SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Business leaders in Salt Lake City have begun a campaign to highlight a steep rise in home prices and a gap in Utah between the number of households and available housing units.
The Salt Lake Chamber gathered about 200 elected officials, developers, bankers, planners, media specialists and housing advocates Thursday for an effort dubbed the Housing Gap Coalition.
The chamber says people are being squeezed out by a shortage estimated to be about 250,000 homes.
Officials plan advertising and social-media blitzes, and to push for area cities to cut permit and impact fees and allow construction of apartments and condominiums.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that an average two-bedroom apartment in Salt Lake City rents for $1,035 per month.
That’s $100 more than the statewide average reported by the National Low Income Housing Coalition in Washington, D.C.
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