight every where, but sounds like Utah will have a good lead coming out of it sooner then others.

May 29, 2008 07:03 PM