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Housing sales have slowed in Salt Lake County as would-be buyers cope with tight supplies and rising prices, trends pushing many to shop in nearby counties or choose condominiums instead.

Single-family home sales along the Wasatch Front were practically flat for the first quarter of 2016 compared with the same period last year, according to the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, with 5,692 units sold this year versus 5,691 last year in the five-county area.

Quarterly sales fell by 1.7 percent in Salt Lake County and 2.5 percent in Davis County, but they rose in Utah, Tooele and Weber counties by 8 percent, 4.2 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively.

"Demand for housing is strong," said Cheryl Acker, board president, "but a limited supply of housing inventory pushed sales down."

Buyers, Acker said, are increasingly looking for more affordable options.

Top-selling ZIP codes across the metro area for the quarter were Clearfield, Lehi and Tooele. Salt Lake County's big sellers, meanwhile, were the Taylorsville-Kearns area (84118), Herriman (84096) and South Jordan (84095).

In further evidence of short supplies, the number of new-home listings across the five counties dropped by 6.2 percent, to 10,885 for January, February and March, compared with 11,604 the same time last year.

The average number of days homes remained on the market plunged by 24.5 percent to about 32 days, depending on the county.

House listings spent an average of 59 days on the market in Salt Lake County, 20 days less than they did the same time a year ago.

Homebuilders cite rising costs of labor, land and construction materials, along with stricter financing standards, as factors contributing to limited inventories.

Regional home prices, meanwhile, continued an upward march.

Salt Lake County's median price for a single-family home reached $271,400 for the first quarter, up 6.4 percent from the previous year. It marked at least the 11th consecutive quarter that home prices rose year over year in Utah's most populous county.

Median prices also shot up in Utah County (now at $266,000), Davis County ($243,000), Tooele County ($199,322) and Weber County ($185,000).

The region's five most expensive ZIP codes for the quarter were all in Salt Lake County: the Avenues (84103) at $451,000; Emigration Canyon (84108) at $437,500; Draper (84020) at $431,750; Holladay (84124) at $413,500; and Sandy (84092) at $399,900. Quarterly home sales dipped in four of those five ZIP codes, with only the Avenues posting a gain, up 6.8 percent.

Continuing a multiyear trend, surging prices and the squeeze in regional home supplies seemed to bolster markets for condos and town homes.

Condo sales along the Wasatch Front jumped 3.6 percent for the quarter, with 730 sold in Salt Lake County and 1,314 changing hands across the five counties.

Median condo prices hit $188,250 in Salt Lake County for the quarter, compared with $167,410 in Utah County, $169,900 in Davis County, $154,000 in Tooele County and $126,500 in Weber County.

tsemerad@sltrib.com Twitter: @TonySemerad —

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