New Utah housing data: Home sales fall while days on market jump

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Home sales hit a new low last month as mortgage interest rates climbed, according to new data from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors.

According to a news release Thursday, the number of home sales in Salt Lake County in August dropped 27 percent from a year ago – the lowest number of sales for an August month in 11 years – as fewer buyers were able to qualify for financing.

Meantime, the median number of days homes are lasting on the market has jumped. In Salt Lake County, homes lasted around 22 days on the market in August. It was a similar story for other counties along the Wasatch Front.

“The bidding wars are over,” said Steve Perry, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, in a statement. “Offers above asking price and waiving of appraisals have ended. Home buyers have more choices and options when purchasing a house.”

Perry said higher rates are having a “chilling effect” on the housing market as roughly 400 fewer homes are being sold each month when looking at the ten-year average. Rates sat at roughly 6.62 percent on Thursday, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

The ever-changing housing market, which was once marked with soaring prices and intense competition, means there are many more homes for sale than there were at this time last year. According to the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, more than 10,000 homes are listed for sale across Utah, an increase of 150 percent from a year ago.

As far as housing prices go, median sold prices in August remained high compared to the year before, according to data from UtahRealEstate.com, but price growth continued to slow from its previous breakneck speeds.

In Salt Lake County, the median sold price in August for a single-family home was $601,000 – an increase of 10 percent from August 2021, but down from the peak of $650,000 back in May.

The median price for all housing types, which includes townhomes and condos, was $525,000 in Salt Lake County in August, also up about 10 percent from last year.

Other median sold prices in August 2021 along the Wasatch Front are as follows, according to UtahRealEstate.com:

• Davis County: $525,000 (all housing types); $557,500 (single-family)
• Tooele County: $460,000 (all housing types); $469,000 (single-family)
• Utah County: $515,000 (all housing types); $599,000 (single-family)
• Weber County: $419,000 (all housing types); $450,000 (single-family)