Salt Lake County single-family home sales decreased 9 percent for the second quarter compared to the same period last year. The Salt Lake Board of Realtors reports nearly 33-hundred homes were sold in the county. That was down from a little more than 36-hundred homes last year. Angie Neldon is the current President of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors.
“We are comparing it to 2013 which was the best year in 7 years for our real estate. So even though the sales have come down 9 percent," says Neldon, "just keep it in perspective because 2014 is still a great year in real estate, it’s just not as great as it was in 2013 for sales. And so it’s just a slight correction that needed to happen.”
Jeremy Lowry is the President of the Home Finance Division at Zions Bank. He says banks are gearing up for big growth in new home construction, single-family home sales and home equity products for this year and next.
“We’ll increase by about 35 percent our residential lending staff because we feel like the market will more than support that,” says Lowry.
He says the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates low made 2013 an unusual year for the housing industry coming out of the recession. Lowry says borrowers are now wiser with their money and how they use home equity and that helps banks fund home buyers.
