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West Valley City Journal

The developments aren’t large, but new homes are springing up in West Valley City

Aug 03, 2020 12:18PM ● By Darrell Kirby

By Darrell Kirby | [email protected]

Rapid new home construction is not limited to hotspots like southwest Salt Lake County. 

West Valley City is seeing several pockets of new houses sprouting up, particularly on its west side. While not the huge developments covering what were fields and farmland in cities like West Jordan, South Jordan and Herriman, projects like Newton Farm, The Vistas and Canyon Cove are among those filling in vacant land tucked inside of or next to established neighborhoods in West Valley. 

Builders of these neighborhoods are erecting homes numbering in the double digits or fewer, not the hundreds of dwellings typical of the mass developments going up in the county’s southwest quadrant. 

Realtor Dee Johanson of Windermere Real Estate in West Valley City says the local construction is occurring for the same reason it is elsewhere in Salt Lake County—demand. 

Johanson says hesitancy by sellers and buyers to act during the early weeks of COVID-19 has subsided and the market is nearly as strong as it was before the pandemic. “I think the attitude now is ‘if we’re going to move, we’re going to move.’ I’m not seeing too much of that fear anymore.” 

She adds that homes priced at $350,000 or lower were immediately snapped up a couple of years ago. The top end today for quick sales is about $400,000 or less. Many of her clients are second- and third-time buyers who are taking the equity of their previous homes to afford new houses. 

“Whether it’s a condo or single-family home doesn’t really make a difference. Everything’s moving really, really fast,” said Jon Romney with Equity Real Estate in West Valley City.

Higher-priced homes are selling nearly as quickly as ones considered “moderately” priced by today’s standards. Arcadia Builders’ Newton Farm development at 3705 S. 6500 West has nearly sold out of its Phase 2 roster of lots and homes that run from $485,000 to $778,000. Phases 1 and 2 comprise 43 lots with another 13 planned for the upcoming Phase 3.

Another 22 lots will get new homes at Liberty Homes’ The Vistas at 6009 W. Autumn Vistas Dr. Prices there run from $394,000 to above $470,000, according to its website. 

Canyon Cove boasts on its website that it builds “custom homes, not developments.” An example of that is a mere four lots at 3200 S. 6400 West on which it will build those custom-built residences.

Johanson says new and existing home sales are driven in part by people jumping on historically low interest rates that dipped to and even below 3% in July for a 30-year mortgage, something she’s never seen in her 13 years in real estate sales. 

Romney says projections he’s seen indicate the housing market will remain hot for the next three to five years “unless something big and unforeseen happens.” 

And what’s left of vacant land in West Valley City will likely be covered with new homes to meet the demand of that sizzling market.