Salt Lake County making strides in addressing housing shortages, per new study

Housing shortages are happening across the nation, but no one knows that better than a Utahn, especially residents of Salt Lake County.

A new study that looks at data from 2005 to 2023 reveals interesting insights about Utah’s growth in housing overall and the growing efforts to secure the “missing middle” housing compared to the rest of the nation.

“Despite the challenges facing the housing market, there are encouraging signs of progress and adaptation,” reads the study. “Regions like the Sunbelt and Mountain West are actively building to meet demand, with cities in Texas, Florida and Utah leading the way in new home construction.”

West Jordan leads out on multifamily housing growth in Utah

Multifamily housing has increased over recent years and has “stepped up to meet the pressing need for more living space.”

“Amid the sluggish growth in single family and middle housing, the multifamily sector stepped up to meet the pressing need for more living space,” said the study. “From 2005 to 2023, multifamily housing boomed, with stock increasing by 54 percent to over 15 million apartment units by 2023.”

The study called the period from 2005 to 2023 “a golden age” for the category and put West Jordan as the state leader of the category with a 19 percent increase in middle housing stock.

“West Jordan is now the place to be for families and young professionals alike,” reads an email from the study’s communication specialist, Biance Barsan. “It’s making waves as the fastest-growing city in Utah, with a 33 percent increase in housing inventory since 2005. But despite the rapid growth, challenges like affordability and the ‘missing middle’ still loom large.”

Sandy is close behind in second place with a 31 percent increase, Orem in third with a 26 percent increase, West Valley City in fourth with 22 percent and Salt Lake City is in fifth with a 21 percent increase, per the study.

Sandy a national leader for expanding medium density housing

Although Sandy ranks second in the state for multifamily housing growth, it is a national leader, coming in seventh in the country for medium-density housing growth.

The most current phrase, the “missing middle,” refers to specified efforts to increase the medium density housing seemingly missing or rare in the state.

“Middle housing — generally defined as a class of housing types including structures such as duplexes, triplexes, condos, townhomes, cluster homes, cottage courts and live/work units — has often been touted as a potential solution to the affordability crisis,” said the study. “However, it has yet to gain significant momentum.”

In the study, Sandy is ranked as the No. 7 city in the nation to increase its middle housing stock, with 109 percent growth.

Orem is the next ranked city in Utah at No. 29, with a growth rate of 60 percent. Provo is ranked 73rd with a growth rate of 35 percent and West Jordan is ranked 154th with a growth rate of 19 percent.

Overall, the study called the middle housing growth across the nation “underwhelming” as the “lowest inventory increase among the major housing types.”