Multifamily Forecast

Despite an election year, the remnants of a trade war and tension with Iran, economists and local experts forecast all real estate markets to continue with trends similar to 2019: stable. Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, said economic indicators, such as low unemployment and increasing wages, bode well for all real estate markets.

By Andrew Khouri

Mario Canel met his wife inside the apartment where he’s lived for the last 33 years

Canel, a house painter, was at the Silver Lake complex off of Sunset Boulevard on a job, but he and his customer quickly connected over their shared Guatemalan roots. It wasn’t long before Mario and Sabina married, and her home became his. For years, they basked in such comforts as plucking chayote from a vine outside their front window.

by Andrew Khouri

Home builders are pulling back from new construction, the opposite of what economists say is needed to ease California’s housing affordability crisis.

In the first six months of 2019, builders gained approval for 51,178 new homes in California, nearly 20% fewer than the same period a year earlier. That puts the state on track for the first meaningful annual decline since the recession.

The average renter saw a $78 increase in monthly rents in the past 12 months By Jack Katzane

By Jack Katzanek

A scarcity of vacant apartments not seen since before the Great Recessionhas pushed the average monthly rent in the Inland Empire up 5.1% in the last year to an average $1,532, a report released last week says.

STATE OF AFFAIRS

Four in ten Republicans say they support President Trump's populist version of the GOP. So says a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. Meanwhile, the San Diego GOP launches a news site of its own.

Guests:

• Marisa Lagos, KQED 
• Zach Courser, Claremont McKenna College

SOCAL HOUSING GOAL 

By Roger Vincent 

Competition for tenants who can pay top rents has grown so fierce that landlords are loading up their new buildings with goodies unheard of in years past when a swimming pool and laundry room were considered ample enticements for renters.

The rate of price growth has tapered off a bit, but housing isn’t getting any cheaper

By Elijah Chiland

The average price of a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles County now stands at $1,755 per month, according to real estate tracker CoStar.

For a two-bedroom, the average is $2,235.

It’s not necessarily easy to buy a house today, especially for younger generations. Wages aren’t keeping up with the rising home prices and the median age of a homebuyer is at its oldest since the National Association Realtors started tracking in the 1980s.

The bill would bar property owners in California from increasing rent more than 7 percent, plus the cost of inflation, in one year

By Jenna Chandler

By Andrew Khouri

Southern California home prices rose only 1.2% in June from a year earlier, while sales fell 8.8%, reflecting a broad slowdown in the region’s pricey housing market.

The six-county region’s median price — the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less — clocked in at $541,250 last month, according to a report Friday from CoreLogic.