Well that blog was posted before I actually visited any of the houses on this years parade…

Homes on Past Years Cache Valley Parade of Homes

Homes on This Years Parade of Homes

So far my wife and me have seen all of the Parade Homes in Logan, Nibley, Millville and River Heights. None of these homes are what I would call “Dream Homes.” Sure, these homes are nice. They are well built, well staged, and professionally decorated, but the size of the homes Cache Valley builders are showing off is probably a good indicator of how the Logan Real Estate market has changed. Cache Valley Builders are clearly targeting the “starter home” and more moderate home buying market. The largest finished area of these homes was actually the Kartchner Model home which is just over 2,600 square feet. There was one slightly larger rambler in Millville, but its basement wasn’t even finished. It had only about 1,600 square feet, and the “great room” in it is not what I would call great. It was so small there wasn’t even enough space for all of the staged furniture.

There are a few bigger Parade Homes I will view this weekend, but from the homes I’ve visited thus far, there has been a major shift in builders focus. For the realities of the Cache Valley Real Estate market this is a good thing. There just isn’t demand for luxury houses right now, and unless a builder can build a custom home for a client that they can show at the parade, there really is no point of throwing money away on a fancy spec home that nobody will buy.

via Parade of Homes: Signs That The Real Estate Market Has Changed « Logan Real Estate Blog.

The “Parade” is an event where builders can show off some of their most impressively built fancy homes. These homes usually have the finest materials, and are professionally staged and decorated. Lookers can fantasize and imagine their dream homes. It’s a great way to get ordinary people to wish they had extra-ordinary homes. The Parade indulges the average Cache Valley resident, and opens their eyes to potential living arrangements that they would otherwise probably never imagine.

With the struggling economy, and the huge surplus of high end homes for sale in Logan, it will be interesting to see if the builders toned down on things a little more this year.

Overall the Parade of Homes is a fun experience and makes a great date activity. The Parade ends Saturday, and there are 14 homes available this year. If you still want to participate in the parade of homes you need to act quickly. Tickets for the Cache Valley Parade of Homes cost $10 per person age 8 or older, and can be purchased online at http://www.cvhba.com/parade09ticket.html

via Parade of Homes Time in Cache Valley « Logan Real Estate Blog.

From a marketing standpoint, this is actually a pretty good idea. Harness the power of the MLS and IDX feeds with fake homes for sale to get potential buyers to ask about a particular builder, and think about building.

From a statistics and market condition standpoint, this is downright dishonest and misleading. Having a dozen phantom high end “North Logan Homes for Sale” has a significant impact on the average price of homes for sale, and on the months of real estate inventory our market appears to have.

At the beginning of the month when I ran my monthly home sales statistics, there were 794 homes for sale in Cache County with an average list price at $237,173. Right now there are 820 listings with and average list price of $246,118.

So Cache County home prices went up $9,000 in the last 20 days! This is the first time in 15 months that home prices have gone up. This means our real estate market downturn is finally turning around right?

No. Not really, there just happen to be a dozen fake listings that make the average list price of Cache Valley homes look higher than it really is.

via Real Estate Blog – Phantom Home Listings in North Logan.

Even more impressive is the huge advantage Cornerstone has for the number of buyer transactions among the major Cache Valley Real Estate brokerages. For the second quarter, Cornerstone had nearly three times more buyers transactions than Parker Real Estate, Youngblood Real Estate, and ERA Advantage Realty. It also had nearly twice as many transactions as Century 21, @Home Realty Network, and Coldwell Banker.

Buyers are choosing to use Logan real estate brokerages that know how to use technology and that are on top of things.

During President Obama’s State of the Union Speech tonight, he didn’t talk long about the housing market.But, what he did say speaks volumes about his policy intentions and the questionable philosophy of his economic advisers.

Obama: Now, the price of college tuition is just one of the burdens facing the middle-class. That’s why last year I asked Vice President Biden to chair a task force on Middle-Class Families. That’s why we’re nearly doubling the child care tax credit, and making it easier to save for retirement by giving every worker access to a retirement account and expanding the tax credit for those who start a nest egg. That’s why we’re working to lift the value of a family’s single largest investment – their home. The steps we took last year to shore up the housing market have allowed millions of Americans to take out new loans and save an average of $1,500 on mortgage payments. This year, we will step up re-financing so that homeowners can move into more affordable mortgages. And it is precisely to relieve the burden on middle-class families that we still need health insurance reform.

Barney Frank had already semi-officially declared high home prices to be government policy. But this is different…this is from the President.They are working to “lift home values, allowing “millions of Americans to take out new loans“…do they not remember how we got in this mess in the first place?

via Why Obama Wants High Home Prices | Danville Real Estate Trends.

It’s really ridiculous. The federal government really lacks economic understanding. They are trying to propel house values to artificial levels they were during the boom, simply so Americans will spend more, and feel like they have more net worth? The federal government really needs more competence in terms of economics.

In Utah, houses are even bigger. The average Utah houses sold year was closer to 2,500 square feet. Cache County Homes are a little more moderate than homes  in Salt Lake and Utah Counties, and the average size home Cache County homes sold was right around the national average.

This is still double what the average house size was fifty years ago, but, atleast we are headed in the right direction. Taking a step in the right direction towards living within our means.

via US Homes are Getting Smaller : Utah Real Estate and Home Sales Numbers.

Water rights stay with the property. It is real property. Like a well. The have a stock water number with the state division of water.

Water Shares, are personal property, that can be transferred anywhere within that water irrigation district. Water shares need to be specified with a bill of sale, with a specific certificate that explains who has rights to those shares.

Riparian rights – You own up initial the banks of the river. If the banks of the river change (by natural changes), then your ownership changes. If the river is to small to be navigatable, then the property boundary goes to the middle of the river.

Littoral Rights – Rights of ownership that have to do with properties adjacent to bodies of water with historic high and low tide levels. With literal rights you own up to the historic high water mark.

In a common Utah Real Estate transaction the seller is required to provide any evidence of water rights and shares as specified in the real estate purchase contract.

For any specific questions or for more information about water rights in Utah, visit the Division of Water Rights website.

Long-term mortgage interest fell for the second-straight week as the 30-year fixed rate settled at an average of 5.06 percent compared to 5.09 percent a week ago, according to Freddie Mac.Other rates decreased as well: Fifteen-year fixed loans dipped from 4.50 to 4.45 percent, and five-year ARMs sank from 4.44 percent to 4.32 percent. However, rates for one-year ARMs rose to 4.39 percent from 4.31 percent

via REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-30-Year Mortgage Rate Dips Slightly.

Real Estate in Logan Utah never really boomed, prices only went up slightly and so we also aren’t going to really have a bubble burst. Nevertheless, real estate sales in Logan are clearly down. 2009 had the lowest annual home sales since 2003, and there are currently more homes for sale in Cache County than there have ever been during January.

This shows me that the market will still probably decline for at least a few more months. Prices will stay soft, and only competitively priced Homes in Utah will sell until next spring. Although prices MIGHT be a little more, right now, it still may be the best time to buy for those purchasing their home if you are financing with a mortgage loan. Interest rates right now are around 5% right now. This incredibly low rate makes a huge difference in your total monthly payment. From a monthly payment standpoint, with a $200,000 house, a 1% difference in interest rate would be a difference of almost $17,000 towards the purchase price. If you bought the house for $183,000 at 6% interest your monthly payment would be the same as purchasing the house for $200,000 at 5% interest. In the Cache Valley Real Estate, market $200,000 homes won’t be dropping an additional $17K ever. So if you want the best deal possible, find a house you like, and watch the volatile interest rates. An individual seller may be willing to drastically lower home prices now and give you a Great deal.

Overall, the largest demographic of home buyer are Married People. 60% of 2009 home buyers are married. Single women bought more than twice as many homes 21%, than single men 10%. Unmarried couples purchased 8% of the homes and “other” purchased the remaining 1 %. I have no idea what that means.

The median age of US home buyers was 39 years old. 35% of buyers were between 25-34 years old and 22% were between 35-44 years old. Just 8% of US home buyers were retired people over the age of 65.

In the Northeast the average home was substantially older, built in 1969, than any other region in the US. The average age of homes purchased in the Midwest were built in 1983, 1995 for the West, and 1998 for the South.

Nationwide, the median home price was $185,000. Homes were most expensive in the West, Median price of $240,000, followed by the Northeast, $210,000, and then the South where the median home price was $175,000. US Homes were least expensive in the Midwest with a median price of $158,000. Home buyers in the west spent more of their household income on housing than those in the East. The average household income of buyers in the west where homes are most expensive, was $74,000, whereas the average income in the Northeast was $79,500.

None of this really has much to do withCache Valley Utah Real Estate. Our market itself is unique, I’d say the average home buyer here is younger, makes less money, and has a higher percentage of being married, but it is kind of fun to see what most buyers in the country are like.