The Housing Lie
Why is this happening? What is behind all this destruction?
Politicians are telling us that population growth and the lack of home building for the last 40 years has led to a housing shortage.
What we are witnessing is a lie, a great housing lie.
That is the reason they say we must end single-family housing and build more multi-family housing, especially affordable housing. However, none of their bills require any affordable housing to be created, so the affordable housing crisis will continue.
What we are witnessing is a lie, a great housing lie. Population increase in California is a thing of the past. The latest Census numbers show a decrease for the first time in California’s history and there is nothing to suggest that trend will reverse soon if ever. It will take years to reverse that decline even if California stops chasing businesses and people away. Kill the American Dream and it will never happen.
Something else is at play and it involves money, lots of it. Who profits from converting single-family homes into multi-unit rental buildings? Who profits from destroying single-family neighborhoods so that long term owners flee? Could it be the same people who profited from the housing crash of 2007? Since the crash, a handful of companies now own approximately 200,000 single-family rental homes and that number is growing. These homes have been transformed into a new class of financial asset and investment vehicle which has grown into a $15 billion-plus market. Are they looking to capitalize on what is happening in Sacramento by purchasing more homes as people give up on their American Dream of homeownership?
That is hard to know but there is simply no way that the Legislature in Sacramento is going against these powerful interests. Add to them the California Association of Realtors, California Building Industry Association, who support the proponents of one size fits all zoning bills and vote against bills that grant local control to Cities and it is pretty easy to see what is happening. The Tech industry also needs more housing and was the original supporter of these bills in order to grow their businesses.
A deep dive into their contributions would tell one story but the real question is this. Is the American Dream of home ownership on the auction block or will we say no, hands off our single-family homes!
WHO BENEFITS FROM THESE BILLS
SB 9 and SB 10_Support_Opposition list is very interesting and telling. All of the supporters will no doubt tell you that they support the bills because California needs more affordable housing. However they don’t seem to know or care that these bills contain no provisions for affordable housing. So, one has to ask what is their motivation? Some will be obvious because they are in the housing business, either in Construction, financing, sales, management or some other facet of housing. Others are not so obvious like the AARP which was the first name at the top of the list. I must admit that caught me by surprise because I had no idea the AARP was into building houses, but it turns out they are. It seems that California has Created a ‘Master Plan for Aging’ and the AARP helped shape the agenda and goals. AARP’s livable communities’ strategies list some good goals but never mention that the bills they are supporting could negatively impact seniors and devastate communities of color. I intend to follow up with AARP on this issue to find out how they could support something that will harm many of their very members and if you have concerns you should too.