L.A.’s Housing Market Not Yet Ready to Burst
Prices just keep setting records past the recession lows in Los Angeles’ housing market. Studies show that we’re actually halfway through a solid recovery – HALF WAY through! Prices have risen well over 20% since the recession with no sign of stopping just yet. If you thought Los Angeles was un-affordable now – well, just wait.
Professors at UCLA have predicted that the market has at least four more years to continue its rise before we get any correction in the market. Lack of supply keeps driving prices, so as long as demand is in-step prices will continue to surge. The lack of supply isn’t helped by tighter restrictions on building codes.
That limited supply means that homes won’t be getting more affordable any time soon. “In fact, just the opposite,” said Jerry Nickelsburg, a senior Anderson Forecast economist. Nickelsburg, speaking about all of California, told the City News Service that the idea that we can “just build more housing” is not, ultimately, going to be effective in the short-term because it takes a while to make the changes in zoning and building regulations that would allow for ramped-up construction to stem demand, and that, on a citywide scale, “Realistically, this is not going to happen in the coming few years.”
