Utah rental market data

The median across 8 metros shows asking rents growing 2.7% and home values growing 2.2%. Rent growth in the supplied percentile band ranged from 0.5% to 6.0%, wider than the 0.6% to 3.2% range for value growth. Heber was more extreme: rent rose 11.0% while value rose 2.3%, a calculated gap of 8.7 percentage points. Its measured rent was $3,449 against a $1,154,909 value, producing a 3.6% gross yield.

Vernal is the counter-signal. Its value rose 4.6%, ahead of 3.6% rent growth, although its 4.7% gross yield was stronger than Heber’s. The combination means statewide median momentum is not a substitute for market-level screening: a fast-rising rent series may accompany a high entry value and a thinner headline yield, while another metro may offer more current rent relative to price without the same rent-growth lead.

Across 8 metros, the median resale market had 5.3 months of supply, 43.5 days on market, a 30.6% price-drop share and a 99.0% sale-to-list ratio. The supplied inventory band extended from 3.4 to 8.9 months, showing that liquidity conditions differ materially within the state.

St. George recorded 10.1 months of supply, 51 days on market and price drops on 32.0% of listings. It also had 3,024 permitted units, or 15.4 per 1,000 residents. Heber had 8.4 months of supply, 52 days on market and a 97.2% sale-to-list ratio, despite its strong rent growth. These figures support explicit resale-time and discount tests. Permits measure a development pipeline, however, not completed rental units, and resale inventory does not establish rental vacancy.

The median measured metro combined a $525,597 home value with $1,626 monthly rent and a 3.9% gross yield. The supplied gross-yield band was 3.5% to 4.5%. Median price-to-income was 5.8, median rent-to-income was 22.6%, and the median asking-rent-to-Fair-Market-Rent ratio was 1.25. Because gross yield excludes operating expenses, vacancy, financing and capital work, the headline range cannot establish net return.

Vernal paired a $360,349 value with $1,422 rent, a 4.7% gross yield, a 4.9 price-to-income ratio and 23.1% rent-to-income. St. George showed a 4.4% gross yield but a higher 28.8% rent-to-income measure. That contrast is useful for screening: a stronger rent-to-price relationship can coexist with meaningful tenant affordability pressure, so entry cost and achievable tenant payments need separate validation.

Across 29 counties, the median share of renters spending at least 30% of income on rent was 40.3%, with the supplied percentile band running from 25.8% to 49.7%. Washington County was at 56.7%, Iron County at 54.5% and Carbon County at 50.1%. These figures identify affordability pressure, not delinquency, turnover or the payment capacity of tenants for a particular property.

The stock is also predominantly single-family: the median county single-family share was 79.9%, compared with a 1.4% median large-multifamily share. Median county housing vacancy was 15.2%, but the range reached 44.1% at the upper supplied percentile. Daggett County had 75.2% vacancy with 783 residents, Rich County had 72.6% with 2,631 residents, and Kane County had 46.2% with 8,170 residents. Those broad housing-vacancy measures should not be read as available long-term rentals, particularly in small counties.

Employment growth was positive across the supplied metro distribution: the median for 8 metros was 1.1%, with the supplied band running from 0.2% to 1.9%. St. George measured 2.1%, Cedar City 1.8% and Provo 1.4%. This is the clearest counter-signal to the resale softness, but employment growth does not identify which jobs support the rents or properties under review.

Across all 29 counties, 91,930 movers entered and 88,792 left, for net migration of 3,138, or 0.9 per 1,000 residents. The direction is positive, but the scale is modest and statewide aggregation does not reveal where incoming households rented, their household size or their capacity to absorb current asking rents. Migration and employment also come from different measurement periods, so their apparent alignment is not a synchronized demand test.