Utah 'a state on the move'

More jobs, more homes and more people.

It all adds up to more economic prosperity for Utah.

In 2005, the state gained nearly 40,000 new jobs, issued more housing permits than ever before and welcomed 78,000 new residents, according to an economic report presented Thursday to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

It was the second year in a row the state's job growth rate outperformed the nation's — 3.5 percent in Utah, compared to a national rate of 1.4 percent.

"We are, in fact, a state on the move," Huntsman said. "Our economic health has never been better. We have returned to the path of long-term prosperity."

All of Utah's major industries added jobs in 2005, with the construction industry adding the most at 8,200, an 11.2 percent annual growth rate, the highest in 10 years.

Robert Spendlove, manager of demographic and economic analysis for the governor, said residential valuation in the state reached a record in 2004 at $3.5 billion. Yet 2005 managed to set a new high mark.

"For the first time residential construction valuation topped $4 billion," Spendlove said. "And also for the first time ever the total value of construction was above $6 billion."

Driving residential valuations were low mortgage interest rates, which led to a flurry of new home construction. In 2005, roughly 20,000 single-family building permits were issued in Utah, an all-time record. The previous high was set in 1977, Spendlove said, at 17,000 single-family building permits.

"Housing is especially affordable in Utah compared to California," the report said. "According to the California Association of Realtors, only 15 percent of households in that state earned enough in September 2005 to buy a median-priced home at $544,000."

Even as more new homes were built, Utahns saw the value of their homes increase.

In the first nine months of 2005, Utah home prices climbed at an average rate of 11.37 percent, their fastest pace in 10 years, with St. George ranking among the top five U.S. cities in price appreciation, according to the U.S. Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

The double-digit gains propelled Utah to a No. 22 ranking among all states and the District of Columbia for house-price appreciation, a sizable comeback from the second quarter of 2004, when Utah ranked dead last.

And all of those new homes were needed as Utah's population in 2005 reached 2.5 million, a 3.2 percent increase, or more than 78,000 people.