| After several years of a nationwide economic | | | | Construction was hit most heavily during this downturn |
| recession, with Utah's residential real estate market | | | | with Utah seeing all the constructions jobs created |
| never rising quite as high as the rest of the country, | | | | since the 2004 housing boom almost completely |
| Utah has now seen what experts believe is the | | | | evaporate. Many Utah homebuilders cut workforce |
| bottom of the downturn. New home sales in Utah are | | | | and scaled back new home building in Utah. |
| predicted to rise significantly over the next year | | | | Foreclosures also skyrocketed in 2008 and through |
| because of the depressed prices and the still strong | | | | 2009 with Utah seeing a 96% increase in foreclosures |
| employment rate. | | | | from Q3 of 2008 to Q3 of 2009. Foreclosures are |
| Utah's unemployment rate hovers at 6.8% compared | | | | projected to continue to rise through 2012 at a much |
| to almost 10% nationwide (see link to Utah Jobs data | | | | slower rate. Experts expect to see up to 69,383 total |
| at end of article). Beginning in October of 2008 and | | | | foreclosures by 2012 compared to the current 50,579 ( |
| continuing into 2009, the US entered the fastest free | | | | 18,804 new foreclosures yet to happen). These |
| fall in job losses since the Great Depression. Now that | | | | foreclosures have dramatically lowered home values, |
| the current Utah employment data can be compared | | | | creating great opportunity for the steadily employed |
| to that free fall, we can see that employment has | | | | who may be looking to buy sometime soon. |
| begun to improve over the past several months. | | | | Utah homebuilders believe that people will now begin to |
| Because we do not see a continued incline in | | | | buy new homes in Utah because of the dramatically |
| unemployment, experts are saying that Utah has | | | | reduced prices. |
| begun to moderate. | | | | |