What happened in February in the Southern Utah Real Estate Market

Hello all, I hope everyone is hunkered down and excited about what is going on in life. The good news is there are some deals out there, and those who are ready are going to do well. Before we go any further, I want to thank the following for making February a nice month:


1. Wes and Talia Vaughan (Sold Listing)
2. YYY LLC (2 Sold Listings)
3. Overlook Green Valley LLC (Sold Listing)
4. Steve and Shirley Leydsman (Purchase)
5. C.A. and Sharon Persch (Purchase)
6. Good LLC {Duff Smith and Jane Rogers} (Sold Listing)
7. Larry and Sharon Brown (Sold Listing)


Special thanks to YYY, Overlook and Good LLCs who are all repeat performers.


I usually like to speak about rates and some of the aspects of the market to do with lending. Some of the things that have perked my attention lately are the $8,000 tax credit for first time buyers and Reverse Mortgages. I am not going to go through the nuts and bolts of each, but if you are interested I can get you to my well qualified colleagues to answer any questions you may have. One of them is even offering a fixed interest 5/1 arm that may make some sense for people just getting in that expect to have increase in income in the next five years. I guess we all expect that.


Without further ado, this is what happened in our market in February:

Total Market Activity on Homes in February
Active Listings: 1,933 (Jan 1,648)
New Listings: 399 (Jan 392)
Sold Listings: 120 (Jan 89)
Months of Inventory: 16.61 (Jan 18.52)

Homes priced up to $150,000
Active Listings: 228 (Jan 190)
New Listings: 60 (Jan 65)
Sold Listings: 30 (Jan 18)
Months of Inventory: 7.60 (Jan 10.56)

Homes priced from $150,001 to $200,000
Active Listings: 350 (Jan 295)
New Listings: 71 (Jan 60)
Sold Listings: 35 (Jan 25)
onths of Inventory: 10.00 (12.83)

Homes priced from $200,001 to $250,000
Active Listings: 325 (Jan 273)
New Listings: 67 (Jan 72)
Sold Listings: 23 (Jan 21.00)
Months of Inventory: 12.50 (Jan 21.00)

Homes priced from $250,001 to $300,000
Active Listings: 293 (Jan 245)
New Listings: 53 (Jan 52)
Sold Listings: 10 (Jan 16)
Months of Inventory: 29.30 (Jan 15.31)

Homes priced from $300,001 to $350,000
Active Listings: 185 (Jan 154)
New Listings: 28 (Jan 47)
Sold Listings: 8 (Jan 9)
Months of Inventory: 23.12 (Jan 17.11)

Homes priced from $350,001 to $400,000
Active Listings: 121 (Jan 100)
New Listings: 27 (Jan 20)
Sold Listings: 4 (Jan 3)
Months of Inventory: 30.25 (Jan 33.33)

Homes priced from $400,001 to $450,000
Active Listings: 65 (Jan 41)
New Listings: 18 (Jan 13)
Sold Listings: 1 (Jan 2)
Months of Inventory: 65.00 (Jan 20.50)

Homes priced from $450,001 to $500,000
Active Listings: 74 (Jan 60)
New Listings: 18 (Jan 13)
Sold Listings: 0 (Jan 2)
Months of Inventory: No Sales in Feb (Jan 30.00)

Homes priced from $500,001 to $550,000
Active Listings: 46 (Jan 38)
New Listings: 8 (Jan 7)
old Listings: 1 (Jan 0)
Months of Inventory: 46.00 (No Sales in Jan)

Homes priced from $550,001 to $600,000
Active Listings: 50 (Jan 37)
New Listings: 10 (Jan 8)
Sold Listings: 0 (Jan 0)
Months of Inventory: No Sales in Feb (No sales in Jan)

Homes priced from $600,001 to $650,000
Active Listings: 27 (Jan 22)
New Listings: 5 (Jan 3)
Sold Listings: 1 (Jan 0)
Months of Inventory: 27.00 (No Sales in Jan)

Homes priced from $650,001 to $700,000
Active Listings: 33 (Jan 24)
New Listings: 5 (Jan 10)
Sold Listings: 1 (Jan 1)
Months of Inventory: 33.00 (Jan 24.00)

Homes priced from $700,001 to $750,000
Active Listings: 18 (Jan 12)
New Listings: 5 (Jan 4)
Sold Listings: 0 (Jan 1)
Months of Inventory: No Sales in Feb (Jan 12.00)

Homes priced from $750,001 to $1,000,000
Active Listings: 81 (Jan 70)
New Listings: 14 (Jan 6)
Sold Listings: 0 (Jan 0)
Months of Inventory: No Sales in Feb (No Sales in Jan)

Homes priced from $1,000,001 and Up
Active Listings: 96 (Jan 87)
New Listings: 9 (Jan 11)
Sold Listings: 3 (Jan 1)
Months of Inventory: 32.00 (Jan 87.00)

The following information is for building lots in the same general area as the housing data listed above. All Building Lots in the Greater St. George and Hurricane Valley

Active Listings: 1,197 (Jan 1,099)
New Listings: 176 (Jan 96)
Sold Listings: 15 (Jan 12)
Months of Inventory: 79.80 (Jan 91.58)

Here are the data ranges:

Building lots up to $100,000
Active Listings: 533 (Jan 486)
New Listings: 95 (Jan 45)
Sold Listings: 12 (Jan 11)
Months of Inventory: 44.42 (Jan 44.18)

Building lots from $100,001 to $150,000
Active Listings: 264 (Jan 252)
New Listings: 43 (Jan 22)
Sold Listings: 1 (Jan 0)
Months of Inventory: 264.0 (No Sales in Jan)

Building lots from $150,001 to $200,000
Active Listings: 144 (Jan 135)
New Listings: 6 (Jan 10)
Sold Listings: 0 (Jan 1)
Months of Inventory: No sales in Feb (Jan 135.00)

Building lots from $200,001 and up
Active Listings: 256 (Jan 226)
New Listings: 32 (Jan 19)
Sold Listings: 2 (Jan 0)
Months of Inventory: 128.00 (No sales in Jan)

Short Sells:
Some are going, but they are a little tougher. I have four short sells offers in right now and none of them are going to swift. I hope the clouds will soon part and make some of my clients happy. They do work, but I would venture to guess that at least 40-50% of the foreclosed listings out there were once short sell listings that did not work. All that being said, you really do end up getting the best deals on short sells if you have the time, patience, and ability to wait for a long time, jump through a lot of hoops and are willing to not have much say in the matter.

Foreclosures:
They are a big deal right now. A few of them are excellently priced and are a great deal, as in you buy, and you have equity, right now. One agent particularly seems to work magic with the bank and when I see his listings I take special note. Some are just good deals, that means if you are handy, you end up saving 5-7% off retail. Most of them are that 3-10% below the market that it is going to take to get them up to speed. A few, and I have one right now, are just lousy deals. They are not going to sell, and I am going to get fired by the bank.
As always, if you want to take a look at my current listings http://www.joelangston.com/
If you want a free list of foreclosed homes in our area that are actually available for sale. http://www.southernutahforeclosure.com/