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Northern
Utah is hot these days, not only in terms of weather, but also with
regard to activities, entertainment, and national exposure! The
Salomon Center, newly opened at The Junction in Ogden last month,
features the iRock climbing wall, Flowrider pool, and iFly wind
tunnel, as well as Gold's Gym, a bowling alley, restaurants, and a
nearby Megaplex 13 theatre. Ogden was highlighted in a New
York Times article on
June 22.
Nancy K. Stukan, e-PRO, GRI
Great American Realty, Eden UT
cell: 801-866-2848 fax: 801-745-9294
http://www.NancysEden.com
Though Mayor Godfrey
has recently withdrawn his backing for a city-supported gondola from
Ogden's downtown transportation center to Weber State University,
interest in local outdoor activity venues continues to increase, as
exemplified by the recent announcement that Snowbasin will host the
U.S. National Snowshoe Championship on March 8, 2008, to be held in
conjunction with the inaugural Xterra Winter World Championship.
{mos_ri}
Following
Ogden Valley's frenzied market run-up from mid-2004 to mid-2006,
we're now experiencing growing inventory, increasing DOM (days on
market), and reductions in single family residential average listing
and sales prices year-to-date (YTD) for 2007. A review of all YTD
closed residential sales reveals frequent price reductions of 5-10%,
with some even higher, from initial listing price to final sold
price. These dynamics are creating opportunities for Buyers, who are
currently showing a preference for lower-priced properties as
evidenced by the fact that well over half of the 265 new YTD Valley
residential listings were priced above $450,000 but less than a third
of the 56 sales in 2007 have been over $450,000.
For
the first time in the past three years, Ogden statistics show a small
decrease in numbers of single family residential sales and percentage
of new listings sold. DOM has continued to decrease and average
sales prices have increased, by about 9% YTD, for both condos and
single family homes, and average listing prices are up by about 20%.
The continued strength of the Ogden market will be tied to the
success of Mayor Godfrey's ongoing campaign to strengthen the
socioeconomic infrastructure there.
Fortunately,
Utah has not experienced the epidemic of foreclosures seen in other
places due to its strong economy and lower prevalence of sub-prime
loans.
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