Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Southwest Utah housing sales slow, but overall housing market improves in 1st quarter

Like most of the country, southwestern Utah saw a dip in home sales during the first quarter of the year, but real estate experts are saying the overall market showed signs of improvement. Washington County saw 4.9 percent fewer sales through the first three months of 2014 than it did in 2013, with the most significant drops coming in the lower-priced market below $120,000, according to multiple listing service figures provided by the Washington County Board of Realtors.

But higher-priced sales saw increases, especially in the $300,000 to $399,000 range, which was up 43.6 percent, and the total dollar amount increased. In addition, a number of other indicators showed marked improvement, with sale prices, listings and absorption rates all having increased in the past 12 months.

Iron County saw a similar trend, although to an even higher extreme. Total sales had dropped 1.7 percent over the first three months, while the median sales price soared to $137,900, a 19.9 percent increase over 2013, according to figures kept by the Utah Association of Realtors. The Spectrum