Utah Families Leaning Towards Condos Rather Than Houses

Jul 02, 2008 by Eric Ray

(KCPW News) A new report from the Utah Foundation shows that purchasing a condo or townhouse, what's known as multifamily housing, is becoming a popular choice for young Utah families. The main factor is the high appreciation rates of single-family homes.

"And it used to be, just 3 years ago or so, a young Utah family could still find a single family home for $150,000 or something like that. And you just can't find that anymore unless it's very small and very old," says Utah Foundation Executive Director Stephen Kroes.

Kroes says multifamily units are the only growing area of housing construction in the state right now. Building permits for single-family homes are down from 6,300 from January to April of 2007 to just 2,500 in the same time period this year. Meanwhile permits for multifamily units have risen from about 600 to 1,000 this year.

Released today, the public policy foundation's report shows that when it comes to the foreclosure rate, Utah is currently ranked 16th in the nation. However, Kroes says there is light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to housing prices.

Construction is scaling back so quickly that there isn't going to be as much inventory of new homes on the market. With our growing population, we'll start to be able to absorb the excess inventory in the next couple of years, and then we'll get back to a more normal playing field," says Kroes.

Click here to view the Utah Foundation report. Listen to an interview with Kroes here.

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