SALT LAKE COUNTY — If you're trying to buy a house, the shortage of available homes is getting worse, and the prices are continuing to skyrocket as well -- and it's likely to continue for some time.
Newly released data from the National Association of Realtors shows that across the state of Utah, housing prices have spiked.
In the past the year, home prices in Salt Lake County have increased 31 percent. Some Utah residents say that in trying to buy a home, they're having trouble getting their foot in the door.
Utah resident Caden Butterfield is trying to find a house to buy, but he says it's not looking too good.
“We've been looking for about a year,” he said. “I almost have an increased desire to leave Utah, which is so sad because I love Utah so much. All of our family is here, so we would definitely love to stay in Utah, but the housing prices just make it really difficult."
Butterfield is referencing what the National Association of Realtors are calling a housing supply crisis -- a crisis that experts say has been building since the recession in 2009.
“You see builders now hesitant to ramp up their building because they're worried about the next bubble, the next recession. We just have such a demand with not enough building and not enough inventory," said Matt Ulrich, the president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors.
Realtors say that this crisis is having a direct hit on the state of Utah.
“The demand -- especially here in Utah -- is so great. You have families ready to go, we just have such a demand with not enough building and not enough inventory," Ulrich added.
“It's kind of scary to go and buy a house right now, because you don't know if the market will keep going up, and then just simply the money of it. It's just a lot more than what i was thinking five years ago when I was planning for my future," Butterfield said.
As far as the future goes, realtors say at this rate, housing prices are going to continue to go up 5-10 percent each year. They say that in order to try and flatten this increase, builders should look in to bringing in more skilled workers and building homes at cheaper costs.
