Home Builders Trying to Keep Up with Housing Shortage in Utah

Vesta Homes management, included in the broader Salt Lake Home Builders Association group, met with elected city officials Thursday to discuss the growing problems in the Salt Lake home building market. The main area of discussion revolved around land shortages and the difficulties of trying to keep up with demand for new homes, especially high density residential building projects.

Mayors expressed interest in developing multi-use areas in their cities that included a variety of housing densities and commercial centers. They also expressed concern that some members of the public do not understand why there is a need for higher density residential areas, and have protested these projects.

Another issue discussed was the labor shortage. As quoted by KUER, Vesta Homes owner Tyler McArthur said "“I know several of my own subcontractors that have left Utah go back to Mexico, and they haven’t come back yet. So we’re paying more for all of our costs," he says. "What’s unfortunate is that it’s not just the builder that’s paying that price, but eventually it’s passed onto the consumer.”

To read more about this meeting and hear the radio sound bites from Tyler, visit the article posted by KUER, or listen to the mp3 file.
http://kuer.org/post/utah-home-builders-struggle-keep-growth#stream/0
https://cpa.ds.npr.org/kuer/audio/2017/03/031617_HousingShortageLong-WEB.mp3