Economic inequality is one of the most significant issues facing cities and entire nations today. But a mounting body of research suggests that housing inequality may well be the biggest contributor to our economic divides. Thomas Piketty’s influential book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, put economic inequality—and specifically, wealth inequality—front and center in the global […]
California should do more to address homelessness. Currently, California has more people experiencing homelessness (the homeless population) than any other state in the nation, and it does a poor job of sheltering this vulnerable population. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2017 annual homelessness report to Congress (2017 homeless report), […]
Inequality in U.S. housing prices and rents both declined in the mid-20th century, even as home-ownership rates rose. Subsequently, housing-price inequality has risen to pre-War levels, while rent inequality has risen less. Combining both measures, we see inequality in housing consumption equivalents mirroring patterns in income across both space and time, according to an income […]
In the postwar era, developed economies have experienced two substantial trends in the net capital share of aggregate income: a rise during the last several decades, which is well known, and a fall of comparable magnitude that continued until the 1970s, which is less well known. Overall, the net capital share has increased since 1948, […]
For the better part of the past century, the American dream was defined, in large part, by that “universal aspiration” to own a home. As housing prices continue to outstrip household income, that’s changing as more and more younger Americans are ending up landless, and not by choice. The share of homeownership has dropped most […]
Economic illiteracy has an astoundingly high cost. In Venezuela, children are dying of hunger but the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, has a bizarre new idea for making food affordable again. His latest plan is to simply shave three zeros off of the currency to control hyperinflation, so that a dozen eggs will cost 250 bolivars […]
California ranks 49th in the nation for housing per capita, highlighting how seriously state policy makers need to take the state’s housing crisis, gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said this month. The ranking comes from a 2016 report from McKinsey Global Institute titled “A Tool Kit to Close California’s Housing Gap: 3.5 Million Homes […]
California’s homeless population has grown to more than 134,000 people, and key state government spending is taking a while to reach the streets. In summer 2016 the state approved its largest homeless program, a $2-billion loan to help finance new housing, but the money is tied up in court. That same year, lawmakers allocated $35 […]
Owners of older apartment buildings in California face a Jan. 1, 2019, deadline to make sure their plumbing fixtures meet state water-saving standards. The New Year’s Day deadline applies to pre-1994 multifamily housing, as well as commercial buildings. Non-compliant plumbing fixtures — from faucets to toilets to shower heads — must be replaced with water-conserving […]
A Bay Area legislator is unveiling new legislation to provide major state funding for cities and counties to finance low-income housing, transit and other infrastructure. Assembly Bill 3037 from Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) would re-create a version of a program known as redevelopment that set aside billions of dollars in property taxes each year […]
San Jose’s median down payment, the highest in the nation, is now up to $268,000, higher even than San Francisco.
America is facing a new housing crisis. A decade after an epic construction binge, fewer homes are being built per household than at almost any time in U.S. history. Home construction per household a decade after the bust remains near the lowest level in 60 years of record-keeping, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of […]
Development fees—which cities levy to pay for services needed to build new housing or to offset the impacts of growth on the community—make up a significant portion of the cost to build new housing in California cities. On average, these fees continue to rise, while nationally fees have decreased. As the supply of housing in […]
The Economic Policy Institute’s latest Family Budget Calculator shows that a family of two adults and two children in L.A. County need to earn $7,691 a month, or $92,295 a year, to meet all of its living expenses. That outstrips L.A. County’s median family income, which is just $66,203 per year, according to the U.S. […]
Some of the candidates want even higher levels of construction. Newsom and Villaraigosa have talked about building 500,000 new units a year to attack the backlog of unmet needs. But that would mean coming up with $200 billion a year in construction funding. As last year’s housing finance legislation demonstrated, state and local governments can […]