SALT LAKE CITY — Jesse Escalera was looking for an apartment in Salt Lake City when he found the Nest at Rio Grande.
“I liked it,” Escalera told FOX 13 as he held his dog Mike. “I liked the way it looked. I liked the price. I liked the neighborhood because my parents, they live about eight minutes from here.”
The Nest is part of an affordable housing program where someone earning less than $52,000 a year can have a studio apartment for $899 a month. Escalera, who moved in October and works cleaning short-term rentals, says he is paying $1,000 — plus another $95 for Wi-Fi — for a one-bedroom unit.
That’s about two-thirds the cost of a similar market-priced apartment. Yet, the Nest is only about 40% full.
Tyler Howland, a partner at B3 Real Estate, says Salt Lake City is experiencing a period where supply has exceeded demand.
“We are seeing rent prices,” Howland said, “not necessarily decreasing, but concessions, more and more concessions being offered.
“There are developers and owners offering two months of free rent, airline credit vouchers, among other things, to bring down the net effective price.”
Howland said the imbalance is largely a factor of new apartment buildings — both affordable units and those charging market prices — opening.
The imbalance is not necessarily enough to drive down base rent prices themselves, Howland said, nor does he expect the incentives to last long. There are still too many people wanting their own place to live in Salt Lake City.
“I don’t foresee it baring some kind of black swan event,” Howland said of possible rent price declines.
So, for now, what if you’re already living in a Salt Lake City apartment?
“I think it’s a good time to go talk to your landlord and/or go look for another place to live based on the concessions being offered,” Howland said.