According to a poll conducted by Dan Jones Assoc. and released by KSL & Desert News, it seems that most Salt Lake County residents believe the split up of the Jordan School District that created the Canyons School District has not been fair for the students, taxpayers and employees of the southwest side of the Salt Lake Valley.

The poll also asked whether county residents believe the school district controversy reflects a deeper cultural divide between the east and west sides of the county.  According to the poll, 67 percent either "probably" or "definitely" agree the dispute reflects an underlying issue of whether east-side residents receive preferential treatment by government over west-siders.

They polled an equal number of residents from either side of I-15 (regarded as the division between east and west sections of the valley.

The Canyons District is headquartered in Sandy and covers homes as far south as Draper and north to Cottonwood heights and Midvale.  It also includes the small town of Alta.  The Jordan School District is headquartered in West Jordan, and also includes homes in South Jordan, Riverton, Bluffdale, and Herriman.

The previous information was derived from KSL.com

I’ve been getting more and more calls from clients wanting to rush out and go look at an unbelievable deal they found searching on the MLS.  About 99% of the time, the home they have found is a short sale. 

Short sales are a complicated process.  This blog post is about how they are priced.  To understand what a short sale is, follow this link… http://hoffee.com/foreclosure_short_sale.aspx

Just today I found a new listing for a 7000 square foot home sitting on an acre lot at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon in Sandy listed for $449,000.  I’d buy it sight unseen.  The land alone is worth close to that.  Incidentally, this same property has been on the market with another brokerage for over a year and a half, but the asking price was $1,250,000.  The new listing is with a new broker, and is now a short sale.

Was the first agent that much overpriced?  Highly unlikely, but the fact the home didn’t sell indicates the property was at least somewhat overpriced.  With a drive-by, a look at county records, and a CMA, I estimate the property is worth about $875,000 - $975,000 (depending on interior materials and condition).  But now it’s listed for only $449,000!  The deal of a lifetime. 

Unfortunately for the potential buyer, that home will not sell anywhere near $449,000.  The unsuspecting consumer who stumbles across this listing is being duped.

Why does this happen?  Banks are overwhelmed with mitigating properties.  When a homeowner determines their best option to avoiding foreclosure is to attempt a short sale, they prepare and submit their short sale packet to the bank.  The bank however, won’t even look at the packet to see if the homeowner has demonstrated a sufficient hardship to qualify for a short sale until they also submit an offer from a willing and able buyer.

So there the packet sits, in a pile on some banker’s desk, until the homeowner’s agent submits an offer.  With the amount of competition out there, and even if a home is priced reasonably at market value, it could take months to obtain an offer. 

To avoid this eternal waiting period, and to get the bank to start processing the file in a timely manner, some agents are pricing properties ridiculously low to get a quick offer in to the bank. 

Even though bank procedures are the root of this problem, I believe it is unethical for agents to price properties in this manner.  They are creating false expectations to buyers, and even though they are doing it with good intentions, they appear dishonest.  Not to mention they are creating more unnecessary work for themselves and their fellow agents.  A more appropriate price point is 10% -15% below the low end of market value.

How will the Wasatch Front and greater Salt Lake City real estate market be in 2010?  The Salt Lake Board of Realtors just released its Salt Lake Housing Forecast – a study by James Wood, Director of the University of Utah’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.  James’ research looks at both current and historical trends.

In it are some obvious points.  We are still in a buyer’s market, and home values have dropped significantly.  The tally for 2009 wasn’t as bad as 2008 which indicates the worst is most likely behind us.  In fact, economists are predicting a 10% increase in home sales for 2010.  This may raise a concern by the many who have been waiting to time the market perfectly.  While the volume of transactions is likely to increase, prices probably won’t.  There are still too many lender mitigated properties driving the market to see any increase in values.  This isn’t to say we are going to continue dropping largely.  Prices may continue to decline, but we are very near leveling off.

The Utah housing market bubble wasn’t nearly as big as the national average.  We typically lag behind the national trends by several years.  When the national housing boom peaked in 2005 after a strong 5-7 year run, Utah’s housing market was still extremely undervalued, and our boom was just getting started.  Following those trends, Utah’s housing market would continue to grow for another 5 years or more.  In fact, while the majority of the country’s home prices were falling in 2006 & 2007, Utah was among the top in the nation in home value appreciation.  The mortgage crisis and financial meltdown in 2007 burst our bubble before it had the opportunity to fully inflate.  Fortunately for us, the less we climbed, the less we had to fall.

Utah short sales and foreclosures will continue to influence the market and interest rates are expected to hover around 5% making 2010 a particularly good year for the investor and the move-up buyer.