SALT LAKE CITY — Utah home prices are soaring.
According to a recent press release from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, the median price for a home in the Salt Lake Valley is nearly $430,000.
Those on the hunt for a new home have more challenges than just cost. Industry experts tell FOX 13 the number of houses along the Wasatch Front for sale right now is thousands less than at the same time last year.
We called upon home builders, real estate agents, the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, the CEO of Homie.com and asked them to weigh in on Utah’s hot housing market. We asked about interest rates, supply and demand, and whether they think the market will slow down any time soon.
Watch the video above for their responses.
You can also examine the numbers by reading the full press release from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors which reads:
"The coronavirus economic shutdown sent home sales tumbling in April and May, but the downturn appears short lived as buyers take advantage of record-low mortgage interest rates and move to the suburbs.
"In the third quarter, there were 13,194 Wasatch Front homes sold, a 13 percent increase from last year’s third quarter. In the first nine months of 2020 there were 31,822 homes sold across the Wasatch Front, up 4 percent from 30,673 homes sold in the same period in 2019.
"'Wasatch Front home sales in 2020 are on track to being the third best year on record,' said Alicia Holdaway, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors®. 'Because of the pandemic, the spring home buying season was extended to the summer and fall months. We are seeing many out-of-state buyers moving to Utah.'
"A new report by the National Association of Realtors® said the coronavirus pandemic has spurred more home buyers to purchase housing with more rooms, more square footage and more yard space, as they may have desired a home office or home gym. “They also shopped for larger homes because extra space would allow households to better accommodate older adult relatives or young adults that are now living within the residence,” according to Jessica Lautz, vice president of demographics and behavioral insights at NAR.
"In the third quarter, the median Wasatch Front home price climbed to $362,000, up 10 percent from a year ago. The median price of Wasatch Front homes sold from January through September was $350,000, up 8 percent from last year during the same nine-month period."
