Should You Invest In The Salt Lake City Real Estate Market?

Salt Lake City Real Estate Overview

Salt Lake City is the largest city in Utah, though it tends to be overlooked by real estate investors as just another part of “flyover” country. The Salt Lake City real estate market was ranked one of the toughest real estate markets for Millennials due to limited supply relative to demand. Realtor.com doesn’t see things stopping anytime soon, naming Salt Lake one of 2018’s hottest markets and predicting a 4.5 percent increase in home sales in Salt Lake City. Let’s take a look at Salt Lake City and its downtown area before sharing the top 10 reasons to invest in the Salt Lake City real estate market in 2018 and for years to come.

Salt Lake City Real Estate – Market Trend And Forecast 2018

The state of Utah’s population grew 9 percent over the last five years, much of it concentrated in Salt Lake City, where the median sales price for a home at the end of 2017 was $273,000 (still significantly lower than the average in Austin and Denver). Realtor.com named Salt Lake one of 2018’s hottest markets and predicting a 4.5 percent increase in home sales. As per Zillow’s statistics, the median home value in Salt Lake City is $370,000. Salt Lake City home values have gone up 15.1% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 4.4% within the next year. The median list price per square foot in Salt Lake City is $318, which is higher than the Salt Lake City Metro average of $203. The median price of homes currently listed in Salt Lake City is $415,000. The median rent price in Salt Lake City is $1,600, which is higher than the Salt Lake City Metro median of $1,595.

The percent of delinquent mortgages in Salt Lake City is 0.6%, which is lower than the national value of 1.6%.

Graph Courtesy – Zillow.com

Salt Lake City Real Estate And Foreclosure Trends 2018

As per Trulia.com, real estate market trends in Salt Lake City show a 0% week-over-week rise in average listing price and a 3% rise in median rent per month. Trulia has 808 resale and new homes in Salt Lake City lined up for you, including open houses, and homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process.

According to RealtyTrac.com’s statistics, there are currently 519 properties in Salt Lake City, UT that are in some stage of foreclosure (default, auction or bank owned) while the number of homes listed for sale on RealtyTrac is 802. In July, the number of properties that received a foreclosure filing in Salt Lake City, UT was 5% lower than the previous month and 40% lower than the same time last year.

Home sales for June 2018 were down 34% compared with the previous month, and up 240% compared with a year ago. The median sales price of a non-distressed home was $252,263. The median sales price of a foreclosure home was $0, or 0% higher than non-distressed home sales.

According to Movoto.com, the median list price in Salt Lake City is $465,000. The median list price in Salt Lake City was less than 1% change from August to September. Salt Lake City’s home resale inventories is 611, which increased 0 percent since August 2018. The median list price per square foot in Salt Lake City is $225. August 2018 was $224.
Distressed properties such as foreclosures and short sales in Salt Lake City remained the same as a percentage of the total market in September.

Downtown Salt Lake City Real Estate For Sale

Downtown is the oldest district in Salt Lake City, Utah. The grid from which the entire city is laid out originates at Temple Square, the location of the Salt Lake Temple. Downtown Salt Lake City encompasses the areas of Temple Square, The Gateway, Main Street, the central business district, South Temple, and others. On Redin.com, there are currently 68 homes for sale in Downtown Salt Lake City at a median listing price of $393K. Some of these homes are “Hot Homes,” meaning they’re likely to sell quickly. Most homes for sale in Downtown Salt Lake City stay on the market for 48 days and receive 1 offers. In the past month, 18 homes have been sold in Downtown Salt Lake City. In addition to houses in Downtown Salt Lake City, there were also 89 condos, 12 townhouses, and 1 multi-family unit for sale in Downtown Salt Lake City last month.

As per Redfin.com’s statistics, the asking price of homes for sale in Downtown Salt Lake City has increased 13.9% since August last year, while the number of homes for sale has decreased 1.7%. The average price of a 2 bedroom house in Downtown Salt Lake City is around $375,000.

Courtesy – Redfin.com

Popular neighborhoods include Yalecrest, Liberty Park, Federal Heights, Toronto, Highland Park, South Carolina, Ensign Place, Central City, Fairpark, Capitol Hill, Marmalade Hills, East Central, Liberty Wells, Central City-Liberty ells, and Gateway Townhouses. This map is refreshed with the newest listings in Downtown Salt Lake City every 15 minutes.

10 Reasons To Invest In The Salt Lake City Real Estate Market

Salt Lake City is home to around 200,000 people. However, the Salt Lake City real estate market is much larger than that, since Salt Lake City is the center of an expanding metropolitan area. The SLC metro area is home to well over a million people. If you look at Salt Lake City as the hub of the SLC-Ogden-Provo metro area, there are about two and a half million people in the greater Salt Lake City housing market. This area is called the Wasatch Front because it is along the foot of the Wasatch Range.

Positive Demographic Trends

The total fertility rate for the United States hovers between 1.8 and 2.1 depending on the source you want to believe. Mormons, the majority of the population in Salt Lake City and Utah as a whole, have an average of 3.4 children. This puts constant pressure on the Salt Lake City real estate market. It also makes the Salt Lake City housing market unusual in the demand for homes with multiple bedrooms suitable for large families. There is a niche in the Salt Lake City real estate market for large luxury homes, but it is notable for the sheer demand for 4 and more bedrooms in affordable neighborhoods.

Near Certain Appreciation

Demand is one factor in the equation that determines the price of housing. The other is supply. Salt Lake City has seen an increase in housing construction since the economy rebounded under Trump. However, geography limits how and where homes can be built. This is causing home prices to appreciate significantly, and there is no evidence SLC could over-build the way Phoenix, Arizona did before the Great Recession under Obama. A subtle issue hitting Utah is the relative shortage of skilled building trade talent despite the influx of people coming to work in business and tech.

Known Development Corridors

Salt Lake City sits at the intersection of I-80 and I-15. Industry tends to spread out along the highways, and housing follows. Investors in the Salt Lake City real estate market can buy land to develop or invest in housing projects being built in expectation of workers who will soon move to the area.

Salt Lake City Market Is Everything Which California Isn’t

California is experiencing an incredible divergence from its ideals. While there is still a red-hot housing market in Silicon Valley, the state also has the highest poverty levels in the nation. They’re chasing businesses out of the state through oppressive regulation and high taxes. In contrast, Salt Lake City is booming because it is business friendly.

So many California tech firms have relocated to SLC that the area is now nicknamed “Silicon Slopes”. Forbes listed Salt Lake City first on its list of “next tech meccas”. The city is already home to many new startups. Where there are currently good paying jobs, new residents are sure to move in. And that only puts more pressure on the Salt Lake City housing market. The very low crime rate in Utah compared to surrounding states is merely an added bonus.

The Low Cost of Living

Housing aside, another reason why people relocate from the West Coast to Utah is the low cost of living. In fact, the $400,000 house in Utah with four bedrooms and a yard looks cheap when you sold a two bedroom condo for 50% more than that in California. The overall cost of living in Utah is cheaper than the nation overall, and it is far cheaper than California, so many choose to relocate here from the high-cost states on the coast.

The Growing Rental Market

The Salt Lake City housing market can’t keep up with demand, and this is pushing many Millennials and new residents into the rental market. While many would like to own a home, affordability is an issue for the young would-be home owner; the average Millennial earns $68,000 a year while the median home price is $400,000. This explains why Salt Lake City has some of the fastest growing rents in the country. Rents in Utah as a whole grew 2.6% year over year, only surpassed by Nevada’s blistering 3.5% increase. In 2010, downtown Salt Lake City had just 5,200 rental units. By 2020, that number will nearly double to 10,000, including units in a new $90 million high-rise called Liberty Sky, a 24-story all-residential tower unprecedented in Salt Lake’s history.

Landlord Friendliness

Salt Lake City does require landlords to get a business license, even if you just own one rental home. Fees that you are required to pay as part of the rental program depends on how well maintained the units are. However, SLC in general is very landlord friendly. Eviction for nonpayment of rent can get someone out in two to four weeks. Courts regularly side with landlords and award triple fees for damages by a tenant. If someone violates the terms of the lease, they have three days to correct the situation. You can end a month to month tenancy with 15 days of notice.

Affordable Multi-Family Units

Investors in the Salt Lake City real estate market may be pleased to know that multi-family housing is surprisingly affordable. The average townhome costs around $270,000. Two unit structures cost less than the average single family home, coming in at $350,000. Units with five or more apartments cost about $230,000 each. Note that the median rent throughout the Salt Lake City area is around $1600.

Multiple Luxury Markets

Downtown Salt Lake City properties near the Mormon Temple command a premium, but that isn’t the only upscale market in the area. Park City and the northern side of Oakley, too, have properties that cost on average well over a million dollars. As you move up Highway 80 toward Hoytsville and Wanship, properties routinely cost more than a million dollars despite the hour commute to Salt Lake City.

Housing Is Infinitely More Stable than Other Real Estate Sectors in Salt Lake City

Real estate investing in Utah is not limited to the Salt Lake City housing market. One could invest in industrial properties, commercial real estate and agricultural land. Investing in the Salt Lake City real estate market should be in housing, though, for several reasons. First, the office and retail markets in Salt Lake City are cyclical, and this is only partially mollified by investments by the Mormon Church when prices are low. Compare this to the stability and certainty of the housing market, since the population growth is near 2% and job growth is at 3%.

Salt Lake City Downtown Is Booming With Development

So what makes Salt Lake City Downtown so appealing to home buyers and investors? Throughout the last decade Salt Lake City has seen a significant increase in development, from City Creek Center to 111 Main, these and other developments have played a crucial role in improving the vibrancy of downtown. Like the rest of the state, Salt Lake City Downtown is benefiting from the region’s healthy economy. More people live and work in downtown than ever before. But according to local real estate experts and representatives from the Downtown Alliance, despite the boom, the supply in downtown Salt Lake City isn’t catching up to the demand and more development is needed in the city’s central business district to accommodate the growing demand for housing and office space. The Urban Land Institute ranked it the nation’s third-best market for commercial development in its 2018 Emerging Trends report, fueled in part by the big names relocating here like Goldman Sachs, which now has the fourth-largest office in the world in Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City is enjoying a housing market boom because of an ideal combination of business growth triggering in-migration and strong native population growth. And with a variety of affordable homes in high-quality neighborhoods, it is a market that is not yet closed to first-time home buyers looking for a piece of the action. While the city limits encompass 110 square miles, downtown runs nearly two miles from east to west and nearly two miles north to south. Salt Lake City’s population is also very young. The largest percentage of the city’s population falls in the 25 to 39-year-old age group. Couple that with a high school graduation rate, and a large number of college graduates and you have an attractive workforce for many large companies.

Tips For New Buyers Looking To Invest In Markets Like Salt Lake City, Utah

If you are a beginner in real estate investment business, it very important to read good books on real estate. You must also learn from successful real estate investors who have retired early on in their lives by investing in some of the best real estate markets like Salt Lake City, UT.

Like the Salt Lake City real estate market, the other housing market to go for to diversify your investments is the Baltimore real estate market. The Baltimore real estate market has been in decline for years, but a number of spots offer significant returns. And there are signs that the city is starting to turn around. The Baltimore real estate market around the new industrial parks built to cater to Amazon will boom, because we can expect as many jobs from Amazon’s suppliers in those areas as Amazon itself – and those workers will want to live close to work. The Baltimore real estate market is promising and shows a new increase of opportunities for both buyers and sellers.

Similarly, Cincinnati, OH is another great market for investing in real estate for your retirement. Cincinnati real estate market is on the upswing and looking strong for the foreseeable future. It provides a number of opportunities to investors, regardless of the market you want to invest in.

Following the housing market decline in 2007, single family rental properties became favorable options for investors, saving in construction or refurbishment prices. The quick turnaround for an owner to rent out their property means cash flow is almost immediate. Single family rental homes have grown up to 30% within the last three years. Almost all the housing demand in the US in recent years has been filled by single family rental units.

For references and article source: visit http://www.noradarealestate.com/blog/salt-lake-city-real-estate/