Salt Lake City Multifamily Report – Fall 2020
Amid steady rent growth, the metro's consistent pipeline brought more apartments online than it did in 2019.
Salt Lake City rent evolution, click to enlarge
Salt Lake City’s multifamily market has been among the most resilient in the country, outperforming peer metros. Although rent growth started to slowly decelerate at the beginning of the year, it promptly rebounded at the end of the second quarter. On a trailing three-month basis through October, rents rose 0.5 percent to $1,229, while the national figure stayed flat.
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The metro experienced less severe job losses than the U.S., as an interval of strong economic development acted as insulation for this interval of volatility. In the 12 months ending in September, employment growth contracted by 3.4 percent, while the U.S. rate dipped 9.3 percent. Projects such as the new $4.1 billion airport moved forward due to the significant decrease in air traffic, while other large-scale developments broke ground, undaunted by the ongoing unpredictability. Zions Bancorporation began work on a 400,000-square-foot technology campus in Midvale, while St. John Properties plans to invest $120 million in office and flex/R&D space in Taylorsville and Springville.
Salt Lake City sales volume and number of properties sold, click to enlarge
Bucking the national trend, transaction activity endured, and multifamily deliveries—at 3,800 units in 2020 through October—have already surpassed last year’s stock additions. Salt Lake City is positioned to be among the first metros to eventually bounce back from economic disruption, according to a Moody’s Analytics report.
