Wasatch Front existing home sales, prices still down

In Salt Lake County, 1,806 existing single-family homes were sold in the first quarter of the year, down just under 1 percent from 1,819 in the same quarter a year ago, the Salt Lake Board of Realtors reported Tuesday. The median selling price in the January-March period was $200,000, down nearly 8 percent from the same three-month period in 2010.

Prices also were down year-over-year in Davis, Utah, Weber and Tooele counties, between about 5 percent and nearly 12 percent.

Realtors attribute the declines over the past year to the expiration of the federal home-buying tax credit, which boosted sales in last year’s first quarter, only to cause a drop off in sales after the credit expired in April 2010.