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Enhanced tax credit provides $8,000 incentive to first-time buyers

One of the biggest wins for first-time home buyers in last week's economic stimulus bill is a tax credit up to $8,000 for qualified purchases of a primary residence. Increased from last year’s original $7,500 home buyer tax credit, this new incentive does not have to be repaid, making it a true tax credit rather than an interest-free loan.

UAR releases fourth quarter home sales statistics

Fourth quarter 2008 Utah home sales dropped about 17 percent, and average prices were down about 10 percent compared to the final quarter of 2007. Excluding Park City numbers that can inflate the average, prices were down almost 4 percent statewide. Year over year, home sales were down in every area of the state except in Utah, Morgan, San Juan, Carbon and Emery counties. The only areas to see single-family price increases were Brigham/Tremonton, Cache/Rich, Carbon/Emery, Central Utah and San Juan County. Utah and Davis were the only counties to see increases in condo prices.

Housing affordability up in Utah

Housing affordability was up in all major metropolitan areas in Utah during fourth quarter 2008, the result of both lower home prices and cheaper mortgage financing, according to The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index, which measures the percentage of new and existing homes sold in a given area that are considered affordable to those earning the median income.

The index reported the biggest quarterly affordability gain in St. George, where the percentage of affordable homes increased from 33.8 percent to 41.7 percent. The Provo-Orem metropolitan statistical area saw the second-biggest gain, with 53.3 percent of homes sold considered affordable, compared to the previous quarter’s 48.2 percent. The Salt Lake MSA came in third with affordability increasing from 55.3 percent to 58 percent. Finally, the Ogden-Clearfield MSA had the state’s smallest quarterly affordability gain but remained the state’s most affordable metro overall, according to the index. During the fourth quarter, 69.6 percent of Ogden-Clearfield homes were considered affordable, up from the previous quarter’s 67 percent. The HOI does not track affordability in the Logan metro area.