OGDEN — With its reinvigorated downtown and close proximity to mountains and river pathways, this northern Utah city is enjoying a renaissance. Ogden’s stock of affordable housing — compared to other metros along the Wasatch Front — currently draws people in for a closer look.
Zillow currently lists the median sales price for a home in Ogden at $402,013, while in Salt Lake City — about 37 miles south — that mid-range value hovers between $551,254 and $580,000.
Even so, young adults aiming to buy their first home often have to delay that major purchase because their budgets don’t stretch that far. Ogden’s median household income ranges from $65,000 to $72,500, and its median age is about 33 years.
Roughly one in seven Ogden residents lives below the federal poverty level ($15,960 for a single individual or $33,000 per household of four.) And one-third of Ogden residents qualify as low-income at 200 percent of that threshold.
Market Forces
Understanding Ogden’s present requires reflecting on some of its past.
Jeremy Peterson has served as principal broker for Vesta Real Estate for 22 years — and much of his work has focused in and around Ogden. He remembers the great financial crisis of 2008 that forced many builders out of business. Demand for fresh housing exceeded supply and drove home prices up.
“People were looking for housing that was affordable and started coming into the inner city to take advantage of the bargains,” Peterson said, noting also that rising real estate prices incentivized people to stay put and fix up their current homes.
Peterson said he saw a similar effect during Covid, coupled with a “big spend” due to inflation from “so much money being printed and dumped into the marketplace.”
But those forces helped to deliver an upside in terms of significant capital improvements in the downtown Ogden area.
“They were needed because they’d been deferred for so long,” Peterson said.
Looking back further explains how the once-stately east central neighborhood that borders Ogden’s downtown deteriorated due to decades of neglect.
“The city was doing great until the railroad pulled out and then it spiraled down for almost 45 years,” Peterson said, “until Mayor (Matthew) Godfrey came in and said okay, we’ve got to do something different.”
Ogden residents elected Godfrey in 1999 and he served through 2011, overseeing dramatic changes that ranged from demolition of Ogden’s big-box mall and replacing it with the walkable multi-use Junction, along with much-needed cleanup of the Ogden River.
But around 2015 and beyond, Peterson observed another housing supply crunch that drove up values of small starter homes, putting them out of reach for many 20- and 30-somethings.
“There’s a premium on owning a home; the entry level is where everyone wants to start … and there’s not enough of those, so they all get bid up” in terms of costs per square feet, Peterson explained.
Austin Cales, an associate broker with Century 21 Everest Realty Group, has worked in Wasatch Front real estate for 16 years where he manages a large team. Cales said he too had seen similar market trends.
“With the pandemic, everyone got scared and thought it wasn’t a good time to move,” Cales said. “Sellers weren’t selling, but then they dropped the interest rates to try to spur the economy on. And high demand and low supply really made the numbers kind of go wild.”
In Ogden’s rundown areas, gentrification occurred as people came and invested their time and finances to update older housing stock.
“We’ve seen prices go up,” Cales said. It’s a great area — you’ve got so many things close to you that are awesome — Hill Air Force Base, recreation in the canyons, also really great history that people are discovering a little bit more. I think that’s been a positive.”
Assists from the City
Ogden City Spokesman Mike McBride noted key ways the City has been able to extend a helping hand:
Own in Ogden, a long-running initiative funded through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), offers up to $10,000 that homebuyers can use toward down payment, closing costs, or paying down their mortgage.
Some workers can qualify for a $15,000 loan:
- State-certified K-12 classroom teachers or administrators in Ogden City schools.
- Ogden City employees and new hires who are buying a home within the city’s boundaries.
- Ogden City’s sworn police officers and firefighters can receive a $20,000 loan to purchase a home within Ogden city limits.
“When we help residents put down roots in Ogden, we’re investing in the long-term success of our city,” Ogden City Mayor Ben Nadolski said in a statement. “Homeownership builds equity, strengthens neighborhoods, and helps families thrive.”
Find more information here
Feature Image: Union Walk is an affordable housing community aimed at help more people find high-quality homes in the heart of Ogden. Photo courtesy of Union Walk 380.
