Is There Really a Utah Housing Shortage?
You've probably heard that the Real Estate Market (click here for April's Market Update) is crazy right now! Homes are selling fast and for a lot! People are getting double digit showings within the first day of listing their home and are receiving a ridiculous numbers of offers. You've probably heard all of that. So.... Is Utah Experiencing a Housing Shortage?
Yeah, it is... But not in the way it is being portrayed.
For as long as I have been an agent I've been hearing that Utah has a housing shortage. Which is true, the rough numbers for 2020 on number of people looking for a home to buy was 45,000 with only 9,000 new builds being built a year. So what makes this year any different from last year? or from the previous 5 years of housing shortage?
That's the question! Why is this year that much more difficult for buyers? Let me show you a few numbers really quick to explain today's market.
You've probably been hearing that there are no homes for sale so there is a housing shortage. But if you look at the stats for homes sold year to date 2020 to year to date 2021 those numbers are extremely close. (For Box Elder County) In April of 2020 it was 219 homes and in 2021 it is 215 homes. So four home difference. But the market is totally different from last year!
Those numbers tell us that really the same number of homes are selling. So it isn't that the inventory or number of homes sold is decreasing, but what we're seeing is the demand for homes is increasing. There are more buyers than previous years!
"More buyers? What?"
"I know! Crazy Right?"
"Where did they come from?"
I have no idea! Some are definitely from out of state moving in. Some say it is revenge spending from having the restrictions placed on us in 2020 being lifted. Some articles are speculating that it isn't the growth in Utah but that people really don't move out of Utah once they get here. I don't think anyone knows quite yet because there hasn't been any significant research into it. One thing is for certain, there is a high demand for homes in Utah right now.
Why is it a housing shortage then? Well even though the same amount of homes are selling, with the big spike in number of buyers there isn't enough housing inventory to get them all into a home. In fact, it looks like there aren't any homes for sale because the ones that are listed go under contract in less that a week. (Typically around 4 days or less) So it's leaving those left over buyers (the ones without the cash to compete) homeless or renting.
So can I still buy a home? Absolutely! It is very possible to get into a home right now. It takes having an agent that knows the current market and how to create an enticing offer and then just being comfortable with searching for a while and not getting discouraged. If you want to get into a home reach out and we can talk.
Utah is experiencing a housing shortage. There are many things in the works to level out this market but there is no guarantee that we'll see any changes in the market anytime soon. I will share (and I have no statistics on this) that I feel the market is starting to plateau just a bit. In Brigham we aren't seeing as many offers on properties as before. Whether that is that the home appreciated too quickly and wages can't keep up, or that a significant amount of buyers have dropped out of the market.
I hope this article helps you as you are researching the Home Market. Thanks for your time! If you have any further questions please comment or reach out to me. Please subscribe to not miss any of these articles. Keep on keeping on!
