Data analysis from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah, shows the median sale price of homes in Summit County was $1.64 million last year. The median Wasatch County home went for nearly $993,000 in 2024.
For Summit County, that’s a marginal decrease from 2023, and it’s a 7.7% increase for Wasatch County.
The numbers are from the Gardner institute’s State of the State’s Housing Market report released July 8.
Senior research fellow Dejan Eskic said, overall, it’s “glass half full” or “glass half empty” data depending on how you look at it.
“We've gotten more expensive, more unaffordable, [but] when we compare to last year, housing prices, rents have kind of stagnated. We got a little bit of an income bump, so we've made some progress, right?” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” July 18. “So, you know, things have gotten slightly better — but tell that to the average person looking to buy a house, and they're going to laugh in your face, probably.”
Grand and Rich counties joined Summit as the three resort and recreation locales that saw decreases in the median price of homes. Prices in Grand County, home to Moab, decreased almost 14%.
Gardner’s statisticians also looked at housing prices compared to incomes across Utah to measure which counties are the most and least affordable.
The report says Weber, Davis, and Utah counties are “seriously” unaffordable and Washington and Salt Lake counties are “severely” unaffordable.
That analysis was not included for the Wasatch Back, but Eskic told KPCW Summit County is twice as unaffordable as Washington or Salt Lake counties.
Home prices, he said, are usually tied to employment trends — but the Wasatch Back is a complete outlier.
“With second homes, short-term rentals, the recreational aspect, right? There's a lot of competition that's more insulated from the day-to-day economics of up-and-down job growth,” Eskic said.
The institute used U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey and UtahRealEstate.com data for its analysis.
