Crystal Ball.

• Author: Stewart, Heather Dawn
• Position: From the Editor

Welcome to 2017! The big question on almost everyone's mind is what's going to happen this year? Politics, the economy, even pop culture--all of these areas are covered with a big question mark. If I've learned anything from 2016, it's that no one can answer any of those questions, really. But that won't stop us from trying!

In this issue Natalie Gochnour makes some well-informed predictions about the economy, politics, sports and more. And this issue also features our annual Real Estate Forecast, taking at look at Utah's residential real estate industry and what we can expect for the upcoming year.

Although Utah's residential real estate market has recovered significantly, it still carries scars from the Great Recession. Those scars show up in a tidal move toward multi-family housing, in home values that are just now returning to pre-recession levels and a continuing scarcity of housing inventory on the market. You can read about what local real estate leaders think about these trends and their predictions for the year beginning on page 46.

There's another interesting housing revolution quietly taking place in downtown Salt Lake City. Within three years, the number of housing units in the downtown core will double from 5,200 units to 10,000 units, bringing the population in the 1.65-square-mile downtown to 20,000. That's according to a report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, which states that, "the magnitude of the current boom combined with very high rental rates seems like a recipe for an overbuilt market. However, as of October 2016, there are no signs of a distressed market; vacancy rates are low...