Here is some potential good news. The number of Notices of Defaults are down around 22% when compared with May 2009 and May 2010. In May 2009 there were 823 Notices of Defaults recorded in Salt Lake County and in May 2010, it dropped to 642. Some may jump to conclusions and say that the market is getting better. However, one must take into consideration that there are many people who have applied for a loan modification and/or short sale..either one of these would cause a lender to delay the recording of the notice of default.

In other news, the market absorption for Salt Lake County over the past three months is 1,103.67 per month. This is about average for this time a year (Finally!), and Salt Lake County has abotu 7.66 months of inventory. 6 is a balanced market, anything over 6 is a Buyer’s market and anything under 6 is a Seller’s market. Therefore, we are still in a Buyer’s market…but approaching normal.

Senate just passed a bill that extends the First Time Home Buyer, Federal Tax Credit.  Previously, first time home buyers who went under-contract (entered escrow) to purchase a home before April 30, 2010 and closed on the purchase on or before June 30, 2010 may qualify for an $8000 tax credit (Notice I say “may”, because there are some other stipulations on qualifying for the credit). Thanks to amendment HR 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, now you can close escrow as late as September 30, 2010 and still qualify for the credit…However, this only extends the closing deadline…the Buyer and Seller still would have had to have been under contract by April 30th. This is good news for those who are waiting on short sales and banks.