Housing

Since 1991, Utah’s home prices have appreciated faster than any other state at 596%. Only Colorado and Montana were even close. The U.S. average has been 312% over the period. Also since 1991, Salt Lake City had the highest metro appreciation at 656%. Only Austin, Denver, and Miami were even close. That said, this past year has seen appreciation cool. In fact, Utah has had the fourth-slowest appreciation at 2%. The U.S. average over the … Continued

Growth and prosperity are likely to be serious issues facing Utahns over the coming decade. We can see this in the drivers of recent rent increases along the Wasatch Front. Further, there is a good chance that current financial market conditions will sharply push up rents again in the future. Rents on the Increase Rapid rent increases are neither entirely recent nor purely COVID-related – as illustrated by the rent increases seen between 2010 and … Continued

The Utah Foundation’s 2022 Quality of Life project shows that Utahns’ perception of community quality of life is in decline. Housing affordability and other costs of living accounted for nearly two-thirds of the overall decrease in community quality of life from 2018 to 2022 The Federal Reserve increased interest rates four times in five months (March, May, June and July) in part to slow inflation. That seems to be having an impact in the housing … Continued

Having recently completed our “middle housing” project (see the project page here), the Utah Foundation continues to track Utah’s housing issues. A recent find is the Carpenter Index. AEI’s Housing Center created its Carpenter Index as a way of tracking housing affordability in the country’s 100 largest metro areas. The Index looks at the income for the average carpenter-headed household as a proxy for blue-collar Americans’ incomes. The gist of the question: Can carpenters afford … Continued