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Real Estate agents are thought of as celebrities. We make large commissions for the work we do! Make no mistake about it sometimes we get large commissions, sometimes small commissions and sometimes no commissions for the work we do. It all works out in the end.  Back to my celebrity idea.

I needed to go to the post office the other day and realized that I would need to wear my sun glasses through the visit hoping that no one would recognize me.  This thought made me laugh inside and I thought about celebrities and how they have a difficult time going out due to being recognized. I was having fun with this thought in my head!

Due to the holiday season I have been getting a little bit slouchy. What is slouchy?  For me: sleep in a little bit later. Shower later. Wear no makeup. Not worry so much about how your hair looks or what you are wearing.  After all you have no work appointments.  Staying home is nice! So if you have to go anywhere,  put on the hat and sunglasses and go for anonymity.

It gets hard to do real estate  the week of Christmas leading up to new years day. Title companies and mortgage companies  as well as many other companies are  working with  limited staff so not working much has turned into a good solution, rather than worrying about not working so much!

Getting Ready for the Coming Year

On the back end as real estate agents we are usually busy doing prep work such as market research, updating past client lists and organizing our future agenda. Personally I like to get all my holiday shopping  and socializing done early so that the last two weeks of the year I am free to relax.  Relaxing involves the above description of slouching as well as more TV watching than I normally do. I find the end of the year is a good time to work on  de-cluttering and downsizing of my stuff.

We Just Got Over the Holidays Thank Goodness!

Back to reality!  In our market area there is not a lot going on from Dec. 22 to Jan. 3. In fact in our market area it typically slows down Dec. to Feb. and starts picking up again in March. Our busiest real estate months are usually April to June. If you go back and look at market trends for the last 20 years you will see the correlation. We have  some what of a seasonal market in the Wasatch Front area.

Slower Market Due to Winter Season

The market slowing down during this time of year doesn’t mean that there are no real estate transactions going on. It just means there are a lot less transactions going on, less buyers and sellers than usual. One thing to remember is that people that are dedicated to buying and selling during this time of year are generally committed to the idea and need to get it done. It can actually be a good time to complete a real estate transaction with this in mind.  Buyers and sellers are usually a bit more motivated meaning they have to get the purchase done due to a very specific reason such as a job transfer or some other life event.

Market Trends 2015

This last year our market was more normal! Past years we have had holiday periods when sales never slowed the pace was fast.  We have had times when the whole year was  extremely slow.  We have had many normal years throughout my career. I hope for many more normal years! Slow years are hard to make it through and fast years are hard too because everyone and their dog becomes a real estate agent! Last year was better than 2014! People were getting higher prices for there properties.

I am looking forward to 2016 and I hope everyone out there experiences joy and abundance in their lives as they desire. As far as real estate is concerned in the Greater Salt Lake City Utah area we are doing well  in our market. Many people this last year were able to finally sell their homes after several years of wanting to do it but realizing that the time was not right prior.

2016 Market Trends ?

It will be interesting to see what the market forecast will be for the Wasatch Front for 2016. We have our annual Salt Lake Board of Realtors forecast breakfast coming up Feb. 5th. I will keep you posted what the local and national economists who really look at all the myriads of data have to say about it. Meanwhile have a happy and prosperous 2016!

by Teresa Larson,  Village Real Estate, Murray, Utah
20+ years  real estate experience
(801) 750-5446

©Teresa O Larson PC, 2015-2016