Kathy O's Blog by Kathy Opolski

Bad Chompers

Yikes, Salt Lake City has the dubious ranking of #97 of the "Top 100 Cities With The Best Teeth! 97 - that's fourth from the bottom!! Luckily, Lubbock, Texas saved us from the absolute bottom! Salt Lake City's opposition to flouride (100 out of 100 cities) was the biggest issue but also "the number of teeth pulled" (94th city out of the 100). Wow, I guess "one thing leads to another" as the 80's song goes - was that the Clash? That also means the tooth fairy does a HUGE business here... Anyway, the other two factors of "flossing" and "dental visits" were pretty pathetic too! Hmmmm...maybe that's why Jello is so popular here. The article written by Denny Watkins of Men's Health Magazine based on the statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Mediamark Research.

Utah Near the Top of the Heap in 2 Separate Studies

Two studies rank Utah in the top ten of the country – one is Nation’s most livable by CQ Press and the other is a list of business friendly states by Pollina Corporate. Fox News reports that Governor Huntsman is happy with results. I believe his work in the pro-business arena has helped to keep Utah economics a step above the US. CQ Press is a leading publisher on policy, people and politics. Their recent study “18th Annual Most Livable State Award” , ranked Utah #2 as the most livable state. Utah is only behind New Hampshire which has won it the last five years straight. They weigh 44 different factors such as Crime Rate, Unemployment Rate, Median Household Income, Job Growth Rate and even Number of Sunny Days! The other study, from Pollina Corporate Real Estate, a consulting firm representing many Fortune 500 corporations, examines 29 different factors culminating as “The Top 10 Pro-Business ..(read more)

First Quarter Homes Sales by Zip Code

This is First Quarter 2008 home sales versus same time 2007 by zip code. Sales have picked up a bit compared to Jan and Feb, bringing 1st quarter numbers up a bit also. Sales rates are varying by zip codes. Salt Lake City proper is currently fairing better than the suburbs. In total numbers sold, the following neighborhoods are up for the month compared to the previous 6 months: Avenues, Sugarhouse, South Jordan, West Jordan, Foothill, Emigration Canyon and Park City These neighborhoods are flat compared to the last 6 months: Draper, Sandy, Canyon Rim, Holladay, Cottonwood Heights Unfortunately the sales in these communities are down compared to the monthly sales over the last 6 months: East Sandy/Draper, Olympus Cove Zip Avg ..(read more)

Come and Get It! Last Days of Skiing Going Fast!

Most of us are ready for spring. Birds are singing and flowers are starting to sprout up! We can see the ground again, unless you live in Park City, they still have plenty of snow! I know you're thinking about getting on your bike or golfing or any that's not snow related! BUT - you've got to get out and ski or snowboard one more time! Spring skiing is the best and the coverage hasn't been better! Here are closing dates for the local Utah ski resorts get out and have some fun! April 12 - Wolf Mountain April 13 - Deer Valley, Brian Head, Brighton, The Canyons, Park City Mountain Resort, Powder Mountain, Solitude April 20 - Alta Ski Resort, Snowbasin May 26 - Snowbird!!!

Smokers Pushed Out to the Streets!

Holladay City just passed an ordinance that prohibits smoking in cemeteries, city parks or recreation areas. Holladay is following suit with Salt Lake county, Salt Lake City and West Valley City. You can smoke on City streets and sidewalks but not within 25 ft. of a bus stop. Soooo...the deceased has been complaining about the smokers around them? Who's going to report them? My husband Todd brought up the question of "Does Holladay City actually have city parks??" None that I can think of, all that come to mind are county parks which are covered by the Salt Lake County Ordinance. Maybe someday we'll have parks in Holladay.... This also brings me to a real estate point...if you do smoke, don't smoke in the house. Although you may not smell it, the odor lasts forever in the home. There is not enough air freshener manufactured that can mask the evidence. To sell the home, replacing carpet, painting walls ..(read more)

Commercial Building

Last week Utah Business Magazine had its annual commercial real estate roundtable gathering experts in the business to discuss local and national trends. This roundtable recapped by Jamie Huish Stumof of Utah Business Magazine concluded that the robust state of retail and commercial projects will make Utah be only mildly touched by the national economic woes. Some projects noted are: City Creek Downtown development, 222 South Main in Salt Lake City will provide major class A office space as well as residential projects giving people a reason to live and work downtown. Residential owners will provide a continuous traffic flow for the retail component of City Creek, especially the high end fashion tenants, which need the evening business to survive, experts said. “Investors are also looking to buy Class C office space along the periphery of Salt Lake City and convert it to Class B”, said Chris Child, senior sales associate ..(read more)

Utah’s Economic Summit with the Gov

Last Thursday, Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. addressed business leaders in Salt Lake City as reported by Sarah Ryther Francom for Utah Business Magazine… “Utah’s goal has been and will always be to have the premier economy in the United States,” said Governor Huntsman during the second annual Utah Economic Summit Thursday. During the event, Gov. Huntsman said that Utah has reached that goal, now considered to be one of the economically strongest states in the nation. He notes as I did earlier that, Utah has the second highest job growth rate and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. Also, Utah has the highest personal income growth in the nation. Sadly, that statistic is a function of already starting out with one of the lowest paid workforces but change is good! Not everyone as you might imagine is so optimistic, especially many construction workers. Steve Oberbeck of the Salt Lake Tribune interviewed a number of people ..(read more)

Year-to-Date Home Sales by Zip Code

Wow, nationally, things are quite volatile! The stock market is all over the place, the dollar is down, foreclosures are up and Clinton/Obama are tearing it up! Speaking of the dollar being down, we were in San Francisco last weekend, which was a blast! San Francisco was bustling with activity, it is very evident that many Asians and Europeans are taking advantage of the exchange rate. The high-end restaurants were packed and tons of people were coming out of Neiman Marcus, Saks and boutique shops with plenty of shopping bags. I say "come on over and spend your money! In fact stop in Utah and spend some too!" OK, back to business...home sales are down, again not to the extent you hear on the media. Don't let news stories put you in a funk, it's their job to report that the "sky is falling", otherwise all they would have to report about is Angelina Jolie's pregancy and Britney Spears latest spiral (always well ..(read more)

Salt Lake Valley Neighborhood Information

Holladay City – Cottonwood Mall Redevelopment - In case you haven’t heard the Granite School Board voted “yes” on the request from the city of Holladay to support the Cottonwood redevelopment project. This Cottonwood Mall website should be updating new information as it comes up. Finally this project will start to move forward and demolition is in the process! South Salt Lake – The KSL website Notes that South Salt Lake will start demolition in the area between State and Main near 2100 S. to make way for the new Market Station complex, a mixed use project to revitalize that blighted section of town…ALSO, know that the City Council passed a bill to restrict Class B beer licenses to 8, one for every 3000 of its 24,000 residents. Reported by Rosemary Winters of the Salt Lake Trib the town is pushing 15 of the 23 current bars and private clubs by not allowing owners to transfer their licenses when they retire. ..(read more)

Salt Lake City - Best Cities for Bargain Hunters!!

With all of the drastically deep dives real estate has taken in so many markets in the east, midwest and west, you would not consider Salt Lake City, Utah the Best City in the country for a real estate bargain! Yep, Salt Lake City is ranked #1 by Forbes for real estate bargain hunters. Matt Woolsey notes in the article that bargain hunters would be smart to "look for markets where job growth is strong, foreclosures are relatively low and inventory is high. With these factors in place, buyers can still dictate terms of sale and negotiate prices, but aren't as exposed to the economic and lending risk problems that have sunk many markets around the country" He goes on to note that in Salt Lake City "there is healthy job growth and more houses available than people to buy them. This is not due to foreclosures and economic downturn, but to overbuilding that should balance out in time" Speaking of job growth the latest numbers from Utah's Department of ..(read more)

Ripping Off 817 Investors of Over $180 million!!!

Unbelievable!!! Those that can knowing take people's money in the guise of an investment are the scum of the earth in my opinion. Especially those that use their religion to give them credibility makes it even sicker! Sorry, this is the stuff that makes my blood boil.... The Salt Lake Tribune article by Tom Harvey reports that the most honorable Val E. Southwick is due to plead guilty to nine counts of felonies based on a massive Ponzi scheme. He used not only hundreds of Utahns but also investors from 29 other states and 3 other countries. There are examples of those that invested $2.1 million with him all the way down to elderly folks that couldn't aford to lose. Yes, he is a dynamic individual which is dangerous enough but then to apply his connection of faith is what really takes the cake. Tom Harvey quotes the summary "Southwick emphasized his membership and ecclesiastical roles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during ..(read more)

Home Sales in January by Zip Code

The pace of home sales has definitely slowed down compared to a year ago. There are a lot of brand new homes for sale especially in South Jordan, Herriman and Riverton where builders did not anticipate the current lull and where there has been a glut of building. Interestingly though, there is a very minor number of these homes under $500,000, which is well above what many people can afford. Many of these builders are currently offering incentives to lighten their financial burden. A great bargaining position for those of you looking for a new home in these areas! The chart below shows home sales by zip code in January compared to January of last year. Overall, the average sales price of homes have gone down while some areas like Sandy and Cottonwood Heights have gone up. The number sold has gone down dramatically. Also the number of new listings has gone up giving buyers more options to choose from. ..(read more)

Snow is GOOD

If you are a skier, you are just lovin’ this storm cycle we are in! It has been quite a long time that the Utah Mountains have seen this much snow and its just February 1!! The resorts have great coverage and plenty of fluffy stuff to play in. If you are not a skier, you may not appreciate all this snow as much as us powder hounds. The Salt Lake Valley has gotten plenty of snow making driving tenuous and clearing it a real pain in the back! There is a bright side though for you too. All this moisture gives us great snow pack to melt in the spring giving this arid land - glorious water!! Everything from the flowers to the reservoirs to the river runners will just love all this moisture!! Yesss. Also snow is great for our economy which is good news since most areas of the country are experiencing difficult economical issues. Snow brings skiers who spend a lot of money lodging, eating and buying ..(read more)

Salt Lake City - Best City for Jobs in 2008!!

Salt Lake City, Utah has come out on top again! Forbes has ranked Salt Lake City the #1 city in the United States for job growth. Think about it WE in little ole Salt Lake City are #1 for jobs in the whole United States of America!!! The tech industry has helped push Salt Lake City for the past two years in this top position. How do they gauge this?? Forbes uses five data points, weighted equally: the state's unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income and cost of living for full-year 2006 (only partial data is available so far for 2007). Check out the stats in this table for Best Jobs, Salt Lake City is far and away from Witchita, Kansas much less every major metropolitan market in the country. Another great reason to be here outside of the fact that it is beautiful and the place for incredible recreational opportunities! Please if you like the information I supply or like how I do business please pass this along, my ..(read more)

The Economy and the Real Estate Industry in the Salt Lake Valley

What a mixed bag of issues, concerns and opportunities! The country is in a huge economic upheaval. The stock market continues to take dramatic turns, the lending industry has had a big wake up call with sub-prime loans, the country is edging on recession so the interest rates have been driven down, to about 5.6%. Now we have had great interest rates for the past 7 or so years but 5.6% is the lowest it has been in a while. As discussed before, the Utah economy is a bit of an anomaly since the unemployment rate remains to be the lowest in the country (44,800 new jobs in the past year) and our growth rate remains to be robust (as noted by the US Dept of Labor and Utah Dept of Workforce Services) and our economy is great-so far!!! One thing that is definitely not in sync is that home prices have increased at a much faster rate than the local incomes have increased, making it difficult for some people to afford homes or to upgrade. This results in ..(read more)