Construction in Los Angeles has quadrupled in pace but the "affordability crisis" in the Golden State is still brewing, realty reports revealed.
The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University recently reported that in Los Angeles, more than 50 percent of renters spend a huge portion of their income to put a roof over their heads. An estimated 58.5 percent of renters in Los Angeles metro areas use over 30 percent of their income to pay rent and skimping out on necessities such as food and healthcare.
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) described the situation as "burdened." In their report, they pointed out that as much as 32.8 percent of renters in Los Angeles are "severely burdened." This means, they shed out more than half of their income to cover rent. JLL also noted that Los Angeles has become the 22nd least affordable city in the US and has one of the largest levels of homelessness as a lot of renters have been evicted for failing to pay their expensive rent.
The Business and Economy section in the LA radio channel scpr.org spoke with Heather O'Brien, an artist residing in Los Angeles and founding member of the Los Angeles Tenants Union. She revealed that she devotes about half of her income to rent and she also related experiences of other tenants who share the same apartment building with her. She said that lucky ones shared rooms while unlucky ones were forced out to the streets.
Ironically, construction of housing infrastructures have increased in Los Angeles since 2013. In 2015 alone, 5,700 rentals were added into the market, concentrating in downtown LA and San Fernando Valley. However, the Harvard report highlighted that only a few of the new buildings are considered affordable.
The rising prices of rents is mainly attributed to the lack of space in LA. The influx of foreign all-cash buyers also drove prices beyond the roofs.
