Housing prices in northern Utah stabilizing

After hitting the red line, sectors of the Wasatch Front housing market have started to stabilize, according to a report released Friday by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors.

"We are starting to see a stabilization in the market," said Gary Cannon, the board's president. "In homes $300,000 and less, that price range is still fairly brisk. But in the $400,000 to $800,000 range, they're taking longer to sell because there is a huge inventory."

In Salt Lake County, the median home value climbed to $241,000 in the first three months of this year, a 19.9 percent increase over the first quarter of 2006, the board reported. Utah County saw its median home value jump 23.9 percent over the prior year, to $233,000. Davis County reported the biggest increase along the Wasatch Front, 24.6 percent, for a median home value of $218,000. Weber County reported the slowest growth, 10.1 percent, for a median home value of $150,757.

Median value is the point at which half of all homes sold in a particular ZIP code or county are higher in price and the other half are lower.

Debra Sjoblom, real estate agent with Chapman Richards & Associates Real Estate and former president of the Salt Lake board, agreed that the market as a whole remains "strong."

Despite the steep escalation in home prices over the past few years, Sjoblom said she doesn't believe the area is inflating a housing bubble.

"The 19 percent increase is pretty stiff," she said of the Salt Lake County increase. "But if you look at (the market) over a five-year period, it's relatively reasonable, I think."

The bulk of the market stabilization is occurring in the south end of the Salt Lake Valley, Cannon said, because of the sheer number of new homes on the market, which are competing with existing homes.

"When that happens, you start to see the prices soften and stabilize even more," he said.

The Wasatch Front market also was affected by the fading eminence of subprime loans, Cannon said.

"It's definitely affected our market," he said. "Houses are staying on the market longer, sometimes days or weeks longer. And because the houses are staying on the market longer, in some price ranges, sellers are seeing more price reductions."

However, there are areas that remain hot, hot, hot, namely the east side of the valley, the northeast and in the affordable housing market generally, Cannon and Sjoblom agreed.