Discover Utah’s Undiscovered Roads

Our state is truly one of a kind. Filled with awe-inspiring monuments, colorful landscapes, we can drive just about anywhere and see a spectacle of beauty. Whether you scour Utah’s All-American Road or check out the scenic drives leading into our national parks and mountain canyons, the drive to your destination is typically just as beautiful as the destination.
To celebrate Utah’s unique geology, we’ve put together a list of undiscovered road trips you can take this summer – or any time of the year! 

SOUTHERN UTAH 

• Utah’s Desert Southwest – St. George to Littlefield, AZ Loop
• Bicentennial Scenic Byway – Hanksville to Blanding
• A Forest Oasis in the Heart of the Desert – Fish Lake Loop
• Beaver Canyon and the Sevier River Valley – Beaver to the Sevier Valley 

CENTRAL UTAH 

• Historical Sites and Wide-Open Spaces – Eureka to Delta
• Huntington and Eccles Canyons – Lakes, Stones and Dinosaur Bones
• Indian and Nine Mile Canyons – Natural History Meets Ancient Art 

NORTHERN UTAH

• West Desert Ramble – Fairfield to Tooele to Dugway to I-80
• Ogden River Scenic Byway – Ogden to Monte Cristo
• Northwest Railroad Trail Expedition – Snowville to Grouse Creek to Golden Spike to Corinne

Trenchless Pipe Repair Explained

Wow New Idea if this was available when my main water line broke I would have done this then dig up my front yard.....

Out of the Trenches, and into New Pipes: Trenchless Pipe Repair Explained

Last week, we taught you everything you need to know about drain cleaning, and now you can get ready for drain cleaning part two: pipe repair. The…

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What’s Really Driving the Real Estate Market?

According to Robert Shiller, the housing market could falter if the mortgage interest deduction is reformed. See what else he had to say in the Video Spotlight.

Mortgage interest deduction would affect small amount of taxpayers: Yale University's Robert Shiller from CNBC.

Editors Note: To see previous coverage and opinions on this topic, click here.

ALL 50 STATES, RANKED BY THEIR BEAUTY

We all know Utah is a beautiful state and offers so much for everyone. Many others seem to agree, which put this great state at #4 for being one of the most beautiful in the country.

ALL 50 STATES, RANKED BY THEIR BEAUTY

Tiny Houses: Living Large in a Small Space

Think you know what it means to downsize? Get an eyeful of these miniature houses on the leading edge of a new approach to living with less.Small House Movement

LIVING LARGE IN A TINY HOUSE

The small house movement started roughly a decade ago, but the economic crisis rapidly accelerated its growth as people began to re-evaluate their lifestyles, craving the simplicity that comes with scaling down. At a fraction of the average house price (some a mere $20,000), these structures eliminate the hassle and potential pitfalls of a mortgage. Plus, they force their occupants to pare down their belongings to the essentials and devise innovative solutions to make the most of every inch.

Home Prices Jump 6.2 Percent in Second Quarter

Price Hikes in 87% of Markets; New Record Set

Median home prices in the second quarter eclipsed a record high set in 2016, jumping 6.2 percent year over year as the inventory crunch continues to push property values higher,

Maybe its time to look at tiny homes...

The national median price for an existing single-family home was $255,600, up from $240,700—the previous high—in the second quarter of 2016, NAR reported Wednesday. Prices for single-family homes rose in 87 percent of U.S. housing markets; 23 metros saw double-digit increases.

“The 2.2 million net new jobs created over the past year significant interest in purchasing a home in what was an extremely competitive spring buying season,” says NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “Listings typically flew off the market in under a month—and even quicker in the affordable price ranges—in several parts of the country. With new supply not even coming close to keeping pace, price appreciation remained swift in most markets.”

Yun continues to urge for more new-home construction to meet the demand in the housing market. “An increasing share of would-be buyers are being priced out of the market and are unable to experience the wealth-building benefits of homeownership,” he says.

Total existing-home sales, which includes single-family homes and condos, dropped 0.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million in the second quarter, NAR reports. Sales are still 1.6 percent higher than a year ago.

But at the end of the second quarter, 1.96 million existing homes were available on the market, a 7.1 percent drop from a year ago. The average supply in the second quarter was at 4.2 months.

“Mortgage rates have subsided in recent months, which has only somewhat helped take away some of the sting prospective buyers are experiencing with the deteriorating affordability conditions in many areas,” Yun says. “Household incomes may be rising and giving consumers assurance that now is a good time to buy, but these severe inventory shortages will likely continue to be a drag on sales potential in the second half of the year.” 

Tiny homes - they're adorable and affordable but did you know that most local governments don't allow them?

The Strongest Selling Season in a Decade

Real estate is currently booming and experts attest that this is the strongest market since the 2006 price peak, but with the added benefit of market stability. The latest National Association of REALTORS® Confidence Index concluded that much of the country has experienced very strong, or strong buyer traffic. This is an indicator of demand, but not necessarily supply, which has been short in many states across the county. 

• First-time homebuyers accounted for 34 percent of sales.
• With fewer new foreclosures, distressed properties accounted for five percent of sales, purchases for investment purposes made up 15 percent of sales, and cash sales accounted for 21 percent of sales.
• Amid tight supply, half of the properties that sold in April 2017 were on the market for 29 days or less compared to 39 days in April 2016. The April median days on market measure is a new low since 2011.
• Lack of homes for sale was the main issue reported by REALTORS®. Respondents reported a mixed effect from the uptick in mortgage rates since November 2016; some buyers are encouraged to act quickly while others are discouraged by diminished affordability.

First-time buyers made up a large portion of activity in recent home sales, meaning it’s a great time to sell that investment condo or townhome if you’ve been holding on to it for more than a decade (12-15 years). According to NAR, buyers 34 and younger accounted for approximately 30 percent of residential buyers in April 2017, compared to 26 percent in 2013.

As interest rates are expected to rise, buyers are currently hitting open houses and searching for prime buying opportunities. There are currently no deals or steals, but a strong, stable market that both sellers and buyers can be confident in.  Summertime is notorious for seeing an influx of buyers, so if you’re considering selling it’s an opportune time. The combination of near-peak real estate prices, and still-low interest rates, makes it a great time to get top-dollar for your home, whether an investment property or primary residence.

Should Housing Fear a Price Correction?

Existing-home prices have jumped 6.5 percent from a year ago to a record high of $263,800 in June, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. It marks the 64th consecutive month for year-over-year price increases. The escalating prices are causing some to fear a price correction could be on the horizon.

However, new research from JPMorgan finds that the risk of a dramatic decline in U.S. home prices is very low. JPMorgan culled historical data from 14 developed countries dating from the 1950s. Sharp price corrections are rare, even following a large run-up in prices, according to the report, “Quantifying Housing Correction Risk in Canada and the U.S.” The data show that sustained increases in real house prices have been the norm rather than the exception in the post–World War II era, as rising populations and incomes have pushed up land prices,” says Jesse Edgerton, U.S. analyst from JPMorgan’s economic and policy research team. “Of course, there have been occasional large price declines over multiyear periods, as we saw starting in 2006 in the U.S. But such declines have not been common, even after periods of rising prices.” The study put the odds of a 20 percent decline in real prices within the next five years at about 10 percent in the U.S. and at about 20 percent in Canada.