Eldredge said new homes priced under $325,000 are continuing to sell, meaning that deals and incentives being offered for homes in that range could dry up by year-end. Homes over $375,000 remain "somewhat unaffordable, or if people are moving into those homes, they still need to sell their existing homes first, because it's a move-up buy."

Builders no longer are building on speculation, he said, adding that a typical site has a model home and one or two spec homes, "but they won't build any more until they sell those off."

The underconstruction decreases from quarter to quarter and year to year is a "good thing," Eldredge said.

"The worst thing we could have had happen was to have the building sector continue to slap new homes down without any buyers," he said. "If you look at data in Nevada and Idaho, Utah looks great. The worst subdivision I've seen in Utah has 25 to 30 homes sitting there vacant with 'for sale' signs. In Boise, it wasn't uncommon to see 50-to-100-lot subdivisions, all finished, new, vacant. The same in Vegas. They continue to build. It's amazing."

Eldredge said he expects the number of unsold new homes and condos in Salt Lake County to be about the same number in the second quarter as it experienced in the first quarter. "It may dip a little bit," he said. "But the key point is, we're not adding to it."

And how quickly the inventory is depleted depends on prices, he added. The number of units below $325,000 will likely shrink, because they're still considered affordable.

"There's still a fair amount of complete and unoccupied (homes)," Eldredge said, "but we believe that by year-end, people who are looking for deals in this sub-325 bracket might be disappointed."

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