Housing is a supply and demand issue, and in the case of Salt Lake City and the oversupply of apartments, we can now be certain that this issue can be remedied.
While the rest of Utah is experiencing a housing shortage of about 30,000 homes, Salt Lake City renters are being offered unprecedented concessions.
Because landlords don’t want to lose money, they are offering competitive rates as the supply exceeds demand. The oversupply of apartments in the city has incentivized landlords to waive the first month of rent or the first and last month’s deposit in order to attract renters.
Although they produced an overabundance of units, Salt Lake City was able to prove that the housing supply can be met relative to the demand. These results can be mimicked in other Utah cities by allowing developers to build what the people want.
Free market solutions remedy the housing crisis.
There is strong demand for a variety of home types — large, medium, small, and so on, in nearly every city and town in the state of Utah.
If the market were free to build a variety of homes to meet the demand, we could end our housing shortage.
This article was authored by Policy Research Intern Baylee Tollerud.