Utah has consistently been ranked at the top in the nation for multiple statistics—from business and taxes to a growing real estate market and job growth. One recent report published by National Mortgage News supports this trend, placing three main Utah cities—Provo, Salt Lake City, and Ogden—among the top 12 U.S. cities for home price growth forecasts in 2022.
The Utah real estate market is on fire, and for good reason. We have never seen such significant economic influx as we are seeing today. Namely:
- The Inland Port project in North-West Salt Lake City, which is projected to bring thousands of new jobs to Utah.
- The Point project in the heart of Draper, which will bring significant growth in real estate but also dozens of new office buildings for innovation/tech focus, institutional presence for schools, and other mixed-use areas for services and entertainment.
- The big contracts that have been secured by Hill Air Force Base, which bring significant in migration to Utah to support and goes into 2030.
With projects of this caliber—and HUGE companies like Facebook and Google looking to Utah as a place to call home for their data centers (which, in my opinion, create reason for them to also consider employee-based hubs here in the future, like at The Point in Draper)—I believe Utah will continue to boom.
With all this said, despite the mortgage interest rates forecasted to increase indefinitely, there is massive opportunity in Utah real estate. We lead the nation in low unemployment rates, sitting under 3% unemployed (which is virtually fully employed). The growth mentioned above will require significant and continued in migration to fill the jobs required to complete those projects.
This boils down to textbook supply and demand: there is already a housing supply shortage, more families are moving to Utah and needing housing than ever before, and rent rates are rising at an even quicker pace than home prices. All things considered, there is really no logical place for real estate prices to go but up. And really, the upper 3% rates forecasted by the end of 2022 are not bad at all, which should keep buying a home feasible for most Utah families.
As I like to preach: real estate is a long-term game, not a gamble. If treated like a true investment, and supported by data and facts (rather than emotion), there is almost no way to lose by investing in Utah real estate … unless you wait for more appreciation before you pull the trigger.
The Lassig Team would love to help you accomplish your real estate goals. Please contact us today!