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The news is good for the city of Oakland as their plan to add 26,000 new homes in the next 10 years has been accepted by California’s state housing officials.
This means that Oakland will be eligible for needed funding and maintaining a degree of control over local development rules.
To date, only five local governments – Oakland, San Francisco, San Leandro, Emeryville, and the city of Alameda – have had their final plans approved by the state.
As only 29 of the Bay Area’s 109 cities and counties had adopted California’s new housing requirements and only 4 – San Francisco, Emeryville, the city of Alameda, and San Leandro – are actually in compliance with the state – three pro-housing groups are suing 11 cities and Santa Clara County because they failed to meet the January 31 deadline to submit homebuilding proposals.
The cities include Daly City, Palo Alto, Pinole, Cupertino, Martinez, Burlingame, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, Novato, Fairfax, and Belvedere.
According to the groups, more lawsuits will be coming soon.
The Department of Housing and Community Development reports that California has the worst homelessness problem in the country with 44 out of 10,000 residents on the streets.
Analysts say that California is at least one million housing units short while others argue the number is closer to 3.5 million. While the state’s official goal is to increase units by 2.5 million by 2030, the rate of construction will have to triple to meet that figure.
Eleven of the twenty most expensive regions in which to live are in California. And, yes, the San Francisco Bay Area is the most expensive of all.
Hawaii is the most expensive state with prices 13.2 percent higher than the U.S. average and California is now second at 11.8 percent and New York is third.
According to the Census Bureau, 54.8 percent of Californians live in a house they own in 2022. This is the third lowest percentage in the nation but is the same rate as pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
The only areas with a lower percentage are the District of Columbia at 43.1 percent and New York at 54 percent.
The states with the highest percentage of ownership are West Virginia (78.4%), South Carolina (75.8%), Maine (75.4%), Iowa (75.1%), and Wyoming (74.8%).
A recent ranking by WalletHub of the 100 largest U.S. cities in 28 environmental categories has four Bay Area cities in the top 10: Fremont at number 4; Oakland, 6th, San Francisco, 8th, and San José at number 10.
Overall, San Diego was the top-ranked city as California placed 6 in the top 10.
Fremont finished first in the amount of green space, water quality, and Air Quality Index,
Ever since the start of the pandemic in 2020, California residents have been hitting the roads and heading for the borders in search of … jobs? Cheaper living? Friendlier business climate?
Regardless, only Illinois has seen more residents moving out in the last 2+ years. For the first time since 2013, San Jose has seen its population dip below 1 million, and San Francisco has seen a 3 percent decline.
And where are they going? Texas is the top destination, fueled, no doubt by the fact that Tesla, oracle and Hewlett Packard have all moved their headquarters there.
California has expanded a COVID-19 program designed to help those who have fallen behind on their payments during the pandemic. Homeowners who missed at least two mortgage payments before June 30, 2022, now may be eligible to have delinquent payments of up to $80,000 covered.
The one caveat is that homeowners are eligible for assistance if they make 150% or less of their county’s median income. In Contra Costa and Alameda, a family of four that $214,200 or less per year would qualify.
While California saw its first population decline since 1900, a handful of Bay Area cities saw an increase in both population and housing units. Santa Clara, Morgan Hill, and Mountain View all saw their housing units grow, with most being multifamily facilities.
Overall, however, The nine counties in the Bay Area added just 20,522 housing units in 2020. Most counties saw sharp declines in the development of new homes and apartments.
Albany, in Alameda County, saw its population decline by 9.6 percent while all the cities in Marin County decreased.
For the fourth consecutive month, the Conference Board’s California Consumer Confidence Index rose, bringing it to February 2020 – pre=pandemic levels.
Some sections of the Index rose higher than others. The view of current business conditions, while rising nearly 16 points to 74.8, is still well below the February 2020 mark of 152.3.
On the other hand, the shoppers’ outlook for the future easily surpassed February 2020. Taken all together, the Index shows California consumer confidence is headed in the right driection.
