Here's how much you need to earn to afford a home in Salt Lake County

SANDY — A new study shows homebuyers in Salt Lake County need to earn nearly $187,000 a year to afford a median-priced single-family home.

"There's no more traditionally more 'affordable' communities in Salt Lake County," said Matthew Clewett, vice president of public policy at the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, which released the report on Tuesday.

The study comes just weeks after new data showed the median sales price for a single-family home in Utah's most populous county hit a record-high $645,000 during the second quarter of 2026.

"What that translates to in income necessary is roughly $187,000 a year," Clewett said, "and that's county-wide."

It's not just single-family homes that are so pricey. For multi-family units like condos or townhomes, the study showed a homebuyer needs to earn nearly $130,000 to consider that housing affordable, based on the federal definition of 30% of gross monthly income for all housing costs including taxes, insurance and utilities.

In fact, according to the report, a six-figure income is required to afford a multi-family housing unit in every municipality in Salt Lake County.

"There are still options out there," Clewett said. "However, they're becoming harder and harder to find throughout the county."

According to the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, the least affordable community in the county to buy a single-family home is Draper. The most affordable is West Valley City.

New home sales

At the same time, the number of new homes sold is falling.

July was the slowest month nationwide since the start of the year, according to numbers released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Specifically, new home sales decreased by 10.5% from June to July, the data showed, and they dropped by 6.3% year over year.

Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, cited "affordability challenges" as a reason for the slowdown. The association this week also called the trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada a "setback for residential construction" with its associated tariff increases on building supplies.

"(National Association of Home Builders) surveys show that a majority of builders continue to offer sales incentives, including mortgage rate buydowns, to support new home sales," Owens said.

That's what Adam Breen, owner of Breen Homes in Utah, said he does.

"We always add in concessions where we can," Breen told KSL. "Whether it's an interest rate buydown, helping with a down payment, (or) coming in on … less of a down payment."

Breen said he feels the headwinds in the market, often driven by higher mortgage rates, although he pointed out July sales are often slow in Utah with two major holidays.

But he also noted the Beehive state, with its strong growth, is unique compared to other parts of the country.

"For years I've heard, 'We're going to wait until it slows down,' and everyone goes, 'Shouldn't have waited because it continued doing this,'" Breen said, motioning upward.

Clewett, with the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, urged policymakers to address the challenges posed by high housing costs, such as building more starter units and constructing single-family homes on smaller lots.

"Municipalities and the state legislature can find ways to provide different types of housing units throughout our county still that are traditionally a little bit more affordable," he said.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox acknowledged last week that steps taken over the last several years to address housing affordability are not working.

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