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Housing, Construction & Real Estate

The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute provides leading real estate and construction research for the State of Utah. Our research provides decision makers with critical information about residential and non-residential construction trends and issues. In addition to construction research, our work focuses on housing research related to affordability and market stability. Our team works closely with real estate professionals, planners, economists, researchers and business, and community leaders to make informed decisions about the Utah economy.

2310, 2024

The Evolving Landscape of Utah’s Short-Term Rental Market

October 23rd, 2024|

Short-term rental (STR) growth accelerated dramatically across the United States as the COVID-19 pandemic shifted consumer behaviors, thus increasing their market demand. This report summarizes the recent trends in the growth of STRs across Utah and how this growth relates to the total housing supply.

409, 2024

The Impact of Housing on Health

September 4th, 2024|

The impact of housing on health, while complex, can be understood through three distinct yet interconnected pathways: (1) housing conditions, (2) neighborhood conditions, and (3) housing affordability.

3011, 2023

Salt Lake City: Utah’s Thriving Urban Center

November 30th, 2023|

Salt Lake City is the foremost flourishing center for commerce, sports, entertainment, culture, and education in the Mountain West. Utah’s capital defies the trends of many urban centers as the forces of decentralization pull people, jobs, and commerce away from the urban core, resulting in urban decay. In the next decade, even as Utah’s capital city grapples with growth challenges, Salt Lake City will welcome thousands of new residents who will benefit from a new Temple Square, may secure a new professional sports franchise(s), will host a second Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and will grow entertainment, cultural offerings, and[...]

1309, 2023

State of the State’s Housing Market, 2022-2024

September 13th, 2023|

The pandemic years created unmatched volatility in Utah’s housing market. The volatility in these past two years surpassed 50 years of housing history. Building permits for residential units increased by 26% in 2021, only to fall by 26% in 2022. These COVID-19 pandemic years now join the Great Recession as one of those unique moments in Utah's housing market. The Great Recession produced 16 consecutive quarters of declining housing prices, while the pandemic produced the shortest and steepest homebuilding expansion and contraction on record.

604, 2023

Utah’s Rental Market

April 6th, 2023|

Utah’s renters, like much of the renters across the country faced dramatic increases in housing costs throughout the pandemic. For the renters across the four Wasatch Front counties, average asking rents increased more in the two-year period between 2020 and 2022 then they increased between 2010 and 2020. At an annualized rate, between 2010 and 2020, asking rents increased 2.6% in Salt Lake County, between 2020 and 2022 the rate of change was 11.0%

2202, 2023

Policy Brief: Housing Prices and Affordability

February 22nd, 2023|

In 2022, higher home prices and a doubling of the mortgage rate combined to erode housing affordability. Thus, homeownership has become more difficult for many of Utah’s 333,000 renter households.

2809, 2022

Ivory-Boyer Construction Report, Second Quarter 2022

September 28th, 2022|

During the first six months of 2022, total permitted construction value reached $7.23 billion, a 1.8% decrease over the same time period from 2021 (see Table 1). However, when controlling for inflation, the construction value decreased 6.0% (see Figure 1). This is the first decrease in inflation-adjusted construction value activity since 2012.

707, 2022

Ivory-Boyer Construction Report, 1st Quarter 2022

July 7th, 2022|

After three years of increases, permitted construction value decreased between 2021 Q1 and 2022 Q1. During the first three months of 2022, total permitted construction value reached $3.46 billion, a 2.2% decrease over the same time period from 2021.