- Now’s the time to buy Land In Cache Valley!
What is happening around the State of Utah with regards to land and land values? Well, currently there are incredible pieces of land all around Utah that are listed well below market value. I’m talking pieces of land that would have sold two years ago for more than market value because of the location, views, size and other perks. Pieces that would have been fought over in contract negotiations. Pieces of land ranging from .1 acres to 100 acres. These are the same pieces of Utah land that are just sitting now and no one wants to buy because of the economy, and tentative concerns about whether or not investing in land is a good idea right now.
There was a recent article on RealtyTimes.com in August, 2009, talking about how the land market directly affects the real estate building market, and property values of all kind on just about every level.
He states the following; “Price indexes and values of land inform the analysis of trends and cycles in house prices,” said Morris A. Davis, an assistant professor of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics at the Wisconsin School of Business and fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, who created the data sets. Information on the values and rents of residential properties in the U.S. cover three dimensions:
- Rent-Price Ratio: The ratio of rents to prices for the stock of all owner-occupied housing.
- Aggregate U.S. Land Prices: Values and price indexes for all land, structures, and housing in residential use.
- Metro Area Land Prices: Values and price indexes for land, structures, and housing for single-family owner-occupied housing units in 46 major U.S. metropolitan areas.
“If housing were simply a manufactured good, and location or land had no value, then the price of housing would be determined by construction costs, and housing prices would increase at roughly the same rate as the price of other goods in the US economy,” explained Davis.
But, Davis noted, housing is on land with a specific location, and good locations are often scarce and valuable. If construction costs rise slowly over time and desirable locations are in limited supply, increases in the demand for housing can translate directly to increases in the price of good locations, the land, and in house prices. Accordingly, information on changes in the price and value of land over time often relate to trends and cycles in housing demand.
So, if you are considering purchasing a piece of Utah property, in either large or small quantities, now is the time. Get it now, get it cheap, and get the location and price that you want. In a year or two, when the market has recovered, you will find that your decision to purchase now will be well worth it, and make up for the hesitation most are feeling with current market conditions. Instead of saying in a couple of years, “I wish I did”, say “I’m glad I did”.
