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SALT LAKE CITY — A new national housing report has again placed Utah's capital city among the top in the nation for housing markets with the biggest home price increases.
Salt Lake City ranked among the top five of 51 metro areas across the nation for the biggest year-over-year increases in median sales price, with an overall median price of $516,759 last month. That's up 26% from a median price of $410,000 in February 2021, according to RE/MAX's national housing report for February released Thursday.
Here's the ranking of the five markets — four in the West — with the biggest median sales price hikes from February 2021 to February 2022.
- Billings, Montana — $350,000, up 29.6% from $270,000 in 2021.
- Phoenix — $450,000, up 28.6% from $350,000 in 2021.
- Tampa, Florida — $346,350, up 28.3% from $270,000 in 2021.
- Las Vegas — $420,000, up 27.3% from $330,000 in 2021.
- Salt Lake City — $516,759, up 26% from $410,000 in 2021.
In some areas of Utah, local data shows that the median sales price for single-family homes is even higher — approaching $600,000. In Salt Lake County, the median price of a single-family home hit $580,000 last month, according to the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. In Utah County, that figure climbed to $589,450.
The RE/MAX report shows Salt Lake City continues to have one of the hottest housing markets in the nation — a market that's stellar for sellers, but overwhelming and painful for homebuyer hopefuls.
Salt Lake City also ranked among the top cities in the nation for the lowest number of days homes sit on the market before they're sold. The metro areas with the lowest days on the market were Nashville at 14 days; Seattle, with 17 days, and a two-way tie between Omaha, Nebraska, and Salt Lake City at 18 days, according to the RE/MAX February report.
"With such high demand and low inventory, houses are flying off the shelves right now — even at prices that have reached new highs," Nick Bailey, president and CEO of RE/MAX, said in a prepared statement.
Bailey said that's positioning the national market for another strong spring.
"Having more listings on the market would be good for everyone, but the stage is set for another active spring selling season," he said. "Buyers, feeling pinched by inflation, are snapping up new listings and racing to take advantage of near historically low rates before they go up. It's clear the dream of homeownership is still top of mind for many Americans."
In Utah, housing experts have warned of a "severe imbalance" in affordability, but also see no end to growing home prices, even as the Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time since 2019 this week. Those rate hikes will likely only slow price increases, not stop them, as inventory remains woefully outpaced by demand.
Nationwide, the housing market has been in upheaval for about two years now, after the COVID-19 pandemic spurred many Americans to reevaluate their lives. It's been particularly chaotic in the West, which has seen a surge in in-migration from homebuyers in search of more space at lower price points.
That's only added to pressures for the rapidly growing, job-abundant state of Utah, which was facing a housing shortage even before the pandemic hit.
