(PHOTO: Canva)
SALT LAKE CITY — Eight out of 10 Utahns say they’re concerned about the raging housing market and skyrocketing prices, according to a new poll.
It comes after Salt Lake County saw a record-shattering sales year in 2020. Wasatch Front home prices shot up by double-digit percentages.
Specifically, in Salt Lake County, the median single-family home price climbed to $468,000 in the first quarter of 2021, which is up $68,000 from a year earlier.
The latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found that Utahns are largely taking note of the intense housing market. 47% of residents in the Beehive State are “very concerned” about the state’s current housing market, while 33% are “somewhat concerned.”
Only 11% are “not very concerned” and 6% report being “not at all concerned.”
Of those concerned about current trends, 70% selected affordability as an issue that worries them. 44% worry about a real estate bubble that may pop and another 40% report concerns about rising property taxes.
James Wood, the Ivory-Boyer senior fellow at the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, says he’s surprised that so many residents are concerned about market trends, considering many are likely already homeowners.
“I think it shows that people are concerned about the next generation,” he told the Deseret News. “It really is about the children when you’ve got a number that high.”
When it comes to some specific worries, like a real estate bubble that could pop, Wood shares their sentiment.
“It’s an unhealthy market and it can’t be sustained,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be any relief for those trying to get in the housing market in 2021, but I think we’ll see rates go up and prices moderate in 2022 and beyond.”
Independent pollster Scott Rasmussen conducted the poll of 1,000 registered voters in Utah April 30 to May 6. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.