California Housing: A look at problems and possible solutions

The issue is that either the renter or the owner must in some way pay insurance and property taxes if they want a "permanent roof" with utilities like electricity, gas and water. Because of this, many people—at least in California, where I currently reside—are living in tents. No taxes, rent, mortgages, or insurance. The number of people who tell me they live in their car that I meet amazes me. Its crazy out here!

I believe the housing market has been highly overpriced. There are different factors. Some of it is more buyers than sellers. People get in bidding wars over a home. Most homes sell within 2 weeks. Then if vou want land in the country between the rich folk and China who are paying way to much for property they make it impossible for average people to purchase in the country. It's going to implode because all the people who paid a premium for house's are a paycheck away from losing those homes. Look at the trucking company that just went out of business. How many of those employees will lose their homes. Look at other big companies that announced layoffs. Housing will be taking a big hit and prices will drop

That's why I'm scared to buy a house, but renting an apartment is a bigger threat too. Every year, they keep raising the rental payment and it's really concerning...

Makes you appreciate people living in cars and vans.

Wow the government gets 95K in permits and fees for each new house built in California! that's insane if the government thinks there's a housing shortage why don't they quit charging Builders those fees and that would cut back on a lot of the waiting time too

Inflation hits people a lot harder than a crashing stock or housing market as it directly affects people's cost of living that people immediately feel the impact of. It's not surprising negative market sentiment is so high now. We really need help to survive in this Economy.

I knew something was brewing in 2019 when I bought my house. I qualified for $500,000 but found a new build for $307,000 with a 3.6% interest rate. I refinanced a year later for a 2.37%. Now, I'm watching all of my neighbors complain about high property taxes, over inflated insurance premiums and high interest rates. In 2023, my mortgage is still cheaper than my rent in 2019. The key to this is to know when the economy is well over a period of time, get prepared for the switch and never over purchase.

The real issue is strict zoning laws and NIMBYs. That's literally the only reason we have this problem.

We did this to ourselves by trying to get rich off of real estate. It's like a pyramid skeam where the ones on top get rich and the bottom eat the scraps.

Also Warren Buffett said that to fix this issue is to move to the outskirts of our land and continue to build pet cities. This is so true, there is so much land for each to have our own.

I never felt sorry for greedy investors. They were the ones that created demand for renters.

There’s a housing shortage because California has pro car zoning like parking minimums and single use zoning that keeps shops separated from homes forcing driving. Around 40% of land in LA is road or parking lot. That’s pretty typical. That leaves no space for new homes for people.

And all that car space costs money to maintain while not generating much tax revenue.

It's a buyer's market if you're paying cash. If you need a mortgage, you're screwed.

New homes at 600 to 800k are not helping. Absentee landlords rent at high prices but dont do repairs. Its nuts.

I would have liked to see more attention be paid to high density housing options like apartments and multi family zoning and the issues surrounding them.

Housing is a luxury good. That’s the problem. It has to become a human right in the minds of society before we will ever get any relief.

“Van life” is just gentrified homelessness

My parents bought their house in 2005 for 300k in California and they are moving to Europe because they’ve had enough of America and where it’s going , they sold the house for 780k….. and are now looking for houses in Europe . Something is going on with the housing market obviously my parents are super happy but the average American won’t be able to afford a house

Here in Sacramento, so many small businesses have shut down because of property taxes. So many peoples ended up living in the streets and lost their homes. Kept building more houses that people can’t afford to live. It’s really bad!

There's ALWAYS a housing crisis! Too expensive, high mortgage rates, low inventory. Unless, of course, it's prices crashing, subprime mortgages, and high inventory. Nothing new under the sun.

NIMBYs in California are keeping the supply low and driving up the prices for newcomers and the value of their own homes.