Home prices are down and so are the size of apartments

SALT LAKE CITY — Ending more than a decade of year-over-year increases, the average cost of a U.S. home was down 0.2% in February, sitting at $363,000. 

Utah followed suit, with a 7.6% decrease compared to prices last year. The average home in Utah costs around $464,000, according to the Utah Association of Realtors. 

“What you’re seeing is a bit of market correcting,” Communications Director Deanna Devey said. “Now we’re dealing with higher mortgage rates and really what it comes down to is, how affordable is a home?”

The sale of existing homes increased 14.5% since the beginning of 2023, but overall sales are down 22.6% from last year. 

“We had all the pandemic affects combined with the shortage of homes, and that led to increasing prices just because of supply and demand,” Devey said. 

But while home prices are down, renting costs remain the same.

Utah’s average apartment is 829 square feet, going for over $1,600 a month. 

That’s smaller than the 2023 U.S. average apartment size of 887 square-feet, which is already 30 square-feet smaller than last year, according to a report from RentCafe. 

The decrease is mostly attributed to more studio and one bedroom apartments entering the market, shedding 54 square-feet since 2013.

Related reading

• Utah housing still unaffordable for many despite slowing market
• Utah ranks 45th in the country for affordable housing