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Will Utah Home Values Appreciate or Depreciate in 2020?

Will Home Values Appreciate or Depreciate in 2020?

With the housing market staggered to some degree by the health crisis the country is currently facing, some potential purchasers are questioning whether home values will be impacted. The price of any item is determined by supply as well as the market’s demand for that item.

Each month the National Association of Realtors (NAR) surveys “over 50,000 real estate practitioners about their expectations for home sales, prices and market conditions” for the REALTORS Confidence Index.

Their latest edition sheds some light on the relationship between seller traffic (supply) and buyer traffic (demand) during this pandemic.

Buyer Demand

The map below was created after asking the question: “How would you rate buyer traffic in your area?”The darker the blue, the stronger the demand for homes is in that area. The survey shows that in 34 of the 50 U.S. states, buyer demand is now ‘strong’ and 16 of the 50 states have a ‘stable’ demand.

Seller Supply

The index also asks: “How would you rate seller traffic in your area?”As the map above indicates, 46 states and Washington, D.C. reported ‘weak’ seller traffic, 3 states reported ‘stable’ seller traffic, and 1 state reported ‘strong’ seller traffic. This means there are far fewer homes on the market than what is needed to satisfy the needs of buyers looking for homes right now.

With demand still stronger than supply, home values should not depreciate.

What are the experts saying?

Here are the thoughts of three industry experts on the subject:

Ivy Zelman:

“We note that inventory as a percent of households sits at the lowest level ever, something we believe will limit the overall degree of home price pressure through the year.”

Mark Fleming, Chief Economist, First American:

“Housing supply remains at historically low levels, so house price growth is likely to slow, but it’s not likely to go negative.”

Freddie Mac:

“Two forces prevent a collapse in house prices. First, as we indicated in our earlier research report, U.S. housing markets face a large supply deficit. Second, population growth and pent up household formations provide a tailwind to housing demand.”

Bottom Line

Looking at these maps and listening to the experts, it seems that prices will remain stable throughout 2020. If you’re thinking about listing your home, let’s connect to discuss how you can capitalize on the somewhat surprising demand in the market now.

Whats Trending in Outdoor Kitchens?

Outdoor kitchens have been popular for years. Not only do they give you an excuse to enjoy beautiful weather outdoors but they’re also great for entertaining. Having a nice outdoor kitchen can even improve the overall value of your home! While these kitchens were once thought to be a fad, they actually seem to be getting more and more popular as time goes by.

If you’re thinking of adding an outdoor kitchen to your home, you might be wondering how to make sure that your new kitchen fits with the current trends in outdoor kitchen design. While the final decision comes down to you and your tastes, here are a few hot trends to help form the design of your new outdoor kitchen.

Rustic Looks Are King

Once upon a time, outdoor kitchens were little more than blocks of brick and mortar with an oven or grill built in. Now they’ve really grown, and their overall look has grown as well. One of the really popular trends in outdoor cooking spaces is to give them a rustic or even semi-rustic look; brick and stone still play a part, but so do aged wood and similar accents like corrugated metal. Brick flooring and rustic whitewashing are also fairly popular, as they give the whole kitchen area a very part-of-the-home feel.

Semi-Outdoor Chic

While some outdoor kitchens are completely separate from the home, one growing trend is to build them into a covered deck area or other space that connects to the home. Adding a bit of roofing and a few partial walls or supports capitalizes on the outdoor feel of the space while still giving you a bit of privacy and control over the space you’ll be cooking in.

Accessible Food Prep

When outdoor kitchens first started becoming popular, the usual approach was to do all the food prep inside and then bring things out to cook. Over time, though, homeowners have shifted toward wanting to do some if not all of their prep outdoors as well. This means that modern outdoor kitchens provide access to counter-space, butcher block cutting boards that are built in to the surface, and other prep-area essentials. They also offer up sinks and other sources of water, and many include mini-fridges to keep fresh ingredients cool until they’re needed as well. Some outdoor kitchens even come equipped with dishwashers to provide beginning-to-end cooking solutions!

Pizza Ovens Remain Popular

A lot of outdoor kitchens got their start as an excuse to install brick pizza ovens, and these outdoor ovens remain popular today. The types of pizza ovens that people want have evolved a bit, however. While you’ll still see plenty of very basic brick pizza ovens, clay ovens and more traditional gas or electric ovens are also gaining popularity. The type of pizza oven you choose depends largely on personal preference, just so long as there’s a place for you to cook a pizza out there somewhere.

Outdoor Storage

One other major trend in outdoor kitchens is an increase in available storage space for various tools and other kitchen implements. Some of these spaces are simple, with shelves or reclaimed crates as a place to hold items temporarily. Others are much fancier, including “windows” attached to the house that open to reveal service settings and everything else you need to enjoy a good meal outdoors. There are lockable storage solutions, open-air storage solutions and just about everything else that you can think of available. Basically, it’s a good idea to include all the storage that you would want in your regular kitchen when building a kitchen outdoors.

Tips for Moving Into Your New Home

Congratulations, you’ve bought your home and it’s move-in time. Wait! Before you move in, read on to get some practical and important tips.

Change the locks. You’ve closed escrow and the keys to your new home are yours.

The first thing you should do is change the locks. It’s hard to say who may have access to your home. Anyone from real estate agents to the sellers or maintenance people: all could still have a set of keys to your home. Be safe and change the locks first thing.

If the home doesn’t have deadbolts on the doors, install them. If the door has glass on it, be sure you install a deadbolt that uses a key to unlock from both sides.

If someone is breaking into your house and there is glass on the door, it can be shattered and the intruder can just reach through the broken glass and turn the deadbolt. Instead use a key deadbolt and keep an extra key near the door but out of reach and out of sight from the outside.

Create an inventory of your belongings. Don’t risk losing something that means a lot to you. Take an inventory of all your belongings. It’s best if you can pack your items in clearly labeled and numbered boxes that are marked for particular rooms, such as kitchen or bathroom supplies.

Using an inventory sheet to detail what each box contains will make it so much easier to unpack and remember where things are. You may need to find something quickly before you’re fully unpacked. If you’re using movers or friends and family to help, the inventory sheet will also help you keep track of your stuff and make sure that it all ends up in your new home. You can find moving inventory sheets on the Web.

Repair and paint while the home is empty. It’s a no-brainer but sometimes goes overlooked. If you have to make major repairs, try to do them before you move in. It’s easier to take care of major maintenance or messy repair jobs when the home is empty.

So, give your new home a good look and mark down the maintenance needs, then try to plan your move-in dates for after the work is completed. Even if the work is being done in an entirely different room, it still helps to have the house empty. That way you can feel better about leaving workers in the home while you’re not there because your home is empty.

Whole-House cleaning. It’s maybe the only time you’ll have this opportunity. Give the entire house a good top-to-bottom cleaning. It’s a great way to start a new life in a fresh, clean home. Plus it’s a lot easier to clean everything when nothing is inside to be moved around.

This is a good time to make sure things like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are all functioning properly. Change the batteries on them so that you can track the need for new batteries with the anniversary of the home purchase.

Thinking ahead and taking a few extra steps will save you time and energy. It will simplify the move-in process and make your home a safe place to get good sleep on your first night.

Source: WRITTEN BY REALTY TIMES STAFF https://realtytimes.com/consumeradvice/buyersadvice/item/1000711-20170317-tips-for-moving-into-your-new-home?rtmpage=GaleTeam

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