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Show Business Sunday, June U. 1989 The Daily Herald, Provo, I tah Heavy home show ' interest mirrors " ' - " ' ' &i v f ' 8 " ' building activity By ROSANN FILLMORE Herald Staff Writer Utah Valley is the place to watch for new home building, according to Chris Child, president of the Utah County Association. "We are seeing contractors coming down into our market from the Salt Lake area, because our market is more active," said Child. "The building trend will continue as long as businesses are bringing in people from out of state where housing and labor costs are much higher." The interest in homebuilding is reflected in the number of contractors who wanted a slot in this year's parade of homes in July. "Three years ago we had to beg builders to be in the show. This year all the slots were filled by February 15. We had to turn contractors away," said John Allen, from the Association. Although most new homes fall within the medium price range, they tend to be quality homes, said Child. Home-builde- rs Home-Builde- rs homes have "Even lower-en- d of Homes bit a character. quite are about the same size, but styles are changing. We are not There seeing so many and split are more levels," he said. "The split levels are more creative than they have been in the past, with vaulted ceilings and tall, arched windows. They have a lifht and airy feeling." ls. two-stori-es ranges of housing are on the market, said Child. "As long as the federal government doesn't let interest rates get out of hand, home sales will continue to increase," All moving he said. Child suggested prospective home owners consider several forms of financing. "If people know what to look for they can save money." Looking into a builder's background, can head off future problems for home owners, according to Allen. "People should check with lj'j .nrpiiw jj; ,1 , ....... , f ' Lj" the homebuilders association AP Laserphotc and talk to other people who have worked with the builder." This home at 1089 E. Brentonwood Lane in Orera is being built by Jade Construction. Utah County building activity is up. Buyers market becoming a sellers market in Utah County By ROSANN FILLMORE Herald Staff Writer High employment, bigger paychecks and a burgeoning population have lead to a healthy housing market in Utah County. What has been a buyers market for years is now becoming a sellers market. Sales of homes increased 36 percent during the first quarter of this year over the same period last year, with a 43 percent increase in the dollar volume of sales. The trend contrasts with lower national sales, where, for the first four months of the year, new home sales were 4.7 percent lower, than in the same period last year. Utah County's market is better than it has been since 1986, according to John Aldrich, president of First Colony Mortgage Corp. "Interest rates are going and sales are picking up," he said. Sales of homes increased 36 percent during the first quarter of this year over the same period last year, with a 43 percent increase in the dollar volume of sales. down, An influx of people working for Novell, WordPerfect and Stouffers in higher paying jobs, is resulting in the sale of higher priced homes, according to Scott Shelly, vice president marketing with First Colony. of "This month (May) the average loan is $90,000. Typically it is $60,000," Shelly said. "This is actually an even better year than 1986, because we're working with new sales. In '86 we were seeing a lot of refinancing by people who wanted to get out of the higher rates." Statistics from the Utah Board of Realtors indicate there is a five percent increase in the average sales price, which was $68,836 for May. There are nine percent fewer houses for sale now than a year ago, and nearly a 0 percent vacancy rate on rentals, ac- cording to Brad Mortensen, president of the Utah County Board of Realtors. "The increase in rent is pushing people out into buying a home," he said. "The attitude in the county is better and with East Bay, Geneva, the aerospace industries, Novell, WordPerfect, there's a lot of money being spent in this county." More people are looking at a new home as about the only tax deduction they have left, said Mortensen. "It's the best tax deduction we've got." New housing starts are up 41 percent in Utah County, according to John Allen of the Utah County Homebuilders Association. The bulk of those homes are being built in Orem, where there is sill room for expansion, ; he said. Although homebuilders are. seeing more interest in higher ' , , . priced homes, the strongest,, market is still the medium priced home, Allen said. "The new Sears Catalog . , Cen- ter provides a second income ' for about 1,200 families. 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