Cut Your Mortgage Term in Half

Depending on your interest rate, you will pay 2-3 times your mortgage amount over the life of a 30 year fixed mortgage. The principle is simple, if you pay extra principal on your mortgage, your mortgage length and the amount of interest you pay will be drastically reduced. Most people understand that by paying extra principal early you will literally save years and tens of thousands in interest. The hard part is the discipline and motivation to actually do it.

Last week Ernst and Young honored United First Financial, U-First, as one of the Entrepreneurs of the year. Basically, they developed a software and system to help you better manage your finances and pay off your mortgage loan or other debt early. The software is apparently really easy to use and helps give the coaching and discipline needed to become truly debt free. In the uncertain financial times we’re in, people should probably learn to rely a little less on debt.

Find out more information about U-First, the Money Merger Account, and if it is right for you.

Top 10 places where you don’t want to be selling a home right now.

The top 10 markets in Utah with too much real estate inventory. The places where you don’t want to have to sell your large, expensive home right now.

1. Bluffdale
2. Alpine
3. Highland
4. Mapleton
5. Eden
6. Holladay
7. Draper
8. North Salt Lake
9. Hyde Park
10. Providence

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Utah MLS listings are is 32% High

A lot of commenters on my blog think that home prices in Utah will come down in the double digits. While prices may come down slightly in some areas, the big issue is that there are too many high end and overpriced homes. The average Utah MLS listing is about 32% higher than the average home selling price. Even the current median price of listed homes is 23% higher than the median price of sold homes during the second quarter of 2008. In the major Northern Utah Counties: Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber, Cache and Tooele County, the average price of a home sold during the second quarter of 2008 was $248,786. The current average list price of Utah homes on the MLS in these counties is $364,791.

These statistics are unofficial, but will be really close when the actual numbers come out in the next few weeks.

3.5% Price Appreciation for Cache County Real Estate

The first half of 2008 shows that although home sales were down 21% in Cache County, the actual sold price rose 3.5% compared to the first 6 months of 2007.

The average price of sold homes is actually up 3.5% compared to the first six months of ‘07. So far the real estate market in Cache County was a little slower than it was last year as just 470 homes were sold compared to 588 homes sold January-June of last year.

The median sold price so far this year is $179,375. In my opinion, home prices are not actually up, just the average price of homes sold. There are many more expensive homes on the market than beaters. The average list price of homes in Cache County is $272,000. These aren’t selling fast, but when the expensive homes sell it does drive the average sold price up. From my knowledge of the local market, if you bought a home at the end of last summer you could probably now get a slightly nicer home for the same price.

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Utah Job Growth for May 2008

Job Growth is slowing in Utah, but it is still growing and unemployment is still low in Utah despite fears of recession. This is good news for the housing market as people with jobs are a lot more likely too buy real estate than those without.

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Davis County May Sales Numbers

Home Sales in Davis County were down by about 25% this May compared to last year. A total of 314 residential properties were sold in Davis County at an average sold price of $246,337, down 7.7% from last May.

Currently there are 2,052 active single family residences for sale in Davis County. The average list price of these properties is $367,625 and the average home has been on the market for 82 days. There are also 183 condo listings in Davis County with an average list price of nearly $225,000.

Summary of May Home Sales in Ogden

For the Month of May home sales were down 26%, but prices were up 6%. The average price of homes sold in Weber County in May was $183,665, and 309 Ogden houses have been reported as sold. These sold homes were on the market for an average of 68 days.

Currently there are 2,015 active single family homes for sale in Weber County, and 331 Condos listed for sale in the Ogden Area.

The average price of single family home listings in Weber County is $285,978, and the average active listing has already been on the market for 92 days. The math still isn’t working out here where the average sold price is more than $100,000 less than the average list price. If you have a high end home in Weber County, good luck trying to sell it.

Utah Housing to appreciate 30% to 50% over the next five years.

According to Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, the housing market will improve in the Rocky Mountain region soon. He states that the housing market will improve in Utah and surrounding areas because there will be more growth here than most of the country. He said, “People are moving into the region: far more coming in than moving out. That’s always positive. That creates additional demand for housing, and anytime there’s demand for housing, that makes the market much more healthy.”

“Utah’s home prices have taken a breather in the past year, but when the fence-sitters get moving, that will change significantly…..five years from now, the market will be very healthy locally and home prices could be 30 to 50% higher than where they are now.”

$7,500 Tax Credit for First Time Home Buyers?

President Bush is considering another economic stimulus package that could give first time home buyers a $7,500 tax credit, virtually eliminating having to pay taxes if they buy a house this year. Congress tried this housing stimulus tactic in the 1970’s and it worked fairly well.

If a tax credit like this passed, it would jump start the real estate economy by giving incentive for the surplus of renters to take the plunge and buy a new house. With new homes being purchased, sellers will actually be able to sell and move on. These sellers will then in turn begin purchasing the huge surplus of unsold high end and new construction spec homes. This should create instant optimism in the housing market and help homes in struggling markets appreciate once again.

Nothing is definite at this point, but if this passes this should provide immediate relief to the national housing woes. This should also lighten the load on banks with a large inventory of foreclosure homes by providing more qualified home buyers.

Home Sales Up in Salt Lake County

Up is a relative word though. I thought that an optimistice headline might be a nice change for all the negative housing press. May was the top month for home sales in Salt Lake County for 2008 thus far, but my unofficial home sales statistics show that it was still about 36% less than home sales in 2007 and 45% less than May home sales in ‘06.

The good news for Salt Lake County home sales stats is that May home prices remained stable. Infact, they actually rose about a percentage from an average 2007 price of $273,929 to $277,239.

Current inventory shows 6800 active single family MLS listings, and 1411 SLC Condos for sale. These numbers are substantially down from the number of active listings just three months ago. With Mays’ rate of home sales there is about 8 months of inventory on the market. These home sales figures include real estate in: Bluffdale Real Estate, Cottonwood Heights Real estate, Draper Real Estate, Herriman Real Estate, Holladay Real Estate, Kearns Real Estate, Magna Real Estate, Midvale Real Estate, Murray Real Estate, Riverton Real Estate, SLC Real Estate, Sandy Real Estate, South Jordan Real Estate, South Salt Lake Real Estate, Taylorsville Real Estate, West Jordan Real Estate, and West Valley City Real Estate.