April 2007 Utah Real Estate News & Trends | Salt Lake City Real Estate Market | Utah Land and Property News
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Utah’s Growth And Government Legislation

Utah’s growth over the past two decades is now recognized by Congress. On Thursday, April 19, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill giving Utah an additional seat in Congress. This raises the US Congressional seats in the House to four for Utah.

The vote count was 241-177. One Utah Congressman, Rep. Rob Bishop, a Utah Republican voted “present” rather than for or against the bill, stating disagreement with the bills provisions.

Although this bill adds what is considered a conservative Utah vote to the House, it is tempered by also adding a full-voting seat from the District of Columbia, considered a liberal voting state.  In other words, this bill reflects a bi-partisan measure to maintain the balance of power in Congress.

Displayed below are some of the figures that led Utah to gaining a new seat in Congress. The five categories below show statistics gathered from the US Census that show Utah’s growth:

Population

From 2000 to 2006 Utah is ranked fourth in the country for population growth. These past six years experienced a growth of 14.2%. Utah’s growth follows Nevada at 24.9%, Arizona at 20.2 and Georgia at 14.4%. Utah is ranked first in the country for resident population under 18 years old at a 30.1 percent for 2005. Trailing at last is Maine at 21%. Ranked nearly last at 49^th is Utah for resident population 65 years and older at 8.8%. Florida, a leading retirement state is ranked number 1 at 16.8% with Alaska posting 6.6% to take last place.

Employment

The 2005 Census study ranked Utah as 16^th in the country for employment with an unemployment rate of 4.3%. Hawaii leads the country with an unemployment rate of only 2.8%, while Mississippi has the highest unemployment at 7.9%.

Income

Ranked 18^th in the country for median household income in 2005, Utah’s $47,934 follows number one ranked New Jersey’s $61,672 for a difference of $13,738 or 23%. In last place is Mississippi at $32,938, earning nearly half of the leader. However, personal income per capita in current dollars for 2005 has Utah ranked at 46^th with $27,497. Connecticut is ranked first at $47,519 while Louisiana is ranked last at $24,582. Utah number one rank for resident population under 18 years old contributes to the low personal income per capita figure.

Home Ownership

Utah’s rank for home ownership is 11^th in the nation. Utah posts a home ownership rate of 73.9% and trails number one ranked West Virginia’s 81.3% by 7.4 points. New York holds the bottom position at 55.9%.

Economy

Utah’s hot economy is ranked at number 5 for gross domestic product in constant (2000) dollars for percent change between 2004 and 2005. The state posted a 6.8% change. Arizona leads with 9.1% and Louisiana posts in last with  a negative 1.5%.

April 30, 2007

Utah's Housing Market and the National Housing Slump

The nation's economic growth is the lowest it has been in four years. The slow growth of the nation's economy is being blamed on the current national housing slump. Lower housing sales results in lower building materials sales, lower home furnishings sales, lower home appliance sales and less employment for construction workers.

Utah's housing market is cooling off as well, with nearly a 17% decline in the average percent of new listings sold for the first quarter 2007. During this quarter, Salt Lake County posts nearly a 21% decrease in the average of new listings sold while also posting a 19% increase in new listings.

Likewise, Washington County (Saint George) ) is experiencing the same woes--nearly 38% increase in new listings while experiencing a 19% decrease in sales. However, the 19% decrease in new listings sold is better than last year's first quarter posting of a 51% decrease.

Utah County's (Provo) average percent of new listings sold is also declining by nearly 23% while increasing by nearly 31% in the number of new listings. More inventory with less sales activity could result in downward price movements for real estate in Utah.

In spite of the higher supply and lower demand, Utah's new average listing price appears to be growing. Utah's new average asking price is $342,737 compared with $199,349 for first quarter 2004. That is nearly a 60% increase in 3 years! Compare Utah's new average asking price of $342,737with $351,393 for Salt Lake County, $342,737 for the Provo's Utah County and $410,377 for Washington County.

According to a recent Washington Post article, the median new-home price for the country is $254,000, (4/26/2007). Regardless of Utah's current supply and demand situation and the slumping national housing market, Utah is still poised to grow, but perhaps more slowly, as evidenced by all the cement and dump trucks that continue to litter the highways and the very low unemployment rate.