Wasatch Front home prices follow national trend downhill

Utah County hit hard; Tooele sees increases

Home prices along the Wasatch Front continued to decline in the third quarter as the median sales price in four Wasatch Front counties fell from levels a year earlier.

A report released Tuesday by the Salt Lake County Board of Realtors indicated that the median price of homes sold in Utah County decreased the most, at 6.03 percent — down from $245,000 to $230,221.

In Davis County, the median sales price declined 4.34 percent over the same period, while Salt Lake County experienced a 3.95 percent drop and Weber County saw a slight decrease of just 0.53 percent. Only Tooele County saw its median homes sales price rise, increasing 1.08 percent over the one-year time frame.

A local economist said the figures show that Utah is feeling some of the same pain as many other metropolitan areas around the country. Kendall Oliphant, senior vice president of Thredgold Economic Associates, said the local decline is not as severe as those other areas, although there are some trends that seem to be emerging. He said the credit crunch likely had a profound impact on home sales during the period.

"Overall, there is a slight downturn in home prices," he said. "One thing to remember is that main part of the credit crisis hit right in September when the bailout occurred, and there was a lot of uncertainty regarding credit and access to mortgages."

The report, which tracks quarterly single-family home and condominium sales in the five-county region, indicated that 65 of 81 ZIP codes surveyed experienced decreases in median sales prices.

In addition, the report showed home sales lagged in all five counties, with Weber County experiencing a 21.82 percent year-over-year drop, followed by Tooele County, which was down 17.72 percent and Davis County falling 16.65 percent. Salt Lake County sales declined 11.46 percent and Utah County saw a 5.02 percent decrease.

ZIP codes that saw steep declines during the year-over-year period included 84107 in Murray, which was down 19.42 percent from a median sales price of $260,000 to $209,500, and 84117 in Holladay, down almost 23 percent from $388,500 to $300,000.

The report noted that in the Davis County ZIP code of 84010 in Bountiful, median sales prices fell nearly 23 percent, from $313,000 to $241,750. And in Utah County, median sales prices of homes in the Provo ZIP code of 84604 dropped 20.29 percent, from $345,000 to $275,000.

On the positive side, the Weber County ZIP code of 84401 for Marriott/Slaterville saw its median sales price jump almost 49 percent, from $113,950 to $169,750 year over year.

The median price of all single-family homes in the five-county area sold in the quarter was $243,000, down 2.8 percent compared to the median price of $249,900 in the second quarter of this year and down 4 percent compared to a median price of $253,000 in the third quarter of 2007.

Condominium sales in Salt Lake County increased 5.6 percent compared to the second quarter of this year but were down 13.6 percent compared to the third quarter of 2007. The median condominium price in the third quarter fell to $170,000, a 1.2 percent decrease compared to a median price of $172,000 in the third quarter of 2007.

Oliphant said the region would probably see prices continue to fall, particularly as the national economy remains unsteady.

"It's reasonable to expect more weakness from the housing market," he said.

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E-mail: jlee@desnews.com

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