Wasatch Front residents have seen their housing costs, based on rent rates, increase 71.1 percent over the past 10 years compared to a more modest 38.1 percent for the nation as a whole, but a new study indicates that Salt Lake area homeowners have some of the lowest monthly house payments in the country.
According to the October issue of U.S. Housing Markets, the average Salt Lake house payment of $970 per month was the sixth lowest among the major metro markets in the United States last year.That figure represented 26.1 percent of the average Salt Lake family income and was the seventh most affordable.
The study surveyed buyers of typical residences who used conventional, fixed-rate, 30-year financing and paid 20 percent down before taking out a mortgage.
Only seven other metro areas had average payments under $1,000. They were Tampa Bay, Greensboro, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Indianapolis and Louisville.
By comparison, the average monthly house payment in San Francisco was $1,950; in Seattle, $1,400; in Denver, $1,330; in Atlanta, $1,120 and in Phoenix, $1,060.
Statewide, the average home price last year was $161,300, compared with $164,300 in 1996 and $153,000 in 1995. The average house payment in Utah last year was $1,010 or 28.7 percent of income, down from $1,080 or 32 percent in 1996 and $1,020 or 32 percent in 1995.
Utah's 28.7 percent of income for the average house payment last year ranked it 23rd among the 50 states in terms of affordability, slightly above the median.
During the past three years, average monthly income for Utah homebuyers has moved up from $3,200 in 1995 to $3,300 in 1996 to $3,500 in 1997.
Nationwide, the average monthly house payment in 1997 was $1,130 a month, about $140 more than in 1995 when housing was at its most affordable level in years. Americans also paid more for housing last year, an average of $164,500 for a conventionally financed home, up 6 percent from $155,100 last year and 15 percent higher than 1995.
The share of income required for Americans to buy a home remained about the same in 1997 as in 1996, but because of increasing incomes, it allowed them to buy a substantially more expensive home.
Houston, Kansas City and Indianapolis ranked as the three most affordable metro markets for conventionally financed housing last year with all three requiring less than 25 percent of average family income.
U.S. Housing Markets, based in Canton, Mich., tracks housing trends for the homebuilding and design industry. The study on housing affordability was based on data from the Federal Housing Finance Board.