People are becoming more and more concerned about their own economic situations given government policies and that fact is being supported by different MLS/REALTOR groups around the country. One survey from the mid-Atlantic region found that 75% of Realtors reported at least one buyer pausing their home search, with just under a third of those citing economic uncertainty, and nearly one-fifth blaming “general financial issues”.  I have 21 agents under my brokers license and they report weekly to me how the market is changing for both buyers and sellers.

That survey found that more than a third of agents are seeing sellers pulling their listings. Here in Utah, we’re seeing the same thing, after homes and condos sit on the market for months and months sellers tell us they just don’t want to keep dropping prices until they get an offer and would rather wait to sell until the economy improves.

The Fed lowered the federal funds rate last week, which is the target rate banks charge each other for overnight loans of reserves. This was the first cut since December 2024 and the Fed stated to expect more cuts by the end of the year. The rate drop was for a concern over a weaker national job market with slowing hiring. Mortgage rates should come down a tad, but not so much to create a rush of buyers and refinances. So many homeowners are sitting on mortgages with rates of @3% that they don’t want to refinance or sell. Basically, the current real estate market is not pro-seller or pro-buyer but instead is favoring nobody.

Both the survey and local agents are seeing tough decisions with their clients and customers and if the economy worsens sales will slump and interest rates won’t help. New home sales have already fallen from post-pandemic highs yet home prices here in the state were up 5.1% in August over last year at the same time, whereas the number of homes sold rose only .5% during the same time.  Zillow reported at the beginning of this month that 52% of home sales in Utah were under list price. Home sales are sluggish around the country but the place with the fastest selling homes is Milwaukee according to Realtor.com. The median listing price for a home there in August was $399,900. The cities ranked behind Milwaukee for having the fastest-selling homes are Buffalo, New York; Chicago; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Cincinnati, all at 39 days; and Detroit; Hartford, Connecticut; and Providence, Rhode Island, at 38 days.

And if you’re not buying and thinking about renting a recent report from Deseret News from Rent Café found that the minimum hourly wage needed to afford the average two-bedroom apartment in Utah is $31.27 as of September 2025 based on the average cost of a two-bedroom apartment here. As a comparison, it’s $52 in Boston $51 in California, and $21 in Oklahoma.