Median price of homes on the rise

Wasatch Front home prices continued to climb in this year's second quarter, fueled by low interest rates and a frenzied demand for housing.

Deseret Morning News graphicReal estate valuesRequires Adobe Acrobat.

In Salt Lake County, the median price of a home rose to $182,000, up 9.6 percent from $166,000 a year earlier in the same quarter. That was the highest gain in the four-county Wasatch Front region, according to data provided by the Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service, which tracks sales of existing and newly constructed homes listed through a real estate agent.

"That's exactly what I would expect," said Debra Sjoblom, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. "I've been doing this 29 years, and I don't know that I've ever seen the market any stronger than it is right now.

"I think we're seeing more multiple offers than we've seen in years. We're definitely seeing stronger offers than we've seen in years. People are more sensitive to coming in at purchase price. In multiple offers, we're certainly seeing above purchase price."

For the first time, the listing service is tracking real estate values using median values — the midway point at which half of all homes sold in a particular ZIP code are higher in price and the other half are lower. In the past, average values were used.

Sjoblom said median values will take into account high-priced homes that inflate average values.

"I think it really will make a difference," Sjoblom said. "That's what a lot of people have been asking for."

James Wood, director of the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research center, said median values are a superior measure.

"We have a $29 million home in there right now in Holladay," Wood said. "If that should happen to sell it would skew the average a bit. That's why median is a much better number. It's a vast improvement."

Davis County posted the next highest percentage increase in the second quarter at 7.6 percent, with the countywide median price at $167,373.

Weber County's median price was up 5.8 percent at $130,000, while Utah County saw home prices rise 5.6 percent to $169,120.

Dougan Jones, chief executive officer and owner of Prudential Utah Real Estate, said multiple offers used to be exclusive to the Park City area. Increasingly, multiple offers are occurring all along the Wasatch Front.