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Logan not yet caught in home
crunch, but real estate experts are wary
By Zane Buxton
December 11, 2007 | The real question on the market
today is: Buy, sell or hold?
Economists have seen a large drop in the market value
of homes in the last 18 months, leaving homeowners feeling
hopelessly confused.
Last year homes in Orange County, Calif., that went
for $1.5 million dropped $400,000 by the end of the
year. The trend that is being seen across the United
States is one not yet to hit Cache Valley.
"Local residents are still under the impression
the housing markets is a safe bet," said Nichole
Hallman, real-estate agent. Traditionally when people
looked at a home, the main things on their minds were
schools, bedrooms and yard size, but now the thoughts
are also on resale potential, said Hallman.
It's a buyer's market, experts say.
Local builder Zac Andreasen said,"If you are going
to build a home with the hopes it will sell, you have
to have the ability to sit on it and wait for the right
buyer. Before you could build it and they would come;
now it is a buyer's market."
Another problem with the recent fall in the housing
market is mortgages. In 2002 banks saw the largest pull
off savings accounts and other retirement funds to pay
off large home loans.
One thing that most people don't realize is the total
value of homes is an investment. It is based of what
the local value is of a home, so if the housing market
crashes the owners would have the savings they put in
it.
Many banks forecast a growth in the amount of refinancing
and home-equity loans in the near future when homeowners
need to find a different way to invest.
Lowering the price of homes is causing a lot of people
to start cutting out the middle man of a real-estate
agent and going for sale by owner. Hallman said a home
sell much faster with an active agent pushing it in
a slow market.
Nationally, however, many Internet sites are starting
to offer a simple listing program for fractions of the
cost that a real estate agent would charge, but in the
end giving much the same advertisement on the home for
everyone to look at from their personal computers.
An average agent will charge fees of 5 percent to
6 percent on the final cost of the home, so with cutting
that cost out a homeowner stands to save a large chunk
of equity. Utah is among the top five states most likely
to use "for sale by owner."
"The times of quick money being made in the housing
market are in the past, now it is about making smart
choices about areas, economies and most important being
able to afford," said Andreasen.
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