Greetings!
Spring is sticking it’s nose out from under the blanket of snow. We should see some miraculous greening action here in the next couple of weeks with some warmer temps. Hopefully the warm-up will be gradual so flooding can be avoided.
First quarter real estate sales in Logan/Cache valley were lower than expected – a consequence of high interest rates and the abnormally severe winter we’ve experienced. Just 204 homes sold; that’s nearly 50% fewer than the 305 sold first quarter of 2022, and 76% fewer than first quarter of 2020. Typically we see the highest number of contracts in the 2nd quarter (April,May, June) and the highest number of sales in the 3rd quarter of the year (July, August, September). It will be interesting to see how things pan out this year.
I anticipate there will be fewer sales this year than in the past couple of years, but not dramatically fewer. The inventory is increasing – 297 residential homes on the market today as compared to 85 on the market a year ago, and the number of homes under contract – slated to close in the next month or so- is just 6% lower than it was at this time last year. Buyers have more options to purchase, and prices are down from where they were a year ago.
The average sold price dropped to $445,000, down 12% from our high of $498,000 reached 2nd quarter of last year. The average price per foot in March was $201.9, down 12.5% from our high point of $227.2 per foot reached in April, 2022. Mortgage interest rates are in the 6.3-6.5% range and many lenders are offering free refinancing if rates drop in the next year.
Hang in there… Spring really is coming!