Wasatch Front home sales decline, along with prices

The number of existing single-family houses sold along the Wasatch Front during the second quarter of 2009 fell significantly from the same period last year, as did the amount that homebuyers paid for them.

Data released Tuesday by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors and Utah Association of Realtors indicated the median price paid for homes in Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah and Weber counties in the second quarter of 2009 was $217,000, down 5 percent from the median price of $229,000 in the second quarter of 2008.

The range of home-price decline was a low of 1.79 percent in Tooele County to a high of 9.68 percent in Utah County. Overall, median sales prices fell in 72 of 79 ZIP codes across the five counties, the report said.

Of the counties surveyed, only Utah County saw more homes sold during the year-over-year period, with sales up 14.6 percent from the second quarter of last year.

While Utah County had more homes sold, it also experienced the largest median sales-price decline ?— down nearly 10 percent to $212,250, according to the report. Tooele County sales volume decreased 10.53 percent, but median sales prices fell only slightly, to $180,000. Among the Utah County cities that had the biggest one-year drops in median sales price were the Mapleton ZIP code of 84664, which fell 22.6 percent and the Provo ZIP code of 84606, which declined nearly 27 percent.

Weber County had sales declines of more than 16 percent for the quarter, with the median home sales price falling 4.20 percent to $160,850.

The second-quarter median sales price in every one of 33 ZIP codes in Salt Lake County decreased, the report showed.

The South Jordan ZIP code of 84095 had the highest sales volumes and the third-highest median sales-price decrease, falling 19.2 percent. The Salt Lake City ZIP code of 84102 had the highest year-over-year price drop of almost 22 percent, followed by the Sandy ZIP code of 84093 — which fell 19.6 percent.

Kendall Oliphant, senior vice president of Thredgold Economic Associates, told the Deseret News that much of the decline in home sales and prices could likely be tied to the continued increase in unemployment in Utah.

"What we're waiting for is a return to job growth. That's kind of the king economic indicator to look at moving forward," Oliphant said. "If jobs start coming back, the housing market will return to more normal levels and stop declining."