The economic crisis is hitting Utah, where there is now a shrinking employment market and a rising number of foreclosed homes. As of the third quarter of 2008, Utah ranked as the 13th state with the highest foreclosure rates in all of the US. There is a single home in every 516 houses in the state that is undergoing foreclosure. That is still lower than the average one in every 465 foreclosed homes on the national level.

In comparison from the third quarter of 2007, third-quarter volume of Utah foreclosure homes has surged 114% in 2008. As the number of foreclosures rise, price tags for such homes are continually declining. This is underpinned by many homebuyers and investors as a needed opportunity to snap existing homes in the state at very cheap prices.

Salt Lake City foreclosure homes are particularly in demand. Logically, home buyers focus on the city, the state's capital, when considering buying homes in Utah. Because foreclosure volume in the city surges, price tags, as mentioned, drops. A new home with five to six bedrooms cost about $800,000. The same houses are sold through foreclosure sales at about $180,000. Some homes are even sold for as low as $165,000, the median price for Utah foreclosure homes.

Because of rising inventory and consequent fall in Utah foreclosure home prices, homebuyers and investors see huge savings when buying such houses. Foreclosed homes with about three to four bedrooms could be acquired at about $70,000 to $180,000, while smaller houses could be purchased at a starting price of just about $51,000.

Utah foreclosure homes sold through government institutions are less costly. However, the volume of such homes is limited. Most foreclosed homes for sale in Salt Lake City and the whole of Utah are sold by mortgage lenders and commercial banks.