Million-dollar homes multiplying

Million-dollar homes used to be in limited supply. Today, their numbers are swelling.

Nearly one of every 100 owner-occupied homes in Utah is now valued at $1 million or more, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report.

The number of million-dollar homes climbed to an estimated 3,912 in 2005, or 0.7 percent of all owner-occupied homes in the state. That is nearly double the 2,054 million-dollar homes in Utah estimated by the Census Bureau between 2000 and 2003.

Nationally, 2 percent of owner-occupied homes were valued at $1 million or more, the report said.

California had the highest percentage of million-dollar homes, at 8.8 percent. North Dakota had the lowest, with just 270 homes, or 0.1 percent of state's total owner-occupied homes. Twenty-eight other states had a higher percentage of million-dollar homes than Utah.

The rising number of million-dollar homes in Utah is primarily due to two factors, according to John Lucky, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Residential at Jordan Commons.

The first is rising property values. Utah house prices appreciated 17 percent in the first quarter, the highest rate of all states, according to a June report by the U.S. Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. It was the second consecutive quarter Utah held the top spot.

Lucky said he has sold four homes priced above the million-dollar mark in the past year.

"I'm showing them quite extensively," Lucky said. "They are primarily in the south end of the Salt Lake Valley — Sandy and Draper."

The second factor stems from people building larger homes. Utah leads the nation in having the greatest number of homes with four or more bedrooms, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

And million-dollar homes appear to be selling rather quickly. In Salt Lake County, the average number of days on the market for homes priced above $1 million was 48 days for the year ended June 11, Lucky said.

During the same period in Utah County, the average days on the market for million-dollar homes was 60 days. In Davis County it took an average of 55 days to sell a million-dollar home.

Besides having a large floor plan, million-dollar homes typically include high-end finishes, like upgraded appliances, hardwood or travertine floors, higher-grade granite countertops, extravagant master suites and kitchens, home theater rooms and yard features that include swimming pools or tennis courts.