New from Utah

[Mark Wood]

Hi everyone. I am new to the site and looking forward to working and networking with everyone on here. I live west of Salt Lake City, UT.  I have made the mistake of trying to get all the knowledge about this business first without really doing anything. This is my first step to change all that. Time to put my plan into action. 

[William Hochstedler]

@Aaron Knoll

Have some pity on us folks up in the sticks when you talk about the "Utah" market.  We are still a few hundred thousand--from Weber north--and are experiencing different dynamics than the metro Salt Lake market.

In conservative Cache, buyers are complaining that it's a sellers market because prices aren't what they were in the 1980's.  There has always been a shortage of great deals up here because of smaller inventory and the insulated nature of the community (everyone is one degree of separation from a real estate professional).  However, we are seeing the millenials buying smaller houses in downtown Logan.  But as always, nothing crazy.

Prices are rising in Ogden, but very guardedly.  It's being driven by Salt Lake investors, millenials, and city development initiatives.  But is still capped by a general cynicism from Utahns (much like west of I-15 in Salt Lake, but more so).  There's a ton of opportunity there, but many investors in particular have have been stung over the last 20 years by the great white hope that the Ogden renaissance is right around the corner.  If people are really moving to Payson, the current upswing in Ogden might stick.

Almost half the sales in Roy go FHA. The lower MIP has created a bump there.

From a buyer's perspective I'm seeing a number of things: 1) at 4% the payment is the same on a $150K house as a $120K house at 6% (that's a 20% difference) 2) buyers who got nailed with BK's during the crash are reentering the market 3) millenials and other pent up demand who see rising interest rates in the near future are locking in these low rates by entering the market.  I see almost no speculation on appreciation like we did in 2006.  No high end spec homes, etc.

Also, for the first time, we are seeing an influx of people coming here from the rest of the world for jobs.  A dollar buys a lot of real estate in Utah if you came from the Bay Area.  

And then we have the monied class cashing out of the stock market and looking for hard assets at the same time they are finally able to get something reasonable from the investment properties they've been wanting to sell for 7 years and doing 1031's.  So there's a lot of cash around.

I could go on and on.  But I don't think the current activity in Utah (outside of St George, perhaps) is irrational like a decade ago.  When prices rise and interest rates go up, people will just stop buying.  No crash.  Just sucks for us looking for deep discounts right now.

Oh. And welcome to BP @Mark Wood.  See what you started?