Utah is still a great place to live and buy a home

With all the negative news I thought I would write why I think Utah isn't positioned to have a massive down turn like other States. First off our economy and job growth is great as listed below according to the Governor's office.

Job Growth - Job growth rebounded form 0.0% in 2003 to 2.8% in 2004, 4.0% in 2005, and peaked at 4.8% in 2006. The job growth rate was estimated at 4.5%

Industry Focus - Natural resources and mining, construction, trade, transportation, and utilities, financial activity, and professional and business services all experienced job growth higher than the state average of 4.5%. All other sectors also experienced positive job growth form 2006 to 2007.

Unemployment - Utah's 2007 unemployment rate was 2.7%, down form 2.9% in 2006. On average, there were 34,000 Utahans unemployed in 2007.

Average Wage - In 2007, Utah's average annual nonagricultural wage was $36,500, an increase of 5.5% from 2006.

Population - The State's official July 1, 2007 population was estimated to be approximately 2.7 million, an increase of 3.2% from 2006. This is the highest growth rate Utah has experienced since the early 1990's.

Rate of population growth - According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Utah ranked third among state with a population growth rate of 2.6% from 2006 to 2007. The U.S. rate of growth was 1.0%.

With all of this growth and great employment, many people still need homes.

Second we didn't see as many years of appreciation like so many other state, and I don't think we will see as much of a down turn.

This is why I say it is a great time to buy a home, prices have become more reasonable, interest rate are great, and seller's are negotiable.