SALT LAKE CITY — A new study says Californians are not the reason for Utah's rising home prices.
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The Utah Foundation looked into whether the large number of California residents leaving their state is causing the spike. What they found was the complete opposite.
Instead of people moving in, the organization says the reason behind skyrocketing prices is that people aren't leaving the Utah, especially in the Salt Lake area.
A New York Times report earlier this year blamed Californians for Idaho's home prices rising 20 percent in 2020. According to the article, a mayoral candidate for one city even campaigned on keeping California residents out of the state.
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Many California residents are now able to leave behind the high price of home ownership on the Pacific Coast and work from other locations due to remote access. But The Utah Foundation's study says fewer people, including Californians, actually moved to the Salt Lake metro area during 2020.
According to the study, "During 2020, fewer people actually moved into the Salt Lake metro when compared to past years. Most of that population growth is linked to fewer people leaving (20 people per 100,000 people). And fewer people leaving is functionally equivalent to more people coming in."
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Utah is currently at an all-time low in home inventory across the state, down 64 percent from February 2020, according to the latest data from the Utah Association of Realtors.
