As we like to say in real estate sales, “They ain’t building any more land!”  Dirt that you can build on is a precious commodity in all our major cities in Utah right now, so the next best frontier is to build UP.  I always thought that if I moved back to New York I would want to sell ‘air space’…the air above buildings.  I could sell airspace in Utah, but for now it’s not a common commodity…yet.

When you buy a piece of land or a home, you own all the way to the center of the earth and all the way above the earth’s surface. You have the right to develop up or down without interference by others unless there is a water, mineral, air traffic right or utility easement blocking your way. “Whoever owns the soil, it’s theirs up to Heaven and down to Hell” became common law in the 13^th century. I remember back in 2005 when a small church in NYC sold its vertical development rights for $430 per sq. ft. so a high rise could be built above it. They walked with $30 million, and the church and the high rise co-exist.

Developers in our capitol city just broke ground on Astra (Latin for star) Tower on the northwest corner of 200 South and State Street where the recent Carls Jr. stood. It will be the tallest building in Utah when completed in 2025 at 450’ above the street.  This will beat out the Wells Fargo Center at 422’, the LDS Church Office building at 420’and Tower 8 of City Creek (95 State Street) at 395’.  Technically there are no height restrictions to buildings in Salt Lake or New York City for that matter. One World Trade Center in NYC which replaced the World Trade Center towers is 1176’ above sea level, Central Park Tower is 1550’ and the new ‘basket’ at 30 Hudson Yards is 1270’.

Oldtimers in Utah will wax on that “No building can be taller than the LDS Church Office building”, but that my friends, is a myth. For many years the COB was indeed the tallest structure in Salt Lake City and it actually looks taller because it’s sitting on a hill leading up to the State Capitol Building. As we built up our capitol city for the 2002 Olympics we found from our city planners that building height restrictions downtown was a myth, and the Church proved that when they built the high rise condominiums at City Creek just in time for the games.

Astra is not going to be affordable housing. Indeed, it will be 372 luxury apartments for rent. There will be 40,000 sq. ft. of communal amenities including an elevated urban park on top of the 7-level parking structure (similar to Salesforce Tower in San Francisco…which is now badly leaning!), clubhouse with a chef’s kitchen, pool on the 22^nd floor, a roof terrace and 24-hour concierge service. They will also seek the highest level (Gold Certification) for green building.

Mosquitos in November? Who thinks about them when you you’re trying to swat the last of fall flies and sweep up those interminable elm bugs? November is the time of the year when people who own property must pay their annual property taxes, and part of those taxes in Salt Lake City/County go towards mosquito abatement. I got my tax bill and $51.63 will go towards getting rid of those pesky things, but next year my estimated tax is going to go to $90.24. What gives?
According to the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement Department (MAD) officials say they need to pay for more employees and for more studies of mosquitoes. How do we get rid of mosquitoes? Sadly, we kill them with chemicals/neurotoxic pesticides – that certainly can’t be healthy for humans or Mother Earth. On the flip side, these flying pests aren’t great for humans because they can carry diseases like West Nile and even Lyme. In September they sprayed around the Utah State Fair site as eleven people had been diagnosed with West Nile virus from Weber to Salt Lake Counties, with one person dying of the virus. That’s better than in 2017 when 62 people were diagnosed with West Nile.
What’s really sobering is the fact that the Utah State Prison is being relocated directly west of the new airport. Thousands of employees at both sites, and prisoners will be providing mosquitoes with some juicy blood next bug season. They go away for good during our first freeze, but start to come back in the spring, peak in the summer and then taper off in the fall. Right now, the only mention of them is on our tax bill but you can bet when the new prison opens and phase two of the airport is completed, we’ll have more reports of mosquito swarms and bites. The $780 million state prison is getting ready to house 3,600 inmates coming this January and those people will attract mosquitoes with every exhale of carbon dioxide.
The executive director of the MAD trapped hundreds of mosquitoes at the current prison site in a 24 hour measurement, but then lured thousands in 24 hours at the new prison site. It’s horrible being in prison for many reasons, and this looming plague just adds another layer of hell to both inmates and staff at the new Utah State prison opening next year. It is built on wetlands that will certainly turn into drylands with this ongoing drought, so it’s possible the bloodsuckers will dry up themselves. Alternatively, there will be less feed for the birds, reptiles and mammals to eat.
Although Salt Lake City homeowners pay for abatement out of property taxes, the state has been paying for treatments/sprays out of the state prison construction fund. Whether those monies will continue to flow will be up to the legislature. Hopefully, the burden will not fall to Salt Lake City residents who will unfortunately suffer from not just the insects, but the toxic chemicals used to treat them.

Raise your hand if you’re about ready to slap the next person who says the words “supply chain issues”! Snow tires are stuck on container ships and may not arrive until after the Easter Bunny comes in 2022. Rumors abound week to week that we’re running out of toilet paper again, that paper towels, yeast will be hard to find next month. Turkey birds will cost $.25 more per pound, and we may not have enough cranberry jelly to go around come Thanksgiving. Right now, you can walk into about any grocery store and see the spice shelves decimated and limits on bottled water purchases. And related to shortages is the scary news that U.S. households will pay more to heat homes this winter. Federal officials from the Energy Information Administration report that fuel prices are rising, and demand will increase for at least half of the country’s natural gas users…but an average of 30% more, adding electric bills will go up 6%.
I’ve been selling some new construction homes in Daybreak as of late. Builders are having trouble getting things like roofing shingles, sheet rock and faucets. One of the builders, Oakwood Homes has a swell showroom by Fashion Place Mall. Once you pick out your lot and style of home at Daybreak then you get to the fun part of choosing flooring, paint colors, bathroom tile and kitchen backsplashes. They have one wall of a dozen kitchen faucets in a variety of colors and finishes. Sadly, only two of the choices are available now, and the others might not arrive for 6-12 months.
Looking for a washer/dryer or refrigerator? Be prepared to wait up to a year for the model you want, as there are fewer options and no deals to be had. You really need to hunt around. If the big box store doesn’t have your make and model, check for smaller, local appliance stores. The more bells and whistles an appliance has, the more chips are needed. Chips are in short supply for everything! Consider scratched or used model appliances, but make sure the warranty passes on to you. When you buy a home, you might be able to negotiate for the seller to buy you a home warranty on the appliances in the home for a year. When something busts you call the 1-800 number, and they send you a repair person who will fix your issue or get you a new item. Small note: if the washer is from the 1960’s the warranty company might only give you a few hundred bucks for a replacement-but it’s still better than getting nothing for a repair. If the seller doesn’t want to buy you a warrant you can always buy one yourself. Home warranty companies are numerous.
Wisdom with appliances-if you must forgo getting new ones, take care of the ones you’ve got. Clean dryer vents, dishwasher filters and refrigerator coils a few times each year. Then when the supply chain gets better links and the ports start operating normally, you can go out shopping for your dream freezer or top loader washer.

Uh oh! Is the bubble bursting? Park City’s Board of REALTORS reports that all three of their major weekly stats, new, pending and closed listings, continue to drop compared to 2020. That makes seven weeks in a row this has happened. And the drops are either the largest year-to-date (new listings) or second largest (sold listings). Pendings are down as well but not as severely.  They see a trend developing here which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the market traditionally trends downward starting in late summer,  as people get ready to go back to school or their get their kids ready to go back into classes. Inventory is still at insane lows (less than a month’s worth of inventory).

Most Boards of REALTORS/MLS sites are reporting a slowing in September in Utah, from Washington County to Northern Utah. Interest rates on home mortgages remain at all time lows and the Fed isn’t expected to raise rates anytime these last few months of the year. The stock markets in the U.S. are at the highest they’ve ever been and there really aren’t any indicators that the financial markets are headed to hell in a handbasket.  So what’s this mean to you?

If you’re in the market to shop for a home or condo, now would be a great time to get super serious!  You may have a chance to NOT get in a bidding war on a property or only go up against a few other buyers in an attempt to win a contract. Although homes in entry level prices are still flying off the MLS in record time, you may be able to discover a gem that may have been sitting too long on the market at an inflated price. Many property owners have dipped their toes in the real estate market this year to see how much buyers are willing to pay for their property. Given Salt Lake City homes were selling in less that ten days this summer, a home still on the market after 30 days looks super suspicious!  Savvy buyers who’ve been paying attention to the MLS feeds ask me, “What’s wrong with that house-it’s been on the market for THREE months!  Is it broken, or haunted?”  My sage advice to any buyer who hasn’t been able to secure a contract this summer should look to properties that have ‘soured’ on the market by sitting there without aggressive pricing and price reductions. Grab your cahones and throw in a low bid and see what bounces back at you! It doesn’t cost a dime to MAKE an offer on a home, and who knows, you might just get an accepted contract!  (Mind you, if you do get a seller to agree to your terms you would have to deposit your earnest money within four days of the contract being accepted).

Back to the bubble: NO it’s not bursting. Our markets are slowing because that’s normal this time of year when many of us would rather be rooting for the home team on a Saturday or Sunday than out looking at homes to buy.

I heard some info about our future in this state regarding the Great Salt Lake. Frankly, it put chills up my spine and made me wonder if I should be thinking of an exit plan before it’s too late to get the hell out of Dodge because our lake is dying FAST and the outcome is going to be horrific!

Our photographed, but much maligned lake is about 75 miles long and 28 miles wide covering @1700 square miles, and is the largest lake of it’s kind in the western hemisphere. It is also one of the most important bodies of water for bird migration in this same hemisphere, and if the lake dies, millions of migratory birds will also die…as wells mammals, plants, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. Many of you reading this don’t know that part of the lake is fresh water and is fed by northern streams. This is where our avian friends like to rest before migrating north or south. According to Westminster College’s Great Salt Lake Institute millions of birds from 257 known species rely on our funky, salty lake to survive.

The southern portion of the GSL is now at a historic new low-with some levels only 1.5 feet deep. There is algae and tiny creatures there that the brine shrimp feed on, and all those birds love to get fat on those sea monkeys (aka brine shrimp). If those creatures all die, then the birds will die. As the lake dries up from poor runoff that leads into the north and south sections, more dust will get into our air. U.S Magnesium Corp. mines the lake and provides 14% of the world’s supply of the mineral that’s used in all sorts of metal products. Companies also take potash (fertilizer) and salt for seasonings, plastics, roads and detergents. All that gets into our air and ends up in the winter on top of our snow. That dust and color change affects our snow melt. Lower snow melt means less water for the lake. Do you see the trending circle of hell?

Our legislature passed a bill a few years back that basically states ‘Our lake is important to the state and it should have water’. However this bill did nothing to fund programs to increase water flow to the lake.

Every hour on the hour radio and TV news squawk about Covid and what it’s doing to our country. I rarely see news about how scary it’s going to be if and when our lake no longer produces the food necessary in the environmental chain of life in Utah. Odd, but most local television news that I watch gives regular reports on Lake Powell, Echo, Sand Hollow, Bear Lake, etc. but never a regular report on our Great Salt Lake.  The professor I listened to said that come this November we may reach the tipping point that the lake won’t come back from this drought and we’re in for bad news on the horizon.