Wasatch Front Real Estate Video Blog with Spencer Janke

Wasatch Front Real Estate Market Update

Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report
Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access.

Today we're going to be filling you in on the real estate market on the Wasatch Front. We hope that you'll use this information to your own advantage when you enter the market to buy, sell, or invest. Here is a brief explanation of what's happening:

Last year at this time in Salt Lake, there were 3,765 active listings available, and this year we only have 3,351. This is an 11% decrease.
In 2014 at this time, there were 1,469 homes under contract, but there are currently 2,311 properties under contract right now. That is a 40% increase.

What this means for you is that you need to be prepared for an extremely hot spring market here in Salt Lake City. Prices will be rising, and buyers will be able to afford bigger and better homes with low interest rates and great new loan products for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

You'll also need to remember that spring is now. We're already seeing a lot of activity in the market, and we don't want you to miss out on the action. If you've been thinking about buying or selling, now is the time to make your move!

If you're selling, keep in mind that you're in a seller's market, so you have the chance to get top dollar in a sale. Buyers are motivated to purchase, so if your home is not selling, then you may have overpriced your home.

Please reach out to us if you need any assistance with real estate in Salt Lake City. We're always willing to speak with you!

Should You Rent or Buy a Home on the Wasatch Front?

Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report

Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access.

Recently, many people have asked us whether it's better to rent or to buy real estate. Today, we provide some tips to help you make the right decision in our current market.

There is really no clear cut answer when it comes to the question of renting or buying. In 2008, our peak median price in Salt Lake County was $256,000; of course, our market began a steady decline shortly after and we had a four-year downturn. During that time, in winter of 2012, the median price had dropped to $190,000. If you wanted to make a general statement about the market during that time, you could say that most people lost about one-third of what their home was worth.

However, since the winter of 2012, the market has made a strong comeback - the market bounced off the bottom in only six quarters. Now, we are 88% of where the market was at the peak back in 2008.

So, given this information, is it safer to buy or to rent in Salt Lake City?

The reality is no one has a crystal ball, and trying to time the market can be dangerous. It's very tough to perfectly hit the peak and bust times.

If you're trying to decide whether to rent or buy, you need to examine the facts of the market. At the moment, it's a phenomenal time to buy real estate. Median price in Salt Lake County is currently at $250,000, interest rates are at historic lows, and the market is in a very stable place. When looking at Salt Lake's demographics and market trends, you'll see that we are experiencing solid job growth, have some of the lowest unemployment numbers in the country, and have some of the strongest appreciation rates among other cities our size.

If you can find low rates, strong appreciation, and strong market fundamentals in any area, you have a very good reason to purchase real estate. Salt Lake City has a very cyclical spring market - we usually see most of the year's appreciation between the months of March and July. In our opinion, right now is the best time to buy!

If you would like to discuss this topic further, or if you have any real estate questions of any kind, don't hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an email at any time. We would love to assist you!

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Why work with us?

When not selling real estate, Spencer can be found either climbing Mt. Blanc in France or enjoying the fresh Utah Snow at any ski resort with his wife. He graduated from the University of Utah with a dual degree in Economics and Communications. Spencer is a salesman through and through, he enjoys the prospecting part of the job and feels the more peopel he can talk to, the faster a home will sell. Spencer prides himself in his ability to communicate with the client and work through any problem that could arise during a transaction. Over the past 8 years he has earned many awards for being one of the top salesmen in the Salt Lake area. His passion is evident from the moment you meet him. If you need to talk to an agent at 11:00 on a Saturday night to ask a question, Spencer is your guy!

Utah Cribs
6430 South 3000 East Suite 600
Cottonwood heights, Utah 84121
801-671-7877
Spencer@UtahCribs.com

Click to hear recent
testimonials from happy clients

Heather "Spencer was was a good Realtor to work with. He was easy to get a hold of, flexible, and willing to go out and search for houses whenever was convenient for us. In one case we got a baby sitter last minute and I sent him a text asking if he was available to go out and search for houses and he said he was available and quickly set up all the appointments."

Heather "Spencer was recommended to us by a Mortgage Broker. He was very knowledgeable about the market as well as the area. You can tell he has been in a lot of houses so he was able to make comparisons between properties. He was always very easy to schedule home tours with and was flexible with my schedule."

Matt "My experience working with Spencer was great. The other agent in our transaction was kind of tough to work with and Spencer did an excellent job of communicating with someone who was difficult to communicate with. I felt like he really fought for the things that we needed."

Lauren "We had a great time working with Spencer. He was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. I really appreciated that he spent hours with us each time we went out to look at houses. His effort helped us find a great house."

Jeremy "We got our house sold in a pretty timely fashion. Spencer put a lot of effort into defusing negotiations with the buyer on our behalf which made things easy on us. He also spent extra time into marketing the property which helped it sell faster. We were very satisfied with our results"

Scott -"He was terrific, he found us a home and made the process very smooth. We were in California and he was here in Utah. He came out and found everything and made sure everything was in order for us to move in. Between my trips back and forth he even sent someone over to mow the lawn so that everything would be looking its best"

Nick -"Our experience was great. Spencer was able to help us out in multiple transactions. He was even willing to help us move from the house that we sold and help us hire an architect for a remodel!"

Nick -"Our results were exceptional. We looked at a home over the weekend without Peter and found a home that we really liked. We contacted him to see if we could put an offer on the house and he responded the same day. We were so appreciated that he was willing to take the time out of his weekend to help us!"

Cathy - "We’ve worked with Spencer twice now and both times we’ve had very positive results. Spencer is an exceptional real estate agent because he has a real passion for what he does. He’s extremely intuitive and he knows how to be aggressive without being offensive. He responded quickly to any questions or concerns that we had and answered our phone calls, texts, and emails within hours of us trying to contact him. He’s just very trustworthy, reliable, and fun to work with!"

Dan - "Our results were exceptional. I have worked with quite a few properties in the last 10 years and my agents had been fairly decent but Jake really goes above and beyond. Everything was exceptional from the marketing campaigns, his thoroughness, keeping us informed of what was going on, and just presenting the property better than anyone else! He was always available and tells you the why behind what you’re doing, which I really liked."

Mark - "We had good results when we worked with Spencer. The first thing he did was sit us down and ask us what we wanted and where we wanted to live. Being that it was our first home, we didn’t know a whole lot about the process so it was really great that he had knowledge of the whole area. We told him what we liked and he helped us realize that we could go in different areas. He went above and beyond and was in constant contact with us. He did a lot of research to find the perfect home for us! "

Marthes - "We had positive results with Spencer and he’d really make sure to get things done. He managed to pull miracles to get the home closed. There were 3 or 4 obstacles that had my wife and I thinking that it was gone but Spencer wouldn’t give up. He always wanted to try again and he managed to pull it through "

Ryan - "I had gone through about 4 other real estate agents before I got to Spencer and working with him was a success! He’s just super professional. I was nervous getting out there and looking at houses but he made it comfortable to actually get out there and do it. He’s a really good real estate agent especially compared to the other’s I’ve dealt with. He found the right places and helped us realize that we were making a financial decision instead of an emotional one. "

Tom - "Jake is a fantastic agent, and we’ve worked with each other a lot over the years. He was always attentive and explained everything really well. He and Spencer both have always been great and had my back. He was quick to supply suggestions to help the process. He has always gone above and beyond."

Sean - "Katrina was excellent. In just a short amount of time, we were able to find a home that had great value and great equity. Katrina got me a really good deal! Initially, the sellers thought they could take some appliances with them, but Katrina followed up and made sure they understood the contract. She really went above and beyond to make sure that those items stayed in the house for us!"

Nate - "Jake is a great Realtor! He’s very familiar with the Utah market, and was focused on finding a good home that would also have a great return on investment. He was with us the whole time, explaining things and negotiating for us—he would meet up with us any time! It was quite a pleasant experience."

Krystin - "Communication with Jake was really, really great! Even if he was busy when I first contacted him, he would always follow up with me right away. There weren't a lot of houses on the market at that time, so he would find us houses that hadn't even been put on the market yet. If he wasn't available, he’d put us in touch with someone on his team and they would come down right away to show us a place. Even if it was a Sunday, Jake made sure we were able to see the houses we wanted to see. It was a great experience!"

Chris - "They did a great job, and my home sold quickly! I actually got my asking price for it, and the whole process was seamless. Victor happened to be gone one day, and another person from their team just picked right up where he left off. They work well together as a team! Just through the whole process, we didn't miss a beat. "

Heidie - "The first time we worked with Katrina, our house went under contract in three days! She’s an energetic person and a hard worker. She made sure to contact other Realtors even before our house was for sale, so we had multiple offers on the house as soon as it was on the market. She made sure that everything went smoothly, and kept us updated throughout. She definitely goes above and beyond in terms of communicating with us. It was a pretty amazing experience! "

Ron - "He got the house sold a lot sooner than we thought it would. He stays on top of things. He also did a great job working through the little repairs the buyer wanted. He even offered to take care of a few of them himself to make sure the deal went through. He’s always willing to help out, and he’s always willing to give us the time we need to make sure that we’re on top of his list of things to do."

Doug -"They were able to get us the type of house that we wanted. We had a bit of trouble with some of the appraisals that came in, and they were able to get about $4,000 of the price. My wife was the one who looked around at most of the houses. She asked to see this one house, and Spencer told her that she’d already seen it. She wasn’t sure, so he took her over anyway. Once they got there, she remembered it. That’s actually the house we wound up buying, so I’m really glad that Spencer was willing to go back!"

Irene -"They sold our house! They communicated regularly, and helped with the negotiations. I think the communication was really good!"

Bryson -"They sold our condo for $5,000 more than we listed it! Then they helped us find a house, and they were very helpful throughout. Spencer Janke educated us on market trends. He was very knowledgeable. Peter was good at making sure that we were able to see a house whenever we wanted. If he couldn’t make it, he would send someone from the team to help us. It seemed like they made it a point to help us whenever we needed it!"

Kerry -"We were looking for a home, and Jake narrowed it down to what we wanted. We looked at a number of homes. He gave us good feedback, and we ended up purchasing a home. He was very good about following up with us. We were out of town, so he sent us listings that fit our criteria. When we were in town, he made himself available to show us homes. He was very good about understanding what we needed and what we wanted, and he lined up homes that fit that criteria!"

LeGrand -"Oh, it was fantastic! They were very responsive and sent updates often. When we found properties we were interested in; they were able to get us in there and see them quickly. Their knowledge of the market was very helpful; they were great negotiators as well. I always felt; like, I was getting a good deal and that they knew what they were doing."

Josh -"Both Jake and Mike were always accessible. They went out of their way to be open to anything that we talked about, showing me as many properties as I wanted to see. They always had creative ideas, because we were looking for a remodel. They always had creative ideas of what we could do with the properties."

Cathy -"Spencer has a real passion for his work in real estate and it is just a joy to work with him. He's helped us find two homes here in Utah. First, we were transferring from Atlanta. My husband got a job here in Utah, quite a change from Atlanta. We were just impressed by Spencer's knowledge of the area and his willingness to really work with us to find what would work for our family. Five years after that we moved again and he helped us again find the right place...very positive experience. We found a home that we really loved and a lot of other people were interested in the home. He just acted really quickly, he was able to meet me over at the house the very morning that I called him and set things up to expedite the process...just really good timing. He just went above and beyond in his willingness to act very quickly on that process for us."

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Wasatch Front Real Estate Market Update

Should You Rent or Buy a Home on the Wasatch Front?