Homes and construction in Riverton's Mountain Ridge neighborhood on Friday, May 3, 2024.This story is part of The Salt Lake Tribune’s ongoing commitment to identify solutions to Utah’s biggest challenges through the work of the Innovation Lab. [
The median sales price for nearly 9,000 existing homes sold this year across Utah’s 29 counties was $490,000 as of March, and ranged from $185,000 in Beaver County to $1.3 million in Summit County. Altogether, that means Utahns need to make about $130,400 a year to afford a mortgage, though the number varies by county, from $49,234 to $343,975.
Kris Crockett, who’s searching for a home in Salt Lake City, said it’s hard for her to wrap her mind around how much a home in the state’s capital would cost. That’s nearly achievable for the typical renter in Salt Lake City but is out of reach for renters in Little Rock, where the median renter household income is about $39,000.
Experts expected building to pick back up this year, but there’s still a “massive” shortage, said Jessica Bryce, vice president of marketing for EDGEhomes.