Is Utah in a ‘major’ housing crisis? A new study asked Utahns just that
| Salt Lake Tribune | January 28, 2025 |
| Megan Banta |
“Utahns appear to agree with Gov. Spencer Cox’s mantra that we must build, new research found.
More than 2/3 of about 600 Utah adults surveyed at the end of last year agreed the state is in a “major” housing crisis or at least facing serious challenges.
Though Utahns surveyed by Envision Utah and Utah Workforce Housing Advocacy disagreed on what caused the crisis, they were more likely to agree the solution is building more housing.
Ari Bruening, CEO of Envision Utah, said housing is the “greatest worry about life in Utah.” The group is nearly two decades old and focuses on growth-related challenges.
“Most Utahns realize this is one problem we can build our way out of,” Bruening said, “they just want us to do it in a well-planned way that doesn’t threaten other aspects of our quality of life.”
Envision Utah, Utah Workforce Housing Advocacy report highlights path forward for addressing the Utah housing crisis
| Utah Policy | January 28, 2025 |
“Envision Utah, in conjunction with Utah Workforce Housing Advocacy, has released an in-depth report on Utahns’ perceptions of the state’s housing situation. Conducted in Q4 of 2024, the research sheds light on how Utahns think about the state’s housing shortage. This research included a survey of approximately 600 Utah adults and a large multi-day online focus group of 36 participants representing a variety of different backgrounds. Each participant spent 20–40 minutes answering a series of questions on housing.
Key Findings
The report reveals that most Utahns agree there is a housing problem and that we must build more homes to increase supply and drive down prices. Notable findings include:
- High public concern. Most Utahns (69%) believe Utah is “in a major housing crisis” or “facing serious housing challenges.” Only 15% see the situation as “fine” or “great…”
Utahns agree housing is a problem. What they don’t agree on is why, new survey finds
| DesertNews | January 27, 2025
| Lisa Riley Roche |
“More than two-thirds of Utahns believe the state is dealing with serious or even crisis-level housing issues, according to a new survey from Envision Utah.
But they’re not so sure why.
“They’re kind of all over the map,” said Ari Bruening, Envision Utah’s president and CEO. “No. 1, there’s just a lot of confusion. Why is (housing) so expensive? People just don’t really know and they point to a wide variety of causes.”
The nonprofit, focused on growth-related issues, surveyed 601 Utah adults along the Wasatch Front, the Wasatch Back and in southwest Utah last September, asking them to rate the significance of more than a dozen potential causes of the state’s housing problem.
More than half of respondents assigned high levels of blame to rising interest rates (67%), construction costs (58%), developer or landlord greed (57%), or too many people moving to Utah (53%).”
Annual summit highlights economic successes and challenges in Utah County
| Daily Herald | November 9, 2024 |
| Curtis Booker |
"Previous reports suggest Utah’s population will reach nearly 6 million people in the next 35 years, with at least a million of those moving into Utah County.
Regardless, with more people come more entrepreneurs and businesses.
During her keynote presentation, Natalie Gochnour, director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, highlighted how Utah County’s economy has grown at a rate more than twice the state average, mostly owing to the technology sector and population growth.
She pointed to data released by Envision Utah, which estimate the county has around 240,000 acres of buildable land, primarily west of Utah Lake.
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