— This is a draft web page (not in production) —

On this page:

• Key housing data needs to support decision-making

• Utah data housing resources table

Key housing data needs to support decision-making

Seven key, recommended metric areas are identified below to support Utah housing policy and decision-making with data about existing conditions and trends. Links to data resources that provide these metrics, where available, are provided in the housing data resources table at the bottom of this page.

Affordability rent – lower and middle income renting households

• This metric quantifies unmet housing demand for key renter submarkets — for 30, 50, 80, and 100 percent of household Area Median Income (AMI). These metrics are calculated taking the number of households in each AMI cohort and subtracting the number of housing units in a given geographic area that are affordable for the selected cohort. The metric provides the unmet demand which can be divided by the number of households to get the percentage of demand that is met.
  Status: meeting – Affordable rent metrics have been developed by the University of Utah Gardner Policy Institute (see table below). Ongoing funding may be needed.

Affordability – ‘housing plus transportation’ costs (H + T)

• This national metric uses a comprehensive approach to calculate housing and transportation (H + T) into a single cost burden measure that is available for census block group geographic units. The H+T Index offers an expanded view of affordability — one that combines housing and transportation costs and sets the benchmark for location-efficient, affordable neighborhoods at a H + T of no more than 45% of household income. Housing and transportation costs can also be viewed separately and cost burden is provided for both typical household income and moderate household income.
  Status: meeting – This dataset is available nationwide (using the 2019 Census 5 year ACS) in an interactive map, as area-specific on-demand fact sheets, and as a GIS file download (under a no-cost license agreement) from the non-profit Center for Neighborhood Technology. Future updates are planned contingent on available funding.

Future housing capacity

• This metric combines two sub-metrics — 1) the number of theoretical new housing units currently entitled by zoning regulations on greenfield (undeveloped land) and 2) the amount of housing units entitled in current zoning, but not built, in underperforming areas that can realistically redevelop. It doesn’t include include less consequential or actionable capacity in existing, built-out neighborhoods. When standardized zoning GIS and parcels datasets and are made available, these metrics can be calculated for any jurisdiction or gepgraphic area.
  Status: unmet – Zoning maps are currently difficult to compile due to the diversity of publishing, lack of a data standard, and the frequency of zoning changes.

Housing construction starts

• The Ivory-Boyer Construction Database tracks building permit activity across Utah, publishing the quarterly Ivory-Boyer Construction Report and maintaining the Ivory-Boyer Construction Database. The construction report provides an in-depth analysis of both residential and non-residential trends. The public-use database contains 40 years of detailed monthly permit data for Utah localities.
  Status: meeting – This data resource is stewarded by the University of Utah Gardner Policy Institute, in partnership with the Ivory-Boyer Real Estate Center 

Housing unit inventory

• The Housing Unit Inventory (HUI) is a derivative dataset compiled through coordination (per UCA 63A-16-S506) between County Assessors, the Utah Geographic reference Center (UGRC), and metropolitan planning organizations. The HUI dataset presents additional, standardized information about the type and number of housing units, housing type, built year, house size, lot size, tax valuation, and associated grounds and common areas (for more accurate density calculations).
  Status: partially meeting – HUI datasets are available for Wasatch Front and other urban areas, including: Box Elder County (Brigham City, Perry, and Willard area), Davis County, Salt Lake County, Utah County, Washington County, and Weber County.

Low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) units

• The National Housing Preservation Database (NHPD) is an address-level inventory of deed-restricted tax-credit and other federally assisted rental housing in the US. The de-duplicated data in the NHPD come from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and include ten federally subsidized programs. The non-profit Utah Housing Corporation contributes to the NHPD and may have more current and/or expanded data for state and local programs.
  Status: meeting – The non-profit Utah Housing Corporation contributes to the NHPD and may have more current and/or expanded data for state and local programs.

Short-term rentals

• This metric will provide an estimate of the number of short-term rental (STR) listings across the major listing services and, since the STR data is available at the zip code or finer levels, an inventory can be done for any jurisdictional area. Rates can be calculated by dividing by the number of housing units in the same area.
  Status: in-progress –  this dataset is in the final stages of development by the University of Utah Gardner Policy Institute (see table below). Ongoing funding may be needed.

Additional and future metrics

• American Community Survey data, from the U.S Bureau of the Census, has valuable data relating to households, housing, commuting, etc. The ‘1 year’ ACS results data in the Fall of the year following the survey. The ‘5 year’ ACS products average the results from the last 5 latest annual survey results which creates a larger sample and smaller margin or error, but means that the average conditions in the dataset are from the middle year of the five.
• 2020 Decennial Census data. Provides a small but important set of household characteristic and housing unit data at the census block and coarser geographic levels, as of Census Day, April 1, 2020.
• Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) may become a complement to the Housing Unit Inventory dataset in the future. To become more valuable, ADU data will need to be collected in standardized form across jurisdictions and, ideally, will reflect some measure of current ADU use as many ADUs are not realized as long term housing solutions.