Utah County, Utah

What it costs to finance a home in Utah County

Loan limits are set county by county, and Utah County's sit in a place almost nobody explains. The conforming limit rose again this year. The FHA limit has not moved since 2023, and it now sits within a couple thousand dollars of the median single-family sale price. If you are buying here, that one relationship shapes your options more than anything else on this page. Our office is at 1440 N 900 W in Mapleton, in the south end of the county.

Scott Asbell · NMLS 270856 · Lending Manager
Call 801-368-2900 Visit AsbellTeam.com
The county lending profile

Utah County loan limits and thresholds

These are published federal figures, not offers. Every one is sourced below.

MeasureUtah CountySource
Conforming loan limit, one unit$832,750FHFA, 2026 conforming loan limit values
FHA loan limit, one unit$601,450HUD FHA mortgage limits
VA, partial entitlement tie$832,750VA loan limits, tied to the conforming figure
USDA area loan limit$433,020USDA Rural Development area loan limit map
Median single-family sale price$599,350MLS, January through May 2026
Median, all property types$519,990MLS, January through May 2026
The relationship that matters. The FHA limit of $601,450 sits roughly two thousand dollars above the county's median single-family sale price. At the median, an FHA buyer has essentially no room. Conventional financing clears the median comfortably, because the conforming limit is more than two hundred thousand dollars above it. Which of those two facts governs your purchase depends entirely on which program fits you, and that is the conversation worth having before you write an offer.

Loan limits are set annually and take effect January 1. FHFA and HUD publish new figures late in the calendar year, so figures shift. Ask for a current read before you rely on any of them.

Reading the table

What these numbers mean if you're buying here

The FHA squeeze is the Utah County story

Utah County's FHA limit has been frozen at $601,450 since 2023. Over those same years the conforming limit climbed from $726,200 to $832,750, and county prices climbed with it. The limit stood still while the market moved.

The result shows up in the origination data. FHA's share of Utah County mortgages went from 13.46 percent in 2019 to 25.33 percent in 2024. A quarter of the county now uses a program whose ceiling has stopped rising. That is not a reason to avoid FHA. It is a reason to know exactly where the ceiling sits before you fall in love with a house.

Practically, it means the price you shop at and the program you qualify for are the same decision here, not two separate ones. Townhomes carry a median of $425,000 against $599,350 for detached single-family, and that spread is often what determines whether a household can buy in this county at all.

Assistance programs stop below the median

Utah Housing Corporation's FirstHome program caps the purchase price at $542,000 in Utah County. The median single-family sale price is $599,350. A first-time buyer using the state's own assistance cannot buy the county's median home.

The same pattern holds in Eagle Mountain at roughly $549,900 and Saratoga Springs at roughly $589,900, both above the cap. Layering assistance here is a real strategy, but it is a strategy that lives in specific price bands and specific cities, and it collapses if you learn about it after you are under contract.

Something changes October 1

Utah Code § 10-21-304 takes effect October 1, 2026. Every city over five thousand people in the populous counties must permit a detached accessory dwelling unit on any lot of 11,000 square feet or larger that already holds a single-family home. For anyone thinking about buying a house that helps pay for itself, that is the largest change to hit this county in years.

Who is behind this page

Scott Asbell, Utah County

I have originated loans since 1997, when my wife Ann and I started Rocky Mountain Mortgage Group. I served as managing partner there for thirteen years. Before that I practiced as an accountant and held my CPA from 1994 to 2016, which is why I tend to look at a loan for its tax effects and its structure rather than only its monthly payment.

Our office is at 1440 N 900 W in Mapleton, in the south end of Utah County, and this is where the work gets done rather than a gate anyone has to pass through. Most of our clients never drive here. I grew up in Provo and then Draper and have spent my whole adult life along the Wasatch Front. I have personally owned more than fourteen properties over the years, homes, commercial and land, most of it in the markets I lend in.

I work alongside Zachary S. Asbell, NMLS 1535031, and Kristen Moyes, who has been our loan partner since 2004. We operate as Homeside Financial, a dba of Lower, LLC, NMLS 1124061. We are licensed in 48 states, but Utah County is home.

I belong to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Utah Valley Home Builders Association and Business Networking International, and we teach a house hacking event somewhere in Utah County roughly six times a year, free and open to anyone who wants to understand the strategy.

Territory isn't just a map, it's a sense of where opportunity is headed. The overlooked towns of today are the Drapers of tomorrow, and I help clients ask that question honestly instead of chasing the neighborhood everyone already agrees on.

Scott Asbell
Sixty things worth knowing

The Utah County lending deep dive

Financing specifics for this county, grouped by what you are trying to figure out. Every figure names its source.

Loan limits and thresholds
  1. The 2026 conforming loan limit for a one-unit property in Utah County is $832,750. Above that figure a loan is jumbo. (FHFA)
  2. The 2026 FHA loan limit for a one-unit property here is $601,450. (HUD)
  3. That FHA limit has not changed since 2023. Four consecutive years flat, while the conforming limit rose from $726,200 to $832,750. (HUD, FHFA)
  4. The FHA limit sits roughly $2,000 above the median single-family sale price of $599,350. At the median there is effectively no FHA headroom. (HUD, MLS)
  5. Utah County carries no high-cost designation. It sits at the national baseline, while Summit and Wasatch counties are elevated to $1,150,000. (FHFA)
  6. The 2026 national FHA floor is $541,287 and the ceiling is $1,249,125. Utah County sits between them, at neither. (HUD)
  7. VA imposes no loan cap for a borrower with full entitlement. The $832,750 conforming figure is the tie for partial entitlement and zero-down calculations. (VA)
  8. The 2026 USDA area loan limit here is $433,020, down from $481,160 the prior year, a drop of $48,140. (USDA)
  9. The conforming trend runs $726,200, $766,550, $806,500 and $832,750 across 2023 through 2026, an increase of 3.26 percent in the most recent year. (FHFA)
  10. There is no high-balance tier in Utah County. Because the county sits at baseline, the move from conforming to jumbo is a single step with no intermediate product between them. (FHFA)
  11. FHA's share of Utah County originations rose from 13.46 percent in 2019 to 25.33 percent in 2024 while the FHA limit stayed frozen. More buyers are pressing against a ceiling that is not moving. (CFPB HMDA)
  12. Multi-unit conforming limits for 2026 run $1,066,250 for two units, roughly $1,288,000 for three and $1,601,750 for four. If you are buying a duplex to live in one side, that two-unit figure is your threshold, not the one-unit number. (FHFA)
Programs live in this county
  1. Utah Housing Corporation's FirstHome pairs a 30-year fixed first mortgage at a below-market rate with down payment assistance of up to 6 percent, structured as a 0 percent second with no monthly payment, due when the first is paid off, the home sells, or it refinances. (UHC)
  2. The UHC purchase price cap for Utah County is $542,000. The county's median single-family sale price is $599,350, so the cap sits below the median home. (UHC, MLS)
  3. UHC income limits for Utah County are $112,000 for a one or two person household and $130,667 for three or more. (UHC)
  4. FirstHome requires a 660 minimum credit score and completion of a homebuyer education course. The Score program reaches borrowers between 620 and 659 on a similar structure. (UHC)
  5. Loan to Own offers up to $40,000 in assistance, at 0 percent interest, in second position, deferred with no payment due until the property stops being the borrower's primary residence. It is administered by Provo City for the Utah Valley HOME Consortium. (Provo City)
  6. Loan to Own forgives 50 percent of the balance if the home remains the primary residence for the entire affordability period. Forgiveness is not incremental, so leaving early forfeits all of it. (Provo City)
  7. Loan to Own caps total liquid assets at $15,000 after closing and requires all borrowers to complete a homebuyer education class, offered in person through Community Action Services. (Provo City)
  8. Loan to Own excludes several Utah County cities, and the published exclusion list has differed between Provo City's own pages. Confirm the current list and the current purchase price cap with Provo City Development Services before writing an offer that depends on it. (Provo City)
  9. Provo Home Purchase Plus is a separate program for purchases inside Provo City only. Both it and Loan to Own are applied for through neighborly.provo.org. (Provo City)
  10. Eagle Mountain's Mortgage Assistance Program requires combined household income at or below 120 percent of the Utah County median set annually by HUD, a minimum $1,000 contribution from the buyer, a fixed-rate first from a traditional lender, and that the applicant owns no other home. (Eagle Mountain City)
  11. Eagle Mountain's program runs 15 years and requires the home to remain a primary residence. Selling or renting inside the first two years triggers repayment plus a $2,000 penalty. Applications close on the 15th of each month. (Eagle Mountain City)
  12. USDA financing is determined address by address on the Rural Development eligibility map, not by city, and the final determination is made by Rural Development on a complete application. Utah County USDA originations fell from 474 in 2019 to 13 in 2024, so eligible ground here has narrowed sharply. Check the specific parcel before assuming. (USDA, CFPB HMDA)
What it costs to close here
  1. Utah charges no real estate transfer tax at either the state or local level. Title Utah Code 57, which governs property conveyances, contains no transfer tax provision. Buyers relocating from states that do charge one should remove it from their budget entirely. (Utah Code Title 57)
  2. Recording is the only government cost at transfer, and it is charged per instrument rather than as a share of price. Expect roughly $45 per instrument under the current schedule, so a deed and a deed of trust together land near $90. (Utah county recorder fee schedules)
  3. Utah is a filed-rate title state, which means title premiums are published and comparable across companies. Shopping the lender's policy is one of the few closing costs a buyer can genuinely move.
  4. Lender and third-party closing costs for a Utah buyer generally run 1 to 3 percent of the purchase price. Adding prepaid interest, homeowners insurance and the initial escrow deposit typically puts total cash to close in the 2 to 5 percent range.
  5. A Utah appraisal typically runs around $700. If it comes back requiring repairs, budget for a return trip and a re-inspection rather than only a delay.
  6. In Utah it is customary, though not legally required, for the seller to pay for the buyer's owner's title policy while the buyer pays for the lender's policy. Everything in the Real Estate Purchase Contract is negotiable.
  7. Utah exempts 45 percent of a primary residence's fair market value, plus up to one acre of land, from property tax. An owner-occupant is taxed on 55 percent of value. (Utah Constitution Article XIII, Section 3; Utah Code 59-2-103)
  8. Utah Code defines a primary residence as one occupied for 183 or more consecutive days in the calendar year, and allows one exemption per household statewide. Second homes, short-term rentals and condominiums held in rental pools do not qualify. (Utah Code 59-2-102)
  9. New construction can default to a secondary classification in the assessor's system. Anyone buying new in Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs or anywhere else in the county should verify on the first tax bill that the residential exemption was applied, and file Form PT-19A if it was not. (Utah County Assessor)
  10. Condominium and townhome purchases carry association transfer fees and start-up fees that detached purchases do not, and association dues in Utah commonly run a few hundred dollars a month. Ask for the figures before the offer, not during underwriting.
Property types and local conditions
  1. Utah Code § 10-21-304, enacted by S.B. 284 in the 2026 general session, takes effect October 1, 2026. It requires every city over 5,000 people in the populous counties to permit a detached accessory dwelling unit on any lot of 11,000 square feet or larger that already holds a single-family home. (S.B. 284 enrolled copy)
  2. Lehi has adopted its implementing ordinance. Orem has been drafting one. Provo published a detached-ADU eligibility map in May 2026 and updated it in July but had not adopted a rule as of early September. (Provo City; Daily Herald)
  3. Internal accessory dwelling units, the basement-apartment kind built inside an existing home, are already protected statewide under Utah Code § 10-21-303. The by-right protection covers internal units, not detached ones, which is where most owners misread the law.
  4. Under the new detached-ADU section a city may still require the owner to live in one of the two units, limit the lot to a single ADU, require replacement of garage parking lost to a conversion, and refuse a unit where sewer, water, electrical or storm-water capacity is short. (Utah Code § 10-21-304)
  5. Orem currently limits accessory dwelling units to internal units inside the principal residential building and does not permit detached units. As a university city it may apply the 67 percent residential-zone restriction available under § 10-21-303. (Orem City ordinance)
  6. Provo permits accessory dwelling units in detached structures inside its defined overlay, subject to a smaller footprint and height than the main dwelling, setbacks of at least ten feet from all property lines, architectural compatibility, a permanent site-built foundation, and separate utility meters. (Provo City Code 14.30.030)
  7. Lehi permits internal accessory dwelling units on lots of at least 6,000 square feet, with a $25 application fee and no impact fees. (Lehi Development Code)
  8. Every Utah County city verified so far restricts accessory dwelling unit rentals to terms of 30 or more consecutive days. Nightly rental is governed separately by city ordinance and is generally far more restrictive. (Utah Code § 10-21-303)
  9. Owner occupancy is close to universal across Utah County cities. An investor planning to rent both the main home and the unit needs to read the specific city ordinance rather than rely on the state baseline.
  10. City rules here move faster than most published summaries. Two cities in the same county can implement the same state baseline differently, and the legislature has revisited land use in multiple recent sessions. Do not rely on a neighboring city's rules as a proxy for your own, and do not rely on a summary that predates the current session.
Who buys here and how
  1. Median household income in Utah County is $100,671, against an average household income of $127,591. (ACS)
  2. The homeownership rate is 68.3 percent, above the national figure of 65.2 percent. (ACS)
  3. Median property value in the county was $538,700 in 2024, up 10.1 percent from $489,200 the year before. (ACS)
  4. County population is roughly 705,000, and employment grew 3.76 percent between 2023 and 2024, from about 337,000 to about 350,000. (ACS)
  5. The three largest employment sectors for county residents are educational services at 47,266 people, retail trade at 41,155 and health care and social assistance at 40,205. Income type drives underwriting, and an education-heavy base means contract and academic-year income show up constantly. (ACS)
  6. The county's largest institutions by degrees awarded in 2024 are Utah Valley University at 13,468, Brigham Young University at 8,168 and Mountainland Technical College at 2,301. (IPEDS)
  7. Average commute is 22.6 minutes and most residents drive alone, which is worth weighing when an entry-level price point pushes you toward the far ends of the county. (ACS)
  8. Utah County is one of Utah's five largest counties by covered employment. Those five together account for 84.1 percent of statewide covered employment. (BLS, September 2025)
Market context for financing
  1. The median single-family sale price is $599,350 and the median townhome is $425,000. That $174,350 gap is often what decides whether a household can buy in this county at all. (MLS, January through May 2026)
  2. The all-property-type median is $519,990, which is why quoted Utah County medians vary so widely. Always ask which property types a median includes before comparing it to a loan limit. (MLS)
  3. Redfin put the county at a $548,000 median for the three months ending May 2026, up 7.0 percent year over year. (Redfin)
  4. Homes sold after an average of 41 days on market, up from 36 a year earlier. (Redfin)
  5. Eagle Mountain sat near $549,900 and Saratoga Springs near $589,900 in March 2026. Both are above the Utah Housing Corporation purchase price cap of $542,000. (MLS, UHC)
  6. Alpine holds the highest median of any Wasatch Front zip code at roughly $1.5 million, which is well into jumbo territory here given the county sits at the baseline conforming limit. (Wasatch Front quarterly market report, Q2 2026)
  7. Conventional's share of county originations fell from 78.83 percent in 2019 to 68.96 percent in 2024, while FHA rose from 13.46 to 25.33 percent. The mix is shifting toward the program with the tighter ceiling. (CFPB HMDA)
  8. VA originations in Utah County rose 42.52 percent between 2023 and 2024, the fastest growth of any program in the county, and VA carries no loan cap for a borrower with full entitlement. (CFPB HMDA, VA)
Situations we handle

Which of these is your situation

Own a Home Cheaper Than Rent, book cover

Buying a home that helps pay for itself

House hacking, accessory dwelling units and small multi-unit purchases. The two-unit conforming limit and the October 1 detached-ADU statute both land here.

Own a Home Cheaper Than Rent 12 SECRETS to Improve Your Credit Score, book cover

Your score is standing between you and a program

The gap between a 620 and a 660 is the gap between two different assistance programs in this county. The mechanics of closing it are learnable.

12 SECRETS to Improve Your Credit Score STOP Paying Extra, book cover

You have an offer pending and no time

The five fastest-moving strategies pulled out of the full system, for when the clock is already running.

STOP Paying Extra

Self-employed income, jumbo above $832,750, investment property and down payment assistance layering all come up constantly in this county. If your situation is not on a card above, it is still one we work on.

In their words

Five-Star Client Reviews

★★★★★

We had a great experience with our refinance. Everyone was so helpful and it felt like they had our best interests at heart. The process went quickly and smoothly, I would definitely recommend the Asbells and their team.

Tiffani Clinger
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★★★★★

Scott and his team were awesome to work with. They helped us through every step, took the time to explain our options, and helped educate us so we felt confident in our decision. Buying our home with the Asbells was a great experience.

Veronica Wuthrich
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★★★★★

Scott and the entire Asbell team are fantastic. Not only are they a wealth of information and know what’s going on in the market, they are willing to take the time to educate their clients.

Nicolette Alger
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Questions we get

Utah County lending questions

What is the conforming loan limit in Utah County for 2026?

$832,750 for a one-unit property. Utah County carries no high-cost designation, so it sits at the national baseline. A loan above that figure is a jumbo loan, with different reserve and documentation expectations. For two units the limit is $1,066,250. (FHFA)

What is the FHA loan limit in Utah County?

$601,450 for a one-unit property, and it has not changed since 2023. Because the county's median single-family sale price is $599,350, an FHA buyer shopping at the median has almost no headroom. This is the single most important threshold in the county for first-time buyers. (HUD, MLS)

Can a first-time buyer using Utah Housing assistance buy the median home in Utah County?

Not at the median. The Utah Housing Corporation purchase price cap for Utah County is $542,000 and the median single-family sale price is $599,350. Assistance still works well here, but it works in specific price bands, and townhomes at a $425,000 median are where it most often fits. (UHC, MLS)

Is any part of Utah County eligible for a USDA loan?

USDA eligibility is decided address by address on the Rural Development map, and Rural Development makes the final determination on a complete application. Eligible ground in this county has narrowed considerably, with originations falling from 474 in 2019 to 13 in 2024. If a specific property matters to you, send us the address and we will check the parcel rather than guess from the city name. (USDA, CFPB HMDA)

What down payment assistance is available in Utah County?

Utah Housing Corporation's FirstHome and Score programs statewide, Loan to Own at up to $40,000 through Provo City for the Utah Valley HOME Consortium, Home Purchase Plus inside Provo City, and Eagle Mountain's own Mortgage Assistance Program. Each carries different income limits, price caps, city exclusions and repayment terms, and several exclude specific cities. Confirm the current terms before an offer depends on them.

Does Utah charge a real estate transfer tax?

No. Utah imposes no real estate transfer tax at the state or local level. The only government cost at transfer is recording, charged per instrument rather than as a share of the price, so a deed and deed of trust together land near $90. Buyers coming from states with transfer taxes can remove that line from the budget.

Can I build a backyard unit on a Utah County property I buy?

As of October 1, 2026, Utah Code section 10-21-304 requires cities over five thousand people in the populous counties to permit a detached accessory dwelling unit on lots of 11,000 square feet or more that already hold a single-family home. Cities may still impose owner occupancy, a one-unit limit, parking replacement and utility capacity conditions, and implementation varies by city. Lehi has adopted an ordinance, Orem has been drafting, and Provo published an eligibility map without adopting a rule. Verify with the city before you buy for that purpose.

How much are property taxes on a home in Utah County?

Utah exempts 45 percent of a primary residence's fair market value plus up to one acre, so an owner-occupant is taxed on 55 percent of value. Your combined rate depends on your specific tax area within the county, and rates reset annually through the certified tax rate process. Confirm your exact rate with the Utah County Assessor, and if you buy new construction, verify on your first bill that the residential exemption was actually applied.

The full picture

Every question we get, answered in one place

This page covers financing in Utah County. Our Authority Center covers the rest of what we do, in Scott's own words, across more than two hundred questions.

Visit the Authority Center
Elsewhere in Utah

Three more counties, three different answers

The conforming limit is the same in all four. Everything that actually decides your options is not.

Salt Lake County

The FHA limit sits roughly eight thousand dollars below the county median, so an FHA buyer at the median is over the ceiling before they start.

Conforming
$832,750
FHA
$637,100
Median
$645,000
Cities
Salt Lake City, Sandy, West Jordan, Draper

Davis County

The one county of the four where FHA clears the median comfortably, with roughly $175,000 of headroom, alongside Utah’s largest county assistance program at up to $50,000.

Conforming
$832,750
FHA
$744,050
Median
$568,450
Cities
Layton, Bountiful, Farmington, Kaysville

Washington County

St. George and southern Utah, where prices held roughly flat year over year and inventory rebuilt to about five months of supply.

Conforming
$832,750
FHA
$607,200
Median
$520,000
Cities
St. George, Hurricane, Ivins, Santa Clara
Call
801-368-2900
Email
Web
AsbellTeam.com
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