Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Despite Last-Minute Changes, Senate Bill Deals Big Blow to Renewable Energy

6 hours ago

Trump-Backed Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Passes US Senate

7 hours ago

Homeland Security Secretary Noem Says CNN May Be Prosecuted Over Report on Migration App

8 hours ago

Israeli Officials to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Washington Amid Military Escalation in Gaza

9 hours ago

Trump Escalates Feud With Musk, Threatens Tesla, SpaceX Support

9 hours ago

Musk Vows to Punish Lawmakers Who Back Trump’s Spending Bill

1 day ago

Will Valadao Spoil Trump’s Plan for July 4th ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Signing?

1 day ago

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

1 day ago
California Housing Shortage Triggers Cycle of Despair
By admin
Published 2 years ago on
January 23, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Everyone in California knows, or should know, that the state has an immense shortage of housing that persists despite efforts by its politicians to jump-start construction.

State officials say we need to build 180,00 new units of housing each year to meet demand, even though the state’s population has been slowly declining of late. At best, California is building about half of that number, adjusted for losses to old age, fires and other calamities, and construction seems to be slowing due to sharp increases in interest rates.

The economic laws of supply and demand mean the housing shortage results in high home prices and rents. As those costs, particularly rents, filter down to the Californians on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder, they result in California’s having the highest rate of poverty of any state, 13.2%, when the cost of living is included in the calculation.

Dan Walters with a serious expression

Dan Walters

CalMatters

Opinion

Poverty dipped a bit during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to a series of temporary federal and state support programs. As they phase out, the underlying causes, particularly high housing costs, remain in force.

Continuously, some impoverished Californians run out of options to keep roofs over their heads and tumble into homelessness, giving California the nation’s highest number and the highest relative proportion of unhoused people.

Some newly released data not only underscore this unfortunate cycle, but reveal its contrast with what’s happening elsewhere.

The first data set comes from Matin Real Estate, a broker in Portland, and compares home construction in California to that of other states, expressed as units per 1,000 population.

Nationwide, the firm found, 5.3 units of housing are being built for every 1,000 U.S. residents but individual states range from a high of 11.7 in Utah to a low of 1.27 in Rhode Island. Idaho, Florida and South Carolina round out the top construction states while Connecticut, Illinois and New York are in the bottom ranks with Rhode Island.

California isn’t in the very lowest tier but it’s 13th from the bottom at 3.04 per 1,000. Were California to match the national rate, it would be producing 212,000 units a year – a bit higher than the state’s official goal but also a level that California once achieved.

It’s noteworthy that Florida, a state that California Gov. Gavin Newsom often disparages, is one of the nation’s leaders in home construction at No. 2. Texas, another arch-rival, is No. 6.

California fares even worse in the second data set, showing the relative impact of rental costs.

Forbes Homes, a website devoted to residential living costs, compared rents to incomes in all 50 states, using data from federal agencies, and found that California renters have the nation’s second highest rent burdens – the factor that dominates the state’s very high poverty index.

Hawaii’s renters fare the worst, devoting an average of 42.06% of their incomes to keep themselves housed, while California is No. 2 at 28.47%, followed by New Jersey, Massachusetts and Delaware.

The numbers from both data sets are important indicators of California’s stark socioeconomic division between those who can enjoy California’s matchless scenic and cultural wonders and its powerful economy, now said to be the 4th largest in the world, and those who struggle to survive.

Housing availability and costs are the central factors in that division, whose most disturbing manifestation is the explosion of squalid encampments on the sidewalks of the state’s major cities.

As California politicians declare their commitment to dealing with homelessness, they should also acknowledge that it originates in the state’s chronic shortage of housing that shows no signs of abating.

About the Author

Dan Walters has been a journalist for nearly 60 years, spending all but a few of those years working for California newspapers. He began his professional career in 1960, at age 16, at the Humboldt Times. For more columns by Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

Make Your Voice Heard

GV Wire encourages vigorous debate from people and organizations on local, state, and national issues. Submit your op-ed to rreed@gvwire.com for consideration. 

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

DON'T MISS

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

DON'T MISS

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Wildfire Prompts Advisory in Three Rivers Area

DON'T MISS

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

DON'T MISS

Trump Says US Could Reach Trade Deal With India, Casts Doubt on Deal With Japan

DON'T MISS

Jury Reaches Verdict on Some Counts at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Sex Trafficking Trial

DON'T MISS

How Wimbledon Is Tackling Its Hottest Opening on Record

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Gang Robber Sentenced to Life in Prison for Attempted Murder of Police Officer

DON'T MISS

The Chainsmokers to Headline Dog Daze Festival at Chukchansi Park

UP NEXT

CA Rolls Back Its Landmark Environmental Law to Speed Housing Construction

UP NEXT

A Path Forward on Immigration Reform That Strengthens America

UP NEXT

California Seizes Over 600,000 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks. Newsom Calls for Safe Celebrations

UP NEXT

Buying a Home With Solar? Beware of CA Bill Written by Former Utility Co. Exec

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Sues Los Angeles Over Immigration Enforcement

UP NEXT

Immigration Raids Leave Crops Unharvested, California Farms at Risk

UP NEXT

Israel Faces Genocide Accusations Amid Gaza Food Aid Killings

UP NEXT

CA’s Population Shrank in Trump’s First Immigration Crackdown. It Could Happen Again

UP NEXT

Controversial Climate Rule That Could Raise Gas Prices About to Take Effect

UP NEXT

I Detest Netanyahu, but on Some Things He’s Actually Right

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

1 hour ago

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

1 hour ago

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

1 hour ago

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

2 hours ago

Tulare County Wildfire Prompts Advisory in Three Rivers Area

2 hours ago

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

2 hours ago

Trump Says US Could Reach Trade Deal With India, Casts Doubt on Deal With Japan

3 hours ago

Jury Reaches Verdict on Some Counts at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Sex Trafficking Trial

3 hours ago

How Wimbledon Is Tackling Its Hottest Opening on Record

3 hours ago

Tulare County Gang Robber Sentenced to Life in Prison for Attempted Murder of Police Officer

3 hours ago

Trump Says Israel Has Agreed to Conditions to Finalize 60-Day Gaza Ceasefire

WASHINGTON -President Donald Trump said on Tuesday Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day ceasefir...

9 minutes ago

An Israeli military convoy manoeuvres near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, July 1, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
9 minutes ago

Trump Says Israel Has Agreed to Conditions to Finalize 60-Day Gaza Ceasefire

Abel Joel Garcia Zarate, 39, of Biola, was arrested Sunday, June, 30, 2025, in Madera County on suspicion of starting a wildfire just hours after crews responded to a separate blaze sparked by farm equipment. (Madera County SO)
26 minutes ago

Fresno County Man Arrested for Suspected Arson Hours After Separate Wildfire

45 minutes ago

New California Environmental Rollbacks Could Boost Housing Projects in Fresno

An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERSStringerFile Photo
1 hour ago

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

1 hour ago

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

Lara Trump looks on during Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump's rally, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 6, 2024. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 13, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

Tulare County firefighters are actively battling a wildfire Tuesday, July 1, 2025, near North Fork Road in Three Rivers, prompting a “Ready” advisory but no evacuation order. (Tulare County FD)
2 hours ago

Tulare County Wildfire Prompts Advisory in Three Rivers Area

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend