The spring homebuying season faces challenges as new listings decline and some sellers pull homes off the market, with Utah mirroring national trends. High mortgage rates and consumer confidence lows contribute to a stagnant market where only those who can afford are buying. Unlike 2008, most homeowners have equity and choose not to sell at current prices.
Economic uncertainty, including the Iran war, is also affecting consumer confidence . Dejan Eskic, who studies the housing market at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah , said the market is "kind of stuck.
" SALT LAKE CITY – The spring homebuying season is well underway, but the housing market is challenging. The number of new homes listed for sale nationwide fell 1.3% last week, according to real estate company Redfin, and some sellers are pulling their homes off the market. In April, a Redfin study found, nearly 6% of U.S. home listings were delisted. Utah is not immune from this.
"It's definitely happening," said Dejan Eskic, who studies the housing market at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah. Eskic told KSL several hundred fewer homes in Utah were listed for sale in May compared to the same time last year.
Meanwhile, home prices are high. The statewide median price for all housing types was $528,000 in May. Mortgage rates are also elevated, sitting at 6.68% for a 30-year fixed as of Tuesday afternoon, per Mortgage News Daily.
"Those that can afford are buying, and sellers don't have to sell. Sellers choose to sell," he said.
"The market's really iced out those who can't really afford. " Some home sellers are pulling their homes off the market, and Utah isn't immune from it. Unlike the financial crisis of 2008, Eskic said hardly anyone in Utah owes more money than what their home is worth, and many sellers have more breathing room.
"They have expectation on price, and if it's not being met, they'll just stay put," Eskic said. "The move is not worth the cost. "Hanging over all this is uncertainty about the economy, which, according to Redfin, is a factor in fewer home listings. "Consumer confidence dropped to an all-time low last week, due partly to rising food and gas prices," the real estate company said.
"The ongoing Iran war and inflation fears are exacerbating financial jitters. Many Americans aren't able to, or don't want to, buy a home when the cost of everything else is rising.
"As the spring homebuying season continues, Eskic said buyers in Utah still have a lot to choose from, but sellers get to be picky. The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written. Erma's legacy to live on through Sugar House's newest housing developmentDaniel Woodruff is a reporter/anchor with deep experience covering Utah news.
He is a native of Provo and a graduate of Brigham Young University. Daniel has also worked as a journalist in Indiana and Wisconsin.
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