Let's Make Sure Utah's Housing Shortage Doesn't Become Like California's
Written By: Elizabeth Gray
Housing prices are skyrocketing in Utah. A report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute shows single‑family prices up 8.1% last year, with apartment rents rising at similar rates. Why? We’re not building enough homes. For the first time in memory, Utah added more households than housing units.
What this shortage looks like
- Builders have almost no unsold inventory.
- Existing homes sell in a very short time.
- Price increases are outpacing wage growth, squeezing first‑time buyers.
That affects everyone. Your home’s value may be up, but will your kids be able to buy here? What about teachers, police officers, firefighters, and nurses? Utah’s economy also loses a key advantage if the cost of living climbs.
What California got wrong
As growth accelerated, many California communities imposed stricter regulations to curb development—hoping that slowing development would slow growth. But growth didn’t slow. Instead, supply fell further behind demand and prices soared.
The Wasatch Front already faces geographic limits on where we can build. Salt Lake County has ~40,000 acres left, with even fewer in Davis County. Adding heavy regulatory constraints on top of limited land pushes prices even higher.
What actually causes growth?
- Biology: Utah’s relatively big families mean most growth is internal. About 70% of growth over time is births minus deaths—our own kids and grandkids.
- Economy: Strong job markets keep our children here and attract in‑migration (the other ~30% of growth).
There’s only one “sure” way to slow growth: hurt the economy. That worked in places like Detroit for a time—but it’s not the future Utah wants.
Why this matters for Utah families
When supply can’t meet demand, lower‑income residents are hit first. Families double up; workers move far from jobs and drive more—adding congestion and air pollution; and concentrated poverty makes it harder for children to escape poverty. That’s not the legacy we want to leave.
What communities can do now
Support your local planning commission and city council in granting swift approvals to well‑designed, well‑located housing—especially in neighborhoods where people can walk, bike, or drive short distances to work, parks, schools, and shops.
- Use good planning to enable mixed‑use districts and diverse housing types.
- Don’t equate “good planning” with over‑regulation or blanket density caps.
- Sometimes the right answer is removing unnecessary barriers.
Utahns chose vibrant, mixed‑use hubs
In Envision Utah’s Your Utah, Your Future process, 50,000+ Utahns weighed in. Almost 80% chose a future with mixed‑use live/work/play hubs across urban areas. Those hubs only work with housing—often as much as 60% housing within the center.
This article is posted with permission from Envision Utah. To view the original article, click here.
