Utah’s Population Growth
Utah’s population is expected to double in size by the year 2065. With this seemingly impossible rate of growth, Utah’s housing landscape is expected to radically change. These changes are already being seen as we cautiously enter 2020.
Over the past few years, Utah’s residential market has remained consistently dim–low availability leading to increased prices in the single-family home sector. One of the largest home builders in Utah, EDGE Homes, says that the biggest struggle they face is delivering homes on demand, partially due to a lack of experienced and available laborers.
Labor Shortage
The labor shortage, experts say, is a lingering result of Utah’s 2008 recession which led to concords of construction workers leaving the field to pursue other trades and careers. Land acquisition and home building companies still seem a bit hesitant to hire more staff and significantly grow their workforce in fear of another crash. Consequently, we see less laborers wanting to pursue home development construction.
Land Availability
While it may seem that houses are continuing to go up in the blink of an eye, developers say that another major issue in the current housing market is the lack of land available to developers. Rather than expanding outward where people don’t want to live, developers continue to build homes on any available scrap of land in the existing valleys where people most want to buy. This results in smaller homes being built extremely close together without an accompanying price decrease.
Accommodating the limited land resources will continue to result in smaller, more expensive homes in the most desirable areas, with larger, less expensive homes in less popular areas.
Less Homes, More Multi-Family Units
Because land is becoming a rare commodity in Utah, home builders have had to make the transition away from single-family homes on quarter or half-acre lots, to multi-family condos and townhomes that people can afford. While some are calling this the “millennial era of home buying,” we can see this trend in Utah home building and buying radically increase as more and more “squished” condo and townhome communities go up across the Wasatch front.
Looking Toward a Brighter Future With Davis-Coleman
While land constraints in Utah are a reason for concern, there’s optimism to be found in the fact that so many people want to live here. The affordable business structure and family-friendly culture makes Utah a desirable location for so many who contribute to the health of the economy.
The best news of all, there’s never been a better time to purchase land and real estate in and surrounding Heber Valley! Real estate property in this area is predicted to expand with the rest of Utah, and exponentially grow in value over the next decade. Get in contact with Davis-Coleman Realty today and let us help you find the perfect home or vacation retreat in Heber City, Park City, Midway, and more!