Redfin CEO: We need more affordable homes

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?We need more affordable homes," he said. "In the luxury market you sometimes see a glut, but mostly it's in the $300,000, $400,000, $200,000 home that we really see demand outstripping supply. And what's unique about this particular rally is its not located in one or two coastal cities, its across the entire U.S."

Kelman said affordable housing is among the top needs for tech companies that have outgrown their West Coast homes and want to open new campuses.?
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle...-ceo-affordable-housing-demand-employers.html


 
I've been saying it for a while that there is a real lack in inventory in the lower end of the market.  It's not just Irvine or OC, it's in a lot of different markets throughout the US. 
 
The only way affordable homes will work is with income and occupancy restrictions in the deed, as well as resale restrictions tied to inflation. Without these restrictions, low cost housing would get bought out by investors and presents no solution at all.

Once the ownership and price issues are settled, then it's a matter of the State changing acceptable construction standards to allow for "Tiny Homes" to be constructed. It's possible to get a nice 2br Tiny House on a slab foundation in under 900 SF.

https://www.houseplans.com/collection/tiny-house-plans-and-micro-cottages

I think there would be a lower resistance to "affordable housing" if it was more in the style of an SFR than attached housing. The alternative would of course be building glorified apartments high rise condo's as "affordable housing" and who wants that in the neighborhood?

If you drive along Bristol, north of Warner, the City of Santa Ana owns a good 10 plus acres along both sides of Bristol. This land could house many "tiny houses" for FTHB's if there are substantial changes in building codes. Assume a $200k cost to build and a $300k selling price, as long as land costs were lowered by the City, there's plenty of opportunity here in Santa Ana, as well as other areas in OC to build affordable units with a decent profit margin to meet market demand.

My .02c
 
Soylent Green Is People said:
The only way affordable homes will work is with income and occupancy restrictions in the deed, as well as resale restrictions tied to inflation. Without these restrictions, low cost housing would get bought out by investors and presents no solution at all.

Once the ownership and price issues are settled, then it's a matter of the State changing acceptable construction standards to allow for "Tiny Homes" to be constructed. It's possible to get a nice 2br Tiny House on a slab foundation in under 900 SF.

https://www.houseplans.com/collection/tiny-house-plans-and-micro-cottages

I think there would be a lower resistance to "affordable housing" if it was more in the style of an SFR than attached housing. The alternative would of course be building glorified apartments high rise condo's as "affordable housing" and who wants that in the neighborhood?

If you drive along Bristol, north of Warner, the City of Santa Ana owns a good 10 plus acres along both sides of Bristol. This land could house many "tiny houses" for FTHB's if there are substantial changes in building codes. Assume a $200k cost to build and a $300k selling price, as long as land costs were lowered by the City, there's plenty of opportunity here to build affordable units and meet market demand.

My .02c

You mentioned a great point that is part of the problem.  A lot of the "entry level" housing is getting gobbled up by investors.  Of my 15 listings last year, 5 of them were purchased by investors (about half of the listings below $1m). 
 
We need more of all of the above. Tiny homes, high rise condos, etc. Land use regulations stand in the way (such as parking minimums mandated by fiat and NIMBY anti-density permitting). Renting is a substitute for owning so I don't think investors are the problem here. Hell if we had $300k houses in Santa Ana, half of TI would be posting about their investment rental homes.

Btw some <900 SF "tiny houses" sell for almost 1mil near the coasts.
 
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