Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Affordability the byword for this year’s Salt Lake Parade of Homes

This year’s Salt Lake Parade of Homes is a long-awaited celebration of the return of the homebuyer.

Five years after the housing market along the Wasatch Front went bust, sales of new homes are slowly on the rebound.

"With lower prices and 3½ to 4 percent mortgage rates, people are seeing that they can get more home than they could before," said Paul Peterson, executive officer with the Salt Lake Home Builders Association. "It’s brought affordability back."

In 2007, at the height of the market, builders took out permits for the construction of more than 7,200 homes along the Wasatch Front from January through July. By 2008, building activity plummeted to about 2,600 permits in that same period.

This year, builders took out 3,788 permits in that time frame — a five year high that’s up 28 percent from during the same period last year. Salt Lake Tribune