Despite a narrative that housing construction in the Bay Area is going gangbusters, the number of units built last year was nearly 10,000 shy of the year before, according to preliminary data from the Construction Industry Research Board.
Dan Dunmoyer, president and CEO of the California Building Industry Association, a trade association representing single family and multi family homebuilders, said fees and delays for various reasons are behind the 9,880-unit decrease in housing construction.
Dunmoyer said statewide, 7 to 8 percent fewer units of housing were constructed in 2019 than in 2018.
“It’s interesting and profound,” Dunmoyer said.
It’s the first year the numbers have been down since the Great Recession, he said, adding that there is great demand for housing.
Dunmoyer said fees and delays due to lawsuits and endangered species concerns, among other reasons, are probably behind the drop.
Fees that Bay Area cities charge developers for building housing range from two to three times to six to eight times what cities in places like Phoenix and Salem, Oregon, charge, he said.
Outside of California, developers pay about $6,000 to $15,000, while the cheapest fees in the Bay Area are $45,000 to $50,000, he said, and the homebuyer ultimately pays the fees.
Delays caused by regulations at the local level are being addressed at least to some extent by numerous changes to state law, said Daniel Saver, assistant director, housing and local planning, at the Association of Bay Area Governments, a regional planning board and local government service provider.
“The state’s perspective appears to be that there is a need to simplify and streamline local laws that slow down housing construction,” Saver said.
“The stated intention is to make it so developers don’t have to jump through so many hoops,” he said.
Not sad at all to see it slow down. There are only so much resources in California to sustain the population. We already have water problems and power is heading that way too.
Not a very well worded article at first glance it looks like housing has gone down 30% in 2019
(Bay Area Housing Numbers Fall By 30 Percent In 2019)
This is not at all true I have several articles that are in direct conflict to this.
After reading the article I now know this is “NOT” what was meant and this was again sensationalism.
Anyway hope you don’t mind a bit of feedback.
Have a great day Dave.
You’re better off moving out of CA and having a much better quality life.
The cost of housing is not the biggest problem.
Wait until you move in and then get that $10K property tax bill.
Wonder if DeSaulnier is pushing for property tax reform.
Wonder if DeSaulnier is working on anything…
As we speak, Mark DeSaulnier is patiently waiting for his next press release to be supplied to him by Nancy Pelosi.
It’s very triggering to Democrats when facts about high developer fees in CA are presented. Let’s please be good sheep and ignore facts, allowing us to blame the homeless problem on Trump and 50 year old legislation from Ronald Reagan’s administration.
what do you expect by allowing 12-16 million illegals into the state ….
favored over American citizens and section 8 placement
the so called shortage is your fault for allowing open boarder and sanctuary
the state run biased for illegals is putting thousands of American citizens in the back of the bus allowing illegals to take up housing under section 8
which is why they are implementing rent control through the state to better control costs of supporting illegals over American citizens
you anted this ….here it is…enjoy it
it only gets worse from here as socialist gov take control you will lose more freedoms and be beholding to those illegals who better serve democrat direction and policies and are more controllable since they are offered the democrat teet and laws passed to favor illegals and pushing for them to vote …as long as they comply and are beholding to democrat politicians
demifornia is a result of you voting over 40 years
so take it and expect more bias and favoritism to illegals over American citizens and business owners
on side note
no Chinese americans are on the streets bumming around or so called homeless or worried about the democrat push for socialism and communism
as the NBA showed us the Chinese hold the cards and we are drawing dead
who do you think is backing the push for illegals and lawlessness …..????
stop and look around ….your losing everything
CA has the highest rate of property taxes in the world. Read the full article below. Nowhere does state revenue grow like it does in CA.
It will never be enough! State income taxes have doubled, sales taxes have doubled. Gas tax, sugar tax, tax on everything you touch.
Only common thread is it is Never Enough!
https://www.kqed.org/news/11574585/despite-proposition-13-california-property-tax-revenue-has-soared
Vote “No” on new taxes. Vote “No” on Proposition 13 and Measure J.
@NE
False statement, in the world? Not even in the USA. Jersey has the highest. No where does it say worlds highest let alone nations highest. Perhaps the total collected as we are much larger than Jersey. Jersey has always had insane property taxes and leads the way. So in total paid in the pot but the property owner not even close. We have more people = more money paid not the highest rate nor close.
Like I’ve been saying for awhile, the elite want the Bay Area to themselves so they will try to drive the rest of us out. Gardeners, cooks, etc? They’ll use robots for that.
Back at the ranch, the construction companies are only interested in building monster homes because they are more profitable. That is until the economy collapses and they are stuck with houses they can’t sell.
as for the people who cant afford homes
well you voted for prop 13 and many others to defund education
so a uneducated 40 years of people cant get high paying jobs to afford cost of living as the democrats back then already started their disenfranchise of middle class America and allowed uneducated children to graduate and live off the system ….
that same system screwed them by putting them behind illegals
who are more controllable and will follow what ever the dem politicians tell them
your votes made this state a cesspool and a laughable attempt to over throw the values and sanctity of America and which it stands for
by allowing sanctuary and lowering penalties for breaking the laws that govern our society to allow it to progress and not decline ….
you have marched right into a dem controlled socialist regime
have roads been fixed yet…nope they say the need more money
as measure Q and the gas tax are being funneled to major highway projects and toll roads ….as well as maintaining the new bay bridge which currently needs 24 hour maintenance because of shoddy Calscams work and allowed to inspect their won work …laughable
so since when does a contractor get to pass their won work ….???
go on you can say it they know ….
you wanted this and voted for it blindly ….enjoy it right ….oh no …left sorry
don’t impeach me
Born in California. Got a state university degree. Have a family and now grandchildren. Had expensive health issues. Lost jobs, and found jobs.
I know a few people who moved out of California and worked damed hard to move back.
Just heard from a relative who moved out of state for a better life. She just had to spend 10 days away from her home back East to help her husband with his SAD. Seasonal Affected Disorder. They try to leave their home at least three times during winter months looking for the sun.
There’s no place like home.
Preach it brother!
According to everything I have read recently, California is averaging a net population loss in the 1 million per year range, and has been doing so since about 2006. That should make a dent in scarcity of housing issues over time which does not requiring a massive building push to keep up with an imagined population growth
. https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/265
I lived there 30 years. Now in Idaho. I would rather give up both legs and one arm than return. my water is free, cali in 80’s was good though.
Terrible thing or maybe not so. A few months will paint the whole picture. I hope Edwin, Jay, and Fred are ok. They were roommates who lost everything last year, but they’re still moving forward.
If you want a “process” screwed up give politicians and unelected government bureaucrats control over it.
And IF you’d like your state screwed up even more,
elect politicians who got their start in san francisco politics.
Keep in mind there are eight mega wealthy families influencing what goes on.
Don’t be surprised when newsom runs for president.
I wish all the California complainers would just leave already. So tired of hearing that every single darn thing is a Democrat created problem, I just can’t wait for the perfect politicians on the right to swoop in, save us all and fix everything!
I try not to care too much because at the end of the day the people who are going to be there for me when I am down and out are my friends and family, not one damn politician from either side of the isle is going to help me when I need help. If you are waiting for your right or left wing politicians to come in and fix everything so that you can be content then you never will be —they ALL have an agenda! We are on our own! Just my opinion!
Very well put. Right or Left politicians don’t give a damn about the middle class.
You know those rare diseases that cross over from wild animals to humans at open air markets in China? You know, where they’re selling marmots, snakes, rats, dog, lizards, pigs, and every other living thing that walks, crawls, or swims on the planet because they can’t grow enough food to feed their massively overpopulated citizens? That’s the entire world in 25 years. You can thank you climate change deniers, your greedy businessmen, and your greedy politicians. Guess who won’t face starvation and exposure, sitting in their fortified compounds with armed security, Overpopulation is the engine driving all the detrimental impacts of the human species. Let’s reverse this insane plan to cover the earth with our spawn..
@John P….Obviously you haven’t had Teriyaki Marmont on a Stick!….MMMMMMMMM!
When you combine taxes, fees, permits, etc…from all of the utilities and local agencies, the extra cost per unit is $75,000-$100,000!
And those delays might sound harmless, but they aren’t. Imagine spending millions of dollars trying to get a project approved, and being delayed for years. You have pay interest on that money, or else it is money you could have invested elsewhere. And when you need to send an Architect, Engineer, etc…to all of the various committee meetings, and keep on amending your development plans, pretty soon you are talking about real money.