Utah home prices rise

Housing prices continued to rise in Utah during the second quarter of 2007, but the number of homes sold dropped along the Wasatch Front.

Most notable were Salt Lake and Utah counties, each of which saw a 19 percent decrease in the number of units sold in the second quarter compared to the same three-month period of 2006, according to a report released Friday by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors.

In Davis County, the number of sold units decreased 16.1 percent, and Weber County saw an 8.2 percent drop in home sales for the April-June period.

But despite the slowdown, experts said the numbers do not represent an impending bust for the state's housing boom.

Jillinda Bowers, the Salt Lake board's president-elect, attributed the decreased sales to fewer investors participating in the market.

"I think part of what we're seeing here is that our market's changing a little bit," she said. "We don't have the influx of investors that we had in the past. ... We're not seeing that as strong in our area. They're going to different areas."

Debra Sjoblom, real estate agent with Chapman Richards & Associates Real Estate and former president of the Salt Lake board, chalks the declining sales up to the typical summer slowdown.

"Who the heck knows (why)? Is it the heat? Is it summer vacation? Is it just a combination?" said Sjoblom, anecdotally noting that while the market remained robust through May, it has "slowed tremendously" in the past 45 days.

However, she said, buyers should not necessarily look for a corresponding decrease in home prices.

"I think we may flatline in the next quarter, but I don't think anything is going to go down," Sjoblom said.

Bowers agreed, saying that, at best, reduced demand may result in a slight "softening" in area home prices.

According to Friday's report, the median home price in Salt Lake County climbed to $254,000, a 15.5 percent increase over the second quarter of 2006. Utah County saw its median home value increase 19.9 percent, to $245,000, and Weber County's median home price climbed 11.9 percent to $160,000.

Like last quarter, Davis County reported the biggest increase along the Wasatch Front, 20.5 percent, for a median home price of $228,750.

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.