Draper buyers face a tightening market as Salt Lake County home sales plunge 27.6% in preliminary October data, driven by mortgage rates above 7%.

The Salt Lake Board of Realtors has tallied 771 sales so far in October, compared with 1,065 in October 2025, spokesman Dave Anderton told the Deseret News. Final numbers won't be released until mid-November, and Anderton said the "gap will likely narrow" because sales are still being reported.

The decline hits hard in Draper, where the median home price was hovering near $1 million as of August 2025, according to the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. The countywide median sat at $550,000 in September, down $5,000 from the same month in 2025, Anderton said.

Rates climbed through October

Mortgage rates drove much of the pullback. The average 30-year fixed rate hit 7.4% for the weeks ending Oct. 8 and Oct. 15, according to Freddie Mac data. The Deseret News described that level as a three-year high. Rates eased to 7.24% for the week ending Oct. 29.

In early 2026, rates had briefly dipped below 6% for the first time since 2022, the Deseret News reported.

The national picture is similarly tight. The median U.S. mortgage payment reached $2,786 for the four weeks ending Oct. 25, a 10.7% increase from the same period in 2025, according to data from Redfin. Pending home sales nationally fell 15.9% over the same span, hitting the lowest level in Redfin records going back to 2021.

County and state prices diverge

Salt Lake County's September price decline bucked the statewide trend. Utah's median sale price climbed 1.9% year-over-year to $530,000 in September, according to the Utah Association of Realtors.

County home sales also slipped in September, falling from 1,093 to 990 compared with a year earlier, Anderton said.

Draper Mayor Troy Walker put the affordability squeeze in personal terms in a December 2025 Draper Journal report. Three of his adult children were living under his roof despite having college degrees and jobs. "I'd rather they pay me a little rent and save than never get out of the hole," Walker said at the time.

In the same report, Walker said his own home had doubled in value over 22 years and he couldn't afford to buy it at its current price. "Mine is under 3%, so why would I buy a home at 7%?" he said.

The Salt Lake Board of Realtors expects to release final October sales data in mid-November.