raising the roof: Residential construction is growing alongside Utah's Population ... but is it enough?

• Author: Beers, Heather

Recent US Census Bureau estimates indicate a 2.2 percent growth in the number of housing units in Utah from 2017 to 2018. That puts Utah ahead of the other 49 states, and well above the national housing unit growth rate of 0.8 percent.

Ivory Homes, which has been named Utah's number one homebuilder by the Construction Monitor for more than 30 consecutive years, can attest to that growth. "We do apartments, townhomes, condos, cottages, traditional single family, on up to high-end and custom homes," says Michael Parker, vice president of public affairs at Ivory Homes. "We were ready for a more moderate year, but with interest rates where we're at and demand, we've had a really strong spring."

Ivory Homes anticipates the completion of 70 communities and 20,000 homes in 2019. And they're not alone, from single-family homes to apartments, condominiums, attached homes, and patio homes, homebuilders throughout the state are rushing to keep up with the demand.

lots of people, limited space

Utah's economy is strong, and that's attracting more people to the state. US Census Bureau estimates place Utah third in national population growth from 2017 to 2018. And Utah's five fastest-growing cities were Herriman, Vineyard, Eagle Mountain, South Jordan, and American Fork. Vineyard grew the fastest of those listed, with growth of 60 percent.

A higher percentage of Utahns live in large cities than the rest of the nation--nearly 43 percent, compared to the national level of 39 percent. The challenge here is that Utah's large cities are competing with Utah's natural landscape. "We have something that's a little unique--we have mountains and lakes, and we're down to our last 20,000 acres left in Utah County. Davis County doesn't have a lot of available land left either," says Ari Bruening, president and COO at Envision Utah, an organization dedicated to quality growth throughout the state.

'He goes on to explain Utah's topographical issues, "Unlike a lot of cities, if you want to build the next ring of suburbs, the next ring for us is on the other side of a mountain range, adding 20 minutes to your commute. It's creating this dynamic where we have a big demand for a limited amount of land within our current Wasatch Front valleys."

the density question

Mr. Bruening indicated that we're seeing a shift in the type of homes being built to accommodate the increase in population--from single-family housing to multi-family units. "If you look at building permit data...