By TIM REDMOND
OCTOBER 16, 2023
It’s too early to know what the local news media will do about a Board of Supes committee deciding today to once again delay Mayor London Breed’s extensive changes in local housing approval rules.
But based on a big piece in the SF Standard today, we can guess: It will be all about the Nimbys continuing to slow down changes that would allow more housing in the city and bring down prices.
Written by Josh Koehn
Published Oct. 16, 2023
In the dog days of summer, while many California state legislators were vacationing or raising campaign money during the monthlong recess, Scott Wiener was convening secret meetings. The state senator and a close-knit crew of housing wonks were hatching a plan to make an 11th-hour amendment to one of his bills—one that would surely raise the hackles of some of his fiercest critics.
by Thomas D. Elias
October 11, 2023
The state Department of Finance in 2013 predicted California would have 52.7 million residents by 2060, but now figures the number will be 39.51 million, just about the same as today.
Two things you can count on when it comes to ballyhooed state forecasts on things like California’s housing and population: They’ll be incompetent and inconsistent. Usually, they will also be outdated even before they’re issued.
By Sophia Bollag, Clare Fonstein
Oct. 11, 2023Updated: Oct. 12, 2023
California is expanding a housing law that has led to the construction of thousands of new units amid the state’s ongoing housing crisis, under a measure signed Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law extends a policy enacted in 2017 that requires cities that fall behind on their state housing goals to streamline approval of some projects. That law was set to expire at the end of 2025 but will be extended, with modifications, until 2036.
By TRD Staff
OCT 11, 2023, 11:30 AM
The market for luxury condominiums in San Francisco has fallen into the doldrums as demand fades during an oversupply from hundreds of luxury condos flooding the city in the last five years. Fewer of the city’s new fancy condos in Downtown, where more than a third of the offices stand empty, find takers. The sluggish sales may be blamed on higher interest rates, which have forced local and foreign buyers to hit pause on purchases.
Butte County is best. Santa Cruz is worst.
By JONATHAN LANSNER
October 11, 2023
”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data. If you want a quasi-affordable California home, look far from the coast and the big cities. My trusty spreadsheet reviewed third-quarter homebuying affordability stats for 578 big US counties – including 35 California counties.