Gardner report: Utah now USA’s ninth-most-expensive housing market

A new report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah finds that, although home prices are stable, Utah has the ninth-most-expensive housing market in the U.S. (Adobe Stock photo)

Utah’s housing market features relatively high but stable prices, according to the 2024-25 edition of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s State of the State’s Housing Market. 

The recently released study provides a detailed analysis of current housing market conditions in Utah. 

For the full year 2024, Utah’s home costs were stable but ranked as the country’s ninth-most-expensive housing market. Stable prices, however, offered little relief to potential homebuyers as high interest rates and housing prices excluded many households from homeownership, the report found.

“Utah housing prices and rents showed little to no growth in 2024,” said Jim Wood, Ivory-Boyer senior fellow at the Gardner Institute and lead author of the report. “Home sales and listings increased and residential construction declined as apartment developments tumbled. Slower economic growth presented challenges for Utah’s homebuilding and real estate industries but helped to dampen price increases for potential homebuyers.”

As evidence of price stability, the study found that home prices in Utah have increased less than 1 percent since 2022. The median sales price of a single-family home statewide was $547,700 in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Rental rates showed little change in 2024 and declined in some submarkets. The average rental rate (a composite of all unit types) in Salt Lake County increased from $1,582 in 2023 to $1,593 in 2024, less than a 1 percent increase.

The Gardner study uses the median multiple ratio as a measure of housing affordability. That metric measures housing affordability by dividing the median sales price of a home by the median household income. For 2024, median multiple ratios show Washington and Salt Lake counties as severely unaffordable (with ratios above 5.1) and Weber, Davis and Utah counties as seriously unaffordable (with ratios between 4.1 and 5.0).

High-density units (condominiums, townhomes and twin homes) accounted for 28 percent of all existing residential sales and 28 percent of residential construction in 2024, the Gardner study said. Statewide, the median sales price of a condominium in 2024 was $409,900, 27 percent below the median price of a single-family home.

Eagle Mountain issued building permits for 1,556 residential units in 2024, the highest level of any Utah city. The second-ranked city, Saratoga Springs, issued permits for 1,354 units and the fifth-ranked city, Lehi, issued permits for 1,036 units. These three northern Utah County cities accounted for 18 percent of the residential units receiving building permits statewide in 2024.

A larger number of sellers entered Utah’s market in 2024 as average monthly listings returned to pre-COVID levels with 8,000 to 9,000 active listings. Home sales also received a boost from cash buyers who were not deterred by high mortgage rates. Nearly 18 percent of all home sales in Utah were cash purchases in 2024 (6,724 homes). Sales statewide reached 37,641 homes, up 7 percent in 2024.

On the downside, the study concluded that economic uncertainty and slower rates of demographic and economic growth will hinder housing demand in 2025. Residential construction, existing home sales, housing prices and mortgage rates will continue at near the same levels as 2024. Projections include approximately 23,000 new residential units, 36,900 sales of existing homes, a 2 percent increase in the median sales price of a home and mortgage rates fluctuating in a narrow range between 6 percent and 7 percent.

The full State of the State’s Housing Market can be accessed through the Gardner Institute website at gardner.utah.edu.