Utah Home Sales Fall, But Prices Rise

Here's a recent article I ran across in the Deseret News online. It still looks good for Utah.

Home sales fall across Utah — but prices rise
By Dave Anderton
Deseret Morning News
Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Home sales across Utah fell 6 percent in this year's third quarter, while the average sales price rose 16 percent, according to a report by the Utah Association of Realtors.

The report, which tracks the sales of previously owned and new homes listed through a real estate agent, noted that total home sales statewide in the three months ended Sept. 30 fell to 12,615, down from 13,445 homes sold during the same quarter in 2005.

Home sales in the third quarter fell in seven of the 17 areas tracked by the association compared to the same quarter in 2005. Sales were down in Davis County by 6 percent. The Park City area showed a 28 percent drop in the number of homes sold. Salt Lake County showed an 8 percent drop, and Washington County home sales fell 29 percent.

While fewer people were buying houses, the average sales price for homes sold in the third quarter rose to $255,402, up from $219,822 during the same period last year.

The highest-priced homes sold in the third quarter were in the Park City area, where the average sales price reached $826,802, a 14 percent increase from $725,000 during the same quarter in 2005.

The cheapest homes sold were in the Carbon-Emery area, where the average third-quarter sales price was $104,653, up 24 percent from $84,314.

Wasatch County saw the biggest percentage increase in its average sales price in the third quarter. Homes there sold for an average of $384,929, up 60 percent from $240,680. The average sales price in Wasatch County was the second-highest in the state, but home sales there fell 6 percent in the quarter.

No areas across the state showed house-price declines. However, condominium prices did fall in Davis and Weber counties, by 3 percent.
E-mail: danderton@desnews.com

Source: Deseret News