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Solutions for Utah's Housing Crisis

Solutions for Utah's Housing Crisis

Update: 2025-11-28
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Rapid growth has pushed Utah's housing market to a breaking point, but that's not the only factor making real estate unaffordable. On this episode of Utah's favorite political podcast, host Jason Perry leads a discussion about what's causing the Utah's housing crisis. Plus, what policies and solutions are on the table to secure the state's housing future?


THE DEEPER DIVE:
• Utah is expected to add 2 million more residents over the next 40 years. That's on top of the 18.4% growth the state has seen over the past decade. How does this impact housing affordability? And how should the state respond?
• The median price of homes in Utah is 6X that of the median income. That's double the number economists recommend as a healthy balance. With the cost of homes continuing to outpace wage growth, what can be done to make Utah more affordable?
• The median age of a first-time home buyer is much higher now than the historical average. We explore what this means for young people and their ability to accumulate generational wealth.
• Are zoning policies throughout the state to blame for the housing shortage? Our experts discuss the various barriers to increasing supply, and how the state government may get involved.
• ️ Construction costs grew quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic and never really returned to pre-2020 levels. What further impact do tariffs and immigration policies have on the cost of building housing?


️ FEATURING:
• Steve Waldrip – Senior Advisor for Housing Strategy to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox
• Natalie Gochnour – Director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah
• Steven Bond – Founder of the Utah-based non-profit HomeOwnership4U.org


Funding for The Hinckley Report is made possible in part by the Cleone Peterson Eccles Endowment Fund and by the financial contributions of PBS Utah members. If you would like to support the work we do, please visit https://pbsutah.org/supporthinckley

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Solutions for Utah's Housing Crisis

Solutions for Utah's Housing Crisis

Jason Perry