San Diego Building More Homes, Needs Even More

More homes are being built in San Diego County, Calif. this year than in 2017, according to new data from the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California.

From January to September 2018, the county built 8,519 housing units, led by apartment unit construction, surpassing the 6,054 units built in the same period in 2017. Since 2015, San Diego county built less than 10,000 homes, short of what housing advocates say is needed to suit current job and population growth, reports The Los Angeles Times. Permit growth was greater for rental units than for-sale units. Real estate analyst Gary London adds, “The takeaway is most are apartments that are in the most urban areas. Disproportionately, we are not building homes for families.”

London, who consults on housing projects with his firm London Moeder Advisors, said the numbers reflect a period of intense apartment building because of rising rents. He said he doubted the same numbers would be seen in 2019 as rent prices stabilize.

Even if the county builds more housing in 2018 than previous years, it still falls short of what experts say it needs to build based on population growth and the needs for workers in the strong economy. London said the best case scenario would be 20,000 housing units built a year with a more even distribution geographically, and by product type.

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