House rich, cash poor: How some Utahns cope with rising values, property tax

Source: KSL.com — 

SALT LAKE CITY — Cheryl Johnson has lived in the same home for 60 years. The original stucco structure sits directly on the ground without benefit of a concrete foundation, and the property taps water from a well in the backyard.

In contrast to the home’s oldfangled charm, Johnson has watched her surroundings transform from a once bucolic pastureland into the budding modern city of South Salt Lake.

“When we moved into this house there was nothing but fields and horses, pheasants running everywhere. Now we have apartments all around us,” Johnson said.

The area’s rural character is not the only thing that’s changed in Johnson’s time here — the price of real estate, too, has transformed from the moment in 1959 when the Johnsons bought their home for a grand sum of $10,000 — a world removed from the $455,000 price tag for the average home in her neighborhood today.