Los Angeles Curbs 'Mansionization' With Home-Size Limits
Bloomberg
By Nadja Brandt
...During the Los Angeles real estate boom that began in 2002 and peaked five years later, developers built multistory homes with more square footage than their lots had as a way of raising prices. Now, as property values recover after a 21-month slump, the city is curbing the size of single-family homes to prevent so-called McMansions from being built in such neighborhoods as Hollywood and in the Santa Monica Mountains.
...The ordinance may make it harder for people to sell their homes to wealthy buyers wanting to rebuild, said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California.
'Fewer Rich People'
"L.A. is the most heavily regulated housing city in the country," Green said in a telephone interview. "This adds to the regulatory quagmire. It just means we'll have fewer rich people who will decide to live here. The nice thing about rich people is that they do pay high taxes."