Los Angeles County is becoming a renter’s paradise: Building permits for multi-unit properties in Los Angeles soars to meet renting demand.

People are surprised to hear that Los Angeles County is the most unaffordable location in the entire United States when it comes to renting. Isn’tSan Francisco or New York more expensive? Of course they are but affordability is based on income and Los Angeles has a much lower household income base to draw from. Unlike creative mortgage financing, you actually need to pay yourrent out of your net income each month. What has happened since the housing bubble popped is that more families in Los Angeles are now renters and rents have soared causing arental Armageddon in the area. Families are being squeezed in what I would like to call housing purgatory. They have no way of buying an inflated crap shack but at the same time are unable to do anything about rising rents. For those with Taco Tuesday baby boomer parents, many Millennials are opting to move back home. And builders realize this trend is only going to continue and that is why builders are going after multi-unit permits at a much higher rate than single family permits. Los Angeles County is now becoming a renter’s paradise assuming you like cramped living areas, high traffic, and sky high rents. I don’t see permits for new freeways coming online at the rate of multi-unit permits.

This post was published at Doctor Housing Bubble on March 19, 2016.