Utah has one of the highest home-ownership rates in the country, but more people carry mortgages on those homes than the national average. Recent analysis by the National Association of Realtors shows the percentage of those owning a home without a mortgage is relatively low. The study, which used 2008 Census and IRS data, show Utah's rate over 5 percent below the national average. In the United States 31.6 percent owned a house without a loan secured on that property, while it was 26.2 percent in Utah. During that same year home ownership in Utah was 76.2 percent, the second highest in the country. Ownership since has fallen slightly, recorded as 72.5 percent in 2010, but remains well above the national rate of 66.9 percent.
Deseret News
