How have the markets around Salt Lake City changed this last month?

Here’s what the numbers show.

Prices continue to increase.

The median sales price of a home in Salt Lake County was $375,000 in June 2020, which is up 7% from June 2019. It is also an increase from $369,000 in May. 

Median price per square foot also increased last month, up 9% to $174. Homes continue to sell around 99% of list price, and have a median days on market of 16. This is all positive news for our market!

Volume is back up.

June saw the market return to a more normalized level of transactions, with almost the exact same number of housing units sold year over year. There were 1,751 units sold in June 2020, and 1,761 units sold in June 2019. 

We noted last month that May’s volume was down, so it is good to see sales returning to regular levels now that things are opened up a bit more. 

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Does that mean everything is back to “normal”? 

Yes and no. Back in April we wrote about the extremely low inventory of homes available and how it was not keeping up with buyer demand. And that’s even more true today. We are hovering around a .70 absorption rate for Salt Lake County. 

Absorption rate is a way of calculating the amount of demand in a particular market, or, stated another way, how long it would take for a particular market to run out of homes for sale. So a rate of .70 tells us that there is less than a 1 month supply of homes. This is not enough supply. 

In our market, it seems that the impact of the pandemic is playing out in the reduction in total available homes for sale. Simply put, not as many people are selling right now, perhaps from job changes, concern about selling safely, or just because they would rather wait it out. We can’t exactly pinpoint the reason, but we do know active listings are down almost 40% as compared to June 2019. That is a meaningful reduction in inventory in a market that was already experiencing a housing shortage before the pandemic began. 

I plan to sell my home, so what does this mean for me? 

It means that right now is really a good time to sell. The buyers out in the market right now are very serious about finding a home. We find that everyone is willing to do their part to safely tour homes and you can keep yourself and your family protected if you need to be living in your home while it is on the market. 

I’d really like to buy a home right now, what will that be like? 

You can get a great home, but to do so, you need to be  highly informed about the market, understand the dynamics of each neighborhood you are interested in, and work aggressively to secure the home you want. And you need to work with an expert. 

Our real estate market in Salt Lake is strong and dynamic. It is a good time to be in the market, but you also need to do so smartly. And that’s where we can help. Reach out to us with any questions about your own neighborhood (or the neighborhood you hope to be in!) and we will happily pass along our guidance on how to best navigate yourself for a successful sale.