Politifact’s Chris Nichols outlines why it’s so expensive to build new homes in California.
Before any nails are hammered or concrete poured, developers must navigate a painstakingly slow and complex approval process. In California, this can take years, or even decades, and cost millions of dollars in fees, far more than in other states.
As those costs pile up, they’re passed on to the homebuyer, driving prices further out of reach in a state already wracked by an affordable housing crisis, say builders and housing researchers.
“We’ve seen building costs growing in a number of different markets, but California stands out,” said Elizabeth Kneebone, research director at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation. “And by some measures it has become home to some of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, markets to build in.”
Read more here.
