Salt Lake City home sellers drop asking prices

• About 46% of Salt Lake City home sellers dropped their asking prices in May. That number was closer to 19% a year ago.
• Three Utah cities — Provo, Salt Lake and Ogden — were among the top 10 U.S. metros to see the highest share of home sellers decreasing their asking price.

Between the lines: Those cities were also among the top five where home prices increased the most amid the pandemic.

• Dejan Eskic, a senior fellow at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, said the price increases was partly due to a large number of Utahns reaching first-time homebuying age (32-34 years old), coupled with historically low interest rates and more people moving to the state.

What they're saying: "Interest rates rose dramatically within a matter of [a] few weeks," said Eskic. "That really priced a lot of people out in the market."

The bottom line: The average median sales price for a Salt Lake City home in May 2022 was $580,000, Eskic said. It's almost a 26% increase ($460,000) compared to a year ago.

Yes, but: Although more Utah home sellers are slashing their home prices, it doesn't mean the state's housing marking is cooling down.

• "Yes, it's slowed down, but I wouldn't say that it's cooling," he said. "Demand is still there."