As the year ends, homebuyers are still seeing low-inventory problems in most of Utah's larger cities, with prices especially high along the Wasatch Front that keep moving up and up. Is there no end to this madness? Will the supply of housing increase and level out the playing field?

We are not having a supply problem with housing—rather, a demand problem. The prices of homes, townhomes and condos are like stock and bond prices as they depend on the laws of supply and demand. Simply, the more people jumping into the market for housing, the higher the prices for that housing appear.

For some time, millennials held off wanting to buy a place to live and now the largest demographic of Americans have caused a shortage of inventory. According to Business Insider, millennial homeownership has climbed to almost 50% of the age group, up from 40% just three years ago. In a survey by the company Clever Real Estate, the COVID pandemic appeared to push millennials into buying homes, with nearly one-third of them saying virus fears motivated them to begin house hunting earlier than planned.

The Salt Lake Board of Realtors reported that October was the fifth month in a row with fewer homes sold; sales fell up to 21% in some cities along the Wasatch Front. That data does not mean the real estate market is slowing—not at all! Although sales were down in the 86 ZIP codes that Realtors consider to be in the Wasatch Front, home prices moved up to a new all-time high average of 24% over 2020 to $542,250.

To those who question whether our real estate bubble is going to burst, I like to point out the example of the northwest side of the Salt Lake Valley. First, we have the only new airport being built in any major city in the United States—and it's only half completed. Second, west of the airport are 32 buildings for the new Utah State Prison, set to open in May 2022. Next to that construction is a huge Amazon fulfillment center. I'm going to bet money that the inland port will continue to rise out of the mud of the shrinking Great Salt Lake next to all three of these projects.

Thousands of people are and will be working in these four commercial projects and thousands will want to live near their work—and even own homes near their work. The closest towns/areas to these northwest Salt Lake businesses are Magna, West Valley, Rose Park, Glendale and Fairpark. Just as close are Erda, Stansbury, Tooele and Grantsville.

If, say, 20,000 people are needed to work in these four businesses, there are not 20,000 homes for sale. In fact, according to the MLS, West Valley City and Magna both have fewer than 40 homes—of any price range—available on the market.

Now, do you understand supply and demand? Oy vey!