City Mortgage Guide · 2026

Buying a Home in Salt Lake City, UT — The Honest Breakdown

Median prices, monthly payments, salary requirements, and a banking professional's take on the Salt Lake City market. No fluff.

$415,000
Median Home Price
$2,940/mo
Est. Total Payment
$126,000
Min. Salary Needed
0.63%
Property Tax Rate

The Numbers at a Glance

Salt Lake City's median home price sits at approximately $415,000 in early 2026 — elevated from pre-pandemic levels but more accessible than coastal markets. With a 20% down payment of $83,000 at 7.1%:

Financial data table
Cost ComponentMonthly AmountNotes
Principal & Interest$2,2267.1% rate, 30-year fixed
Property Tax$2180.63% annual — very low
Homeowner's Insurance$130Estimate
HOA (if applicable)$150-300Many Salt Lake City communities have HOA
Total PITI$2,940Includes avg HOA estimate
Banker's Note on Salt Lake City
Licensed Banking Pro · 23 Years Experience
Salt Lake City had one of the sharpest corrections after the 2022 rate spike — prices dropped 10-15% from peak. They've recovered most of that. The market is now steadier. What I tell buyers: Salt Lake City has some of the lowest property taxes in the US, which makes the monthly payment deceptively attractive. The real risk here is HOA fees — many master-planned communities charge $300-500/month. Always get the full HOA picture before you calculate affordability. Also: the West Valley (Peoria, Surprise, Goodyear) offers 15-20% lower prices than Scottsdale for comparable homes.

Salt Lake City vs. National Averages

Financial data table
MetricSalt Lake CityUS Average
Median Home Price$415,000~$485,000
Property Tax Rate0.63% (very low)~1.1%
Monthly PITI$2,940~$2,800
Down Payment (20%)$83,000~$84,000
Salary Needed (28% DTI)$126,000~$120,000

Best Areas in Salt Lake City Metro

Scottsdale · Chandler · Gilbert · Peoria · Tempe · Goodyear
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What Salary Do You Need in Salt Lake City?

Financial data table
DTI TargetMax Monthly HousingRequired SalaryComfort Level
28% (conservative)$2,940/mo$126,000⚠ Above median
36% (standard)$2,940/mo$98,000✓ Approved
43% (maximum)$2,940/mo$82,000⚠ Stretched
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From the 2025 federal record

In the Salt Lake City, UT metro area, 16.8% of the 5,152 FHA applications that reached a credit decision were denied in 2025. The gap between its softest and hardest high-volume FHA door was 25.6 points (SECURITYNATIONAL MORTGAGE COMPANY 8.4% vs ROCKET MORTGAGE 34.0%). See this metro's full lender table →

CFPB HMDA 2025 · decisioned = actions 1,2,3 · historical observation, not a prediction · FinanceRateCalc

The part almost nobody publishes free

Prices and rates are widely reported. Whether a lender says yes is not. In the complete 2025 federal record, denial rates across the 100 largest FHA lenders ran from 1.8% to 78.7% — same programme, same year.

And it is not simply who applies where: standardizing on state, loan amount, income, debt-to-income and loan-to-value, applicant mix explains only a 2.7× range in expected outcomes.

Which lenders approve most → Your metro → Denied? →

CFPB HMDA 2025, computed by FinanceRateCalc. Covers the highest-volume lenders published per market, not all lenders. Historical observations, not predictions. CC BY 4.0, not independently reproduced.

The Denial Dispatch
One finding a week from the federal mortgage record.
One chart, three paragraphs, every Saturday. Measured, not assumed.
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AI Accuracy Index The Door Effect The Denial Map Open Data About 184 Metro Gaps Evidence Navigator Hallucination Files Press Newsletter
FinanceRateCalc · Independent analysis of the complete federal HMDA record · Measured, not assumed. · No lender or AI vendor funds or previews this work.