Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
Today, James Wood, the Director of the University of Utah’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research released his 2011 Salt Lake Housing Forecast. Wood discusses each of the negative aspects of our current economy which have pushed us to such a reduced demand for homes in Salt Lake County. He pointed to the declining number of jobs, consolidation of households, reduction of migration, increase in foreclosures, and the negative equity situations of many home owners as the causes of our current market.
After outlining the negative circumstances of our current economy, James Wood directs our attention to the best market indicators for forecasting the future of the market in Utah. Now that prices have come down to the most affordable prices we have seen in some time, improvements in the unemployment rate (including very positive projections by the Dept. of Workforce Services), and “pent-up housing demand,” Wood predicts we will see prices stabilize considerably this year and the number of home sales will continue to increase.
While most of the forecast weighed me down with all the negative circumstances leading to our current market conditions, Wood’s final statements were positive yet realistic for the direction of our community’s future market.
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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
The National Association of Realtors released first quarter home price statistics for 152 metropolitan areas showing that 91 of those areas saw increases in sales prices as compared to the same quarter last year.
(more…)
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Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Governor Herbert proclaimed an optimistic view of Utah’s economic outlook at the 2010 Governor’s Utah Economic Summit yesterday. He stated that the economic challenges we are facing are not the fault of the government, but from the private sector. He encouraged everyone to focus on fixing the economy stating, “If we get the economy right everything else falls into place.” He then promised that he would work to keep the government from hindering the private sector. (more…)
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Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
In Utah, fewer homeowners are underwater when it comes to the value of their homes, according to a new report by American First CoreLogic. At the end of this year’s third quarter, 18 percent of Utah residential properties (40,801) with a mortgage were in negative equity — meaning borrowers owed more on their mortgage than their home was worth. (more…)
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Monday, November 2nd, 2009
The US Department of Commerce released an advanced estimate of the GDP for the third quarter of 2009 on Friday. This report estimates the Gross Domestic Product (the output of of goods and services produced in the US) to be up 3.5 percent, the first increase in over a year. (more…)
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Thursday, May 28th, 2009
A new report from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) offers a roadmap to recovery based on economic performance trends from states over the last 10 years.
Author Dr. Arthur B. Laffer and his co-authors, Stephen Moore, senior economics writer at The Wall Street Journal, and Jonathan Williams, director of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force for ALEC, found that, “states with a high and rising tax burden are more likely to suffer through economic decline, while those with lower and falling tax burdens are more likely to enjoy robust economic growth.”
TOP FIVE STATES BOTTOM FIVE STATES
1. Utah 46. New Jersey
2. Colorado 47. Maine
3. Arizona 48. Rhode Island
4. Virginia 49. Vermont
5. South Dakota 50. New York
See the article here.
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