Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
Los Angeles metro area posted dip in housing building permits
Listen
• 1:01
Construction sites like the future Park Fifth develop dot downtown Los Angeles.
(
Josie Huang/KPCC
)
The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metropolitan area posted a dip in building permits last year, reflecting the first yearly decline since the depths of the recession.
(
KPCC using Chartbuilder
)
Permits for housing construction in the Los Angeles metropolitan area declined in 2016 compared to the previous year, a reversal in what had been a steady post-recession recovery, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Housing units permitted last year numbered 32,008, compared to 34,034 for 2015, a drop of about 6 percent in the metro area, which includes Long Beach and Anaheim. The units have been largely condominiums and apartments.
The decline interrupted a six-year run of increases since permitted units hit a recession-era low of 7,281 in 2009.
A pullback in bank lending and new land use regulations may be contributing to a slowdown, said Paul Habibi, a developer who lectures on real estate at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management. He said developers also struggle to find available land to build on.
Support for LAist comes from
“Anytime you want to introduce a new unit of something, you generally have to tear something down," Habibi said.
What's unclear is whether the decline is a cyclical pause or a trend in the making.
Continuing declines in housing construction would negatively impact the cost and availability of homes for buyers. Housing inventory is already low as building has lagged behind population growth.
The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metropolitan area posted a dip in building permits last year, reflecting the first yearly decline since the depths of the recession.
(
KPCC using Chartbuilder
)
Most of the new construction is concentrated in areas such as downtown L.A., where developers can build higher and more densely — and generate more profit.
"Most of the housing stock is being built at the highest income strata. So it's not like we're building affordable units," Habibi said.
None of this was good news for Kimberly Lopez, a California State University, Los Angeles civil engineering student who wants to move out of her parents’ place and into her own. Waiting for a bus across the street from the construction site of the future Park Fifth mixed-use development in downtown, Lopez said she knew that the apartments were out of reach for her.
Support for LAist comes from
"This is for the rich, the people who work in the buildings, the financial buildings right here. Not for me," Lopez said.
It’ll take decades for those apartments to come down in price, not that Lopez is holding her breath. She’s planning on getting roommates for her new apartment.
According to the census data, cities smaller than Los Angeles such as Houston and Dallas have been building homes at a faster rate, far outpacing L.A.
Habibi said building projects in those areas face an easier time than those in L.A. in getting the necessary approvals, and there is also more space in Texas to further suburban sprawl.
Metropolitan area Total units permitted in 2016
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 55,618
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land 44,643
New York-Newark-Jersey City 42,466
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 36,121
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 32,008
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
This story has been updated.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist