It’s been some time since I posted stats on our local market. I apologize.
Here are curent numbers for August 2023 – I’ll be comparing numbers to last year at this time (August 2022), as well as the peak in our market (April, 2022).
Right now there are 395 active homes on the market in Cache Valley (this includes all single family homes as well as townhomes and condos for sale). This number is somewhat misleading, because in August 2023 alone 46 listings were withdrawn or canceled and not re-listed. Most of those “pulled” listings represent people who were in a position to wait and sell when the market is improved, or decided to lease out their property when they didn’t obtain a satisfactory sale. Last year at this time we had 18% fewer homes available and there were 83% fewer withdrawn & canceled listings. There are 15% fewer homes under contract or in backup position as compared to year ago.
I’m using median figures versus averages when doing comparisons because the pool of sales is relatively small and there have been a few “outliers” that skew the averages.
The number of local home sales in August was 105. That is just 12% less than last August, but it’s significantly less than previous August sales going back to 2012. August sales have been 135-180 prior to 2022. Prices are down almost 12% from our high point in April 2022, with the current median price per foot at $201 and the median sold price at $425,000, but those figures are just 3.5% lower than they were a year ago. Home prices here are still 50% higher than they were in August 2020 (during the midst of the pandemic).
In August homes sold 98% of list price, an improvement over the 96-97% we saw earlier this year, however this % of sale price to list price is a bit misleading as seller concessions to help buyers buy down mortgage rates or pay closing costs are not reflected in that percentage. Many/most transactions right now involve seller concessions to help buyers procure their mortgages. Average mortgage interest rates are currently right around 7.5%, but can be a bit higher or lower depending on credit scores and debt ratios. Rates are down slightly from a couple of weeks ago, but significantly higher than the 5.5% we experienced a year ago.
Our local market is in a transition period. Prices have fallen slightly, but the higher mortgage interest rates have eroded buyer affordability and reduced the available buyer pool. Most sellers are acquiescing on price and concessions in an effort to sell – or pulling from the market and waiting. Cash buyers are at a real advantage – able to negotiate on price while avoiding the increased interest rates. Real Estate is cyclical. Because inventory remains relatively low, I don’t see values crashing – although I think we may see some further price adjustments. As mortgage interest rates stabilize, buyers will become less reticent. Cache Valley continues to be a desirable place to live and a good place to invest in real estate.
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