Utah Real Estate & Mortgage Blog

It’s foggy outside and Christmas is upon us. No snow on the ground in the valley and most tend to take it easy the week before and after Christmas.

Usually December and January are the slowest months of the year in Real Estate. Family, shopping and taxes tend to take priority over shopping for a new home during these two months. This December I’ve been extremely busy, matter of fact 2009 was a record breaking year for me in Real Estate.

Consumer confidence is rising and in many experts opinions, the worst is behind us. 2008 was a rough year for many types of businesses including Real Estate. Lenders stopped dishing out money, consumers were scared and inventory built up to record levels. That was 2008 and most of my colleagues agree 2009 showed signs of improvement and 2010 is shaping up to be even better.

I’m sure most of you have heard through the media the two main reasons it’s such a good time to buy right now. The $8,000 tax credit and interest rates being so low! Well there are other reasons to act now. Let me elaborate…

• $6,500-8,000 Tax Credit ends this spring. Regardless if you are a first time home buyer or someone who has lived in their existing home for the last 5 years, this credit may apply to you! This is not a loan but a true credit.
• Interest Rates are very low. Today you can secure a 5% interest rate fixed for 30 years. When the government stops buying mortgage backed securities over the next few months, I’d expect rates to rise into the high 5′s or even 6′s by the end of 2010.
• It’s Winter – Buyers really come out in the Spring & Summer to look for a home. The less Buyers in the market means less competition when buying a home.
• Inventory - We peaked at 36,000 active listings in Utah the early part of 2009. Inventory is slowly being absorbed and we are sitting around 27,000 active listings. Supply & Demand!
• Lending Guidelines – This is a big one. It is becoming much harder for some to obtain a loan. Lenders are slamming down new rules almost weekly and deals are being lost due to changes in lending guidelines.
• Down Payment – Unless you have a sizable down payment you will probably finance using an FHA loan. FHA only requires 3.5% but this probably will be changing in the near future. There is a bill at congress that is pushing to raise the minimum down payment to 5%.

I always welcome questions or comments on my blog posts. You can speak with a Real Estate Professional today by calling 801-999-8005.

Regardless if you are in the market or not, thank you for reading! I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and an even better new year.

A new flight simulator feature has been added to zoomUTAH.com allowing Buyers to get a birds eye view on any home listed for sale.

This interactive program enables Buyers to fly over a property of interest and use their keyboard to navigate around and check out the surrounding areas.

You can see a demo of this new feature by visiting: http://www.zoomutah.com/zoomflight/launch.php?mls=865608

We would love your feedback on this feature and would also like to learn how this feature can be more helpful!