State Sen. Chris Wilson (R-2nd Dist.) was among 28 of his Senate colleagues who voted in favor of Senate Bill 240, creating the Utah First-Time Homebuyers Assistance Program.
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah House has given final approval to legislation intended to relieve the state’s housing crisis, sending it to Gov. Spencer Cox desk for enactment.
“Senate Bill 240 (First Time Homebuyer Assistance Program) allocates $50 million to … help qualifying applicants receive a loan of up to $20,000 to buy down interest rates, apply funds toward a down payment or pay closing costs,” according to Sen. Chris Wilson, R-Dist. 2.
That proposal passed the Senate by a vote of 28-to-1 in late February and the House by a 60-to-8 margin on Tuesday.
“Over the past few years,” Wilson explains, “home costs have soared for both purchase or rent.
“Not only have prices increased, but inventories are also at an all-time low, making it increasingly difficult for families to purchase their first homes.”
The single-family, starter home is all but extinct in Utah, according to housing experts. The state has experienced a housing shortage for decades that has sent prices skyrocketing.
A recent study by www.boulderhomesource.com found that Utah is in the top ten of states with escalating home costs. That research ranked Utah at number nine of 50 states, with housing prices up by nearly 69 percent in the past five years.
That confirms the local findings of Housing Crisis Task Force organized by County Executive David Zook last year. That panel found that the average price of a home in Cache Valley rose from about $307,000 in 2020 to more than $518,000 in April of 2022.
Those prices made home ownership unaffordable for many young couples, forcing them into rental apartments.
The ever-increasing spread of multi-family construction across the state has done little to address that problem, however.
A recent study by property experts at www.TexasRealEstateSource.com found that only 3 percent of apartments and condos in Utah are now vacant and available for rent. Even then, many of the rental prices for those properties are still unaffordable.
“(SB 240) will assist Utahns across the state to get out of apartments and into homes while encouraging home builders to construct affordable housing,” Wilson says.
“With the proposed funding, the first-time homebuyers assistance program will help an estimated 2,500 families.”
The First-Time Homebuyer Assistance Program created by SB 240 will be administered by the Utah Housing Corporation.
That bill’s fine print, however, specifies that a single-family home, condo or townhome must be newly constructed and cost no more than $450,000 to qualify for a $20,000 loan from the program.
Moreover, the assistance program will be making loans, not grants.
The up to $20,000 loan will represent a lien against the property. The full amount of the loan must be returned to the state if the homebuyers later refinance to obtain a better interest rate or sell the home.
Cox is expected to sign SB 240 in the near future.