Utah homebuyers are skewing younger, but more households in the state can’t afford to buy a home as monthly mortgage payments have risen more than 50%, according to data shared during an annual forecast by Ivory Homes.
Here is what Utah’s housing market looks like today.
Eroding affordability
In 2019, 49% of households couldn’t afford to buy a median-priced home in Utah.
In the second quarter of 2022, that percentage rose to 76% — a 55% increase.
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Monthly payments rising
Median home prices are up 6.3% from a year ago, and the median monthly payment increased 54.9%.
Dejan Eskic with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute told The Salt Lake Tribune that for a bit, home prices and monthly payments were trending downward together. But as as interest rates rose, monthly payments “shot up aggressively.”
This is “really making housing less affordable for everybody,” Eskic said.
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Buyers by age
Last year, 36% of homes bought were purchased by people in the 25-34 age group, which includes the oldest members of Generation Z.
In contrast, people age 74 and older purchased the least number of homes in 2021 — about 1%.
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Correction • Nov. 18, 11:30 a.m.: The story has been updated to correct the percent change of housing affordability from 2019 to 2022.
