Affordable housing, in much of Southern California, is already a joke. Unless you live in our inland valleys, affordable housing is non-existent. My parents live in Plano, Texas which is a suburb of Dallas. Lovely 2800+ square foot homes with swimming pools located in great school districts cost in the mid $300,000 range. On Mt. Helix, where I live, a comparable property would start in the $700,000 range and go up from there if it had a view.
Our government leaders need to step in and offer more incentives to get builders to build affordable housing. With fees and taxes on a new building in some of our San Diego cities costing as much as $200,000 per house, (according to a recent interview with San Diego Association of Realtor's President Bob Kevane), there is no way a builder is going to be able to make a profit building entry level priced homes.
Combine that with one of the elements proposed in the current tax plan, to drop the mortgage interest deduction from the current $1 million to $500,000, and one of the incentives to buy is gone. We need some leadership in this area. Talk to your elected representatives and let's get this topic onto their agenda, otherwise our children will never be able to buy a home in California!
