Move over 90210, 84020 is giving you a run for your money.
Late last summer, the Salt Lake Board of Realtors announced several ZIP codes with a median home price hovering near $1 million. The board showed 84020 right at the $1 million average mark.
Meanwhile, a report from the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute indicated Utah is the ninth-most-expensive housing market in the nation for cities with more than 40,000 residents. Draper’s population is estimated at 53,000.
An average price tag of $1 million has obvious pros and cons: good news for people who already own homes in Draper because of the equity they’ve built, but a big obstacle for others, including first-time homebuyers, young families and people on fixed incomes.
Mayor Troy Walker wasn’t surprised to hear that $1 million median home price.
“Draper has amazing connectivity with light rail, FrontRunner and I-15 as well as open space and parks. It’s a desirable place to live but with a limited supply of housing,” he said.
That limited supply of housing at lower prices affects Walker directly. Three of his adult children live under his roof despite having college degrees and jobs. “I don’t mind my kids living with me. I’d rather they pay me a little rent and save than never get out of the hole. They’re all saving, but prices keep going up and interest rates haven’t come down to a level viable for younger people. It takes a lot of money to afford the down payment and make the monthly payment for a home, especially at these interest rates. A lot of families in my neighborhood have kids living with them for the same reason,” he said.
Walker said his home has doubled in value since he purchased it 22 years ago and he couldn’t afford to buy it at its current value, nor could he afford to move to another home in the city.
“I’m lucky. I have one of those low interest rates from before they went up. Mine is under 3 percent, so why would I buy a home at 7 percent?” he said.
Laura Fidler of Summit Sotheby’s has been in real estate for two decades. She lives in Draper and serves on the city’s planning commission. When Fidler started selling homes in 2006, she recalls the median home price was $350,000 in Draper.
“Today, you’d have a hard time buying a condo at that price,” she said.
Draper resident and Realtor Pam Crow with Presidio Real Estate (River Heights) joined the industry in 2008, coincidentally when the housing market began to crash. She remembers lower prices because of foreclosures and short sales when she started.
Crow and Fidler agree it was COVID that brought the most significant increase in prices after what had been a gradual rise through the years.
“The world started to slow down but Utah was open for business. People could work remotely and some purchased second homes or condos in Utah for the outdoor recreation opportunities. Because you could work anywhere and send your kids to school remotely, there was a huge influx in 2020. In 2021 and 2022, the low interest rates set the housing market on fire, because if you’re borrowing money in the 2.5-2.9 percent range, you’re able to buy a lot more house. There were fewer houses on the market, and interest rates were so low, there were bidding wars. It stayed that way for a couple of years until interest rates rose. When people were buying with such low interest rates, they were willing to pay more for the house. Now, you’re paying more at a higher interest rate, but there’s such a lack of inventory, people are still willing to pay. In the last four years, it went crazy,” Fidler said.
Fidler provided statistics showing a 20 percent increase in home prices between 2021-2025. Crow compared the median asking price of a home in Draper seven years ago at $529,000 to today.
“It has doubled in seven years,” Crow said.
Fidler, like Walker, said Draper is mostly built-out.
“There isn’t a lot of diversity of housing types. It’s mostly big, single-family homes, but that’s not what everybody wants. I think state-managed high-density will help with the price of homes,” she said.
Walker noted the Station Area Plans (SAPs), mandated by the state, which required the city to plan for more dense housing around Draper’s three transit stations, including Kimball’s Lane.
There, Walker said, Edge Homes is planning to build approximately 25 for-sale units per acre, a mix of townhomes and condos. But the mayor can’t guarantee those will be “affordable,” something he says is an ambiguous term.
“It’s a fun word to say, but I don’t know what it really means. The market sets what the price of real estate is.” Speaking in general terms about developers, Walker said, “We can zone small lots but we can’t control what they build, and they’re going to build whatever makes money for them. We also don’t control the cost of labor, materials or interest rates. All I control as a local elected official is land use. I can speed up the building permit process but that doesn’t make a house ‘affordable.’ There are so many components.”
Walker said people are always concerned that new developments within the city might cause their property values to decrease, but he doesn’t see that as a solid argument because values have only risen. In addition to affordable homes potentially being built near the city’s transit stations, the state-owned development known as The Point, which falls within Draper City limits, may also offer lower-priced homes. According to Walker, only rental units were originally planned at The Point, but the state has since switched gears to consider setting aside 55 acres for ownership homes, likely a mix of townhomes, condos and single-family homes.
“Hopefully, they break ground on it late this year. It all depends on costs. When The Point comes online, I believe it’s going to make our property values go even higher. It’s going to be that desirable of a development,” he said.
High home prices can also affect the future of local schools, case in point being the property the Canyons School District (CSD) previously owned off 1700 East in Draper. The district sold that property in recent years when it realized not enough young families could afford to live in that area to populate an elementary school. The $1 million median price could potentially affect the population of existing Draper schools if young families can’t afford to live in the city.
The CSD is currently making decisions about which schools within the district may have to be closed for lack of enrollment.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors announced the median age of first-time homebuyers had risen to 40. Crow remembers recent years when that average age was “so much younger, closer to 27.” Fidler thinks Utah’s average “is a little younger because we have a younger demographic, but there are obstacles and challenges for people to get into their first home.”
Fidler and Crow still work with first-time homebuyers and both contend real estate remains a wise investment. “$1 million is a shocking figure, but you have to put it in perspective with how much cars cost and wages have increased. Just like the old saying, it’s never too late to start saving money; it’s never too late to get started in real estate. Either rent and pay the landlord’s mortgage or buy and build equity. The housing market is still the best way to obtain personal wealth. I tell younger people … it’s still the best thing for you to do,” Fidler said.