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Show HERALD DAILY AS Homes mid-Jul- Utah County, down from $222,000 a year ago. The median price of all residential types was $223,043 in December, according to Utah County Realtors. But median prices for single-famil-y homes in Utah County rose to $236,385 in January from $234,350 a year ago, while those of condominiums rose to $153,900 in January from $150,000 a year ago. e experts say those prices aren't expected to stay high for long, because of a glut of unsold new home inventory along the Wasatch Front, particularly in northern Utah County. The number of unsold new homes and condominiums in Utah County skyrocketed 256 of the country except the Midmarket compared to previous west, where sales posted an increase of 3.4 percent. Sales years. percent in the "Subprime loans and other dropped by risky mortgage products have Northeast, 2.1 percent in the West and 0.5 percent in the virtually disappeared from the marketplace, and over South, according to an Associated Press report on Monday. the past five months, this has But the problem of a national been reflected in soft but fairly stable home sales," National housing glut still remains as inventories continue to build, Association of Realtors' chief economist Lawrence Yun said putting downward pressure on 3-- percent to 981in the fourth quarter of 2007, from 277 a year ago, according to d a Salt Lake e research firm. Of that total, Lehi accounted for New-reac- Lake Tnbune with bandaged hands at a news conference in Salt Lake City on Monday while recovering from burns he received from an explosion at Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe in Springville on Feb. 1 7. real-estat- 297 unsold new homes, while Saratoga Springs reported "It's just been a positive comfortable. experience for me," Beardall Beardall made fists for re-- " said of his medical treatment porters to show that his hands and support from others. "All were on the mend. His face except the big boom." He has worked at Pacific was red from burns. "It's amazing that anything States for more than seven that has a heartbeat can live years. "I don't want him back through that," he said. r, there. ... When you're a The factory is closed while it's in your blood. employees clean up and investigators pinpoint the cause of There's no getting it out," Beardall said. the explosion. 159 unsold units and Eagle Mountain, 137 unsold units. That means it will take Continued from A 1 about eight months to sell Utah ers said water probably County's new home inventory, made contact with calcium assuming no new homes are built, according to Jason carbide, a volatile mix. Newreach's executive Ten other people were invice president of sales. "The jured but no one as badly as ideal supply of unsold new Beardall, who was admitted homes should be around 3 to University of Utah Hospital in critical condition with months," he said. -degree "This is the worst unsold burns. He said he inventory level we've seen in 20 years. If you have record amounts of inventory, and prices are still high, something is going to have to drop," Eldredge said. "What's holding up existing home prices is that the number of new home permits have dropped significantly, and new homes prices are now $50,000 to $150,000 more than existing home prices because of higher building materials and land costs." Eldredge attributed the glut I to builders jumping in to build in the fastest growing areas ii ivi ii ilui li v c Jjf vii li j. p in northern Utah County and I The INTUIS integrates select key technologies in reliability and quality. With proprietary! southern Salt Lake County technologies to protect from ear wax, sweat and moisture, as well as manufacturings over the last few years, and at can go home whenever he's Explosion steel-worke- second- 10.3-mon- range was between $200,000-$240,00where 58 homes sold. Of the 67 condos sold in January, 36 were sold between 0, tion. In Utah County, the Federal Housing Administration is rais$120,000 and $160,000. ing loan caps to $305,644 in the "The good news is, another next 60 days, from $232,030. "That should make it easier 30,000 households are expected to be created in Utah in 2008," for more people to buy homes Bowers said, citing projections at better and lower interest from the Governor's Office of rates, especially since the Economic Development. "New subprime loans have dried up. households drive demand FHA loans tend to be more forfor housing. There should giving on credit scores and embe enough new households ployment history," said Kenny formed to clear our excess Parcell, president of the Utah SIEMENS! i. -u rose 5.5 percent at the end of January to 4.2 million existing homes available for sale, repsupply resenting a at the current sales pace, up from a supply in December, the Associated Press report said. Yun said, in the Associated Press report, he believed the housing market may be on the verge of bottoming out with a rebound expected to start toward the end of this year. He said he expected demand to be bolstered in coming months by the action of Congress in the economic stimulus bill to raise the caps on the size of loans that can be backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administra- ; Technology! vaiuc j prices. Total housing inventory on Monday. Jillinda Bowers, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, agreed. "Our slowing sales are a reflection of the continuing problems related to the nonprime or subprime mortgage market," she said. "There are 57,000 nonprime loans in Utah. About 13 percent of all mortgage loans in Utah were nonprime loans in the third quarter. The nonprime market didn't exist eight years ago, and those products today have largely dried up, resulting in fewer sales." Nearly seven of every 10 single-famil-y home sales in January in Utah County had an average price below $300,000. The most active price City-base- Tim Beardall sits homes Sales of single-famil-y and condominiums dropped by 0.4 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units. Nationally, the median price of a home sold in January slid to $201,100, a drop of 4.6 percent from a year ago. Sales were weak in all parts sold. The elimination of subprime loans, considered the primary cause for the housing meltdown, has greatly slowed the Real-estat- SOMMEROORFSalt Meanwhile, existing home sales plummeted to the lowest level in nine years nationwide, as the housing market battles a critical credit crunch and a flood of homes listed for sale, according to the National Realtors report on Monday. a time when lending requirements were "lax and fast." y 2007 when "But by credit tightened and those buyers got shut out, the building was already underway," he said. "There is, however, a silver lining. We dont see unsold inventory numbers going up for beyond another quarter or two because the builders have scaled back new home .building significantly, and are focusing on what it takes to get them Continued from A I SCOTT County Realtors. ; innovations to ensure I long-ter- performance, no other comparable solution offers asl much as INTUIS; m Edison Stanford Hearing Centers f Your Hearing is Our Concern III cnn M JUVJ IM For a limited time M INTUIS Life is VV Doctors Park 005 s Provo ' ! 373-588- 7 Complimentary comprehensive hearing exam No obligation 30 Day money back guarantee available :K1illl 03C 7 days. 4 lines fin i rxflll gem? GET? 1 for only: ! February 26, 2008 Tuesday, and a photo. Includes Classified Marketplace doesn't sell, renew for 7 days FREE. online. & If it heraldextra.cbm VvXV&XfttyvAb Seize the (LEAP) Day! Ten Ways to Make the Most of Your Bonus Day Two Words: Movie Marathon. Park it at the theater and see how many new flicks you can see in one day. 9. On behalf of the frogs, hit up the Hogle Zoo. All things froggy will be going on between 11am- - 3pm. Check out http:hoglezoo.orgaboutevents for more information. 1 0. to a new restaurant. Order something you'd never get the other 365 days of the year. Who knows, you 8. Go M1LLK Tl mm OECE ' Check out utahadventurer.com on, sign in and have fun! imTrovq. junk food, the remote control and stay in bed - ALL DAY. As a bonus day, it can't really count as - right? Arm Srok.ro'. So I Jfi1 I 1 If 141 No Assoronct Aqoimt rrsJ advantage of the Daily Herald's 3 between Leap Day Sale - call 8am and 5pm for a quadrennial steal. 4. Down on bended knee, ladies... according to tradition, this is your day to propose! (Other folklore warns of bad luck if you get hitched during a leap year though, so be careful!) 3. Keep it green. Lean your carbon footprint for the day - walk, bike, plant something - just lay of f the gas. 2. Host your own Leap Year Ball. They used to be big... dazzle your friends and bring them back. 1. Get crazy and take a LEAP. Make it a day worth four years of waiting and do something you've never EVER done before - just be careful and remember tattoos exist on normal days too 375-510- 1 IHif I I 7 II ( l-- I'i'-iH- I V l f 1 1 RI III SIM ftsl5-ffc- i I HI j O ' ' By MROUMA V1 C" r taSMs nrt.- -l M "Afxi J ffimUM Mr. itW ur uMi to I UAtm of Uik: Mr ttORlfe I 0M UM Hiini M Drntttam Urn UtttflM. IhM HI. Tit I To Ike's tet tMtUlL.l.!..fhrtIK6 T VIWCS wooiit hut Mt EiMnhtmt akid be art fan for erUlajt tht KnuUlcw Cosrat&oei imli wmt Reaction" ' '.. SMfTH VrM ftmm WUU 9m WrHr Washington (W Pti4 Eitwm Mi tedr s in run Mni 'fans if Um RafwUkru owmrm and the pnt mm ti eowieui unmi www uwiiut mm. my uet m Wtr.t u t tint Mr. ttieokoMr mjt in aBDMBRKAt tt s impc4 n mv cmfrttt Ht vlfl m M MtkawMU rafA-hookup at It n n II ST ia ertin in iHa decision t VPAtt-- IFor Nixon ut.u u " .""r" 'O""1 e Spot. Blt "tr"'' Hurt 1 i L I vT t tmwi 5. Take I SlffTf v.. Am. cofe cxUrmruTAa - log 6. Grab some lost time President to Explain 3 Factors Bearing on His Decision at 8 P. AA. might like it! 7. '"" 1,11 ' PMMMl (n- Mnxima.! m. t HI WO T mthmtt J im M f m n . M V1m tm far tKba ttU m !rrnMatV rrLi4 rmt ' ? rniimmnps hw3 i Ht m W .rwinrMiTr mnirt upon rnoinpprr.- - "7 m It Mr urt mil C'mUwnt Mr. m . lii km :mw (it k Kwlirt u tm km M m Mtbt cm rtWMM.kB CM ti k m H r ftMMt uaj k j to ) km. kmniitKrMM kMHt k " at W4 Km M .MrtM( Ml rMtta ) Leap Trivia I Leap Year Day is also known as what? your answer to slaierheraldextra.conr, answers will be published throughout the week. i E-m- ail . Did You Know? Leap years are added to the calendar to keep it working properly. The 365 days of the annual calendar are meant to match up with the solar year. A solar year is the time it takes the Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun about one year. But the actual time it takes for the Earth to travel around the Sun is in fact a little longer than that about 365V4 days (365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, to be precise). So the calendar and the solar year don't completely match the calendar year is a touch shorter than I s . the solar year. It may not seem like much of a difference, but after a few years those extra quarter days in the solar year begin to' add up. After four years, for example, the four extra quarter days would make the calendar fall behind the solar year by about a day. Over the course of a century, the difference between the solar year and the calendar year would become 25 days! Instead of summer rjeginning in June, for example, it wouldn't start until nearly a month later, in July. As every kid looking forward to summer vacation knows calendar or no calendar that's way too late! So every four years a leap day is added to the calendar to allow it to catch up to the solar year. S3 L |