RISING HOME PRICES + INTEREST RATES = LESS BUYERS QUALIFYING

SALT LAKE CITY — A recent study says Utah housing prices have risen faster than almost anywhere in the country for a generation and the trend seems likely to continue.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute released a preliminary study Wednesday warning that rising interest rates on mortgages in the state will reduce the number of people who can afford to buy a home.

The report says this could end up hurting the state's economy because household incomes are not keeping pace.

The report says the "median sales price of a home in Utah's two largest metropolitan areas is already 20 percent higher than home prices in Boise, Las Vegas and Phoenix, three cities Utah competes with for new business expansions."

The report says the "housing price gap with these cities makes Utah's economic development efforts less competitive and the state less attractive as a business location."

(Dominic Valente - Daily Herald)