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Home My WebLink About2006/07/19 - Agenda Packet - (Spec. Meeting) Disc. of an inclusionary zoning ord. AGENDA RANCHO CUCAMONGA CITY COUNCIL ~ ~ SPECIAL MEETING Wednesday, July 19, 2006 ~ 4:00 p.m. Rancho Cucamonga City Hall ~ Tri Communities Room 10500 Civic Center Drive ~ Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730-3801 A. CALL TO ORDER 1. Pledge of Allegiance 2. Roll Call: Alexander _' Gutierrez_, Michael_, Spagnolo_, Williams_. B. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS This is the time and place for the general public to address the City Council. State law prohibits the Council from addressing any issue not previously included on the agenda. The Council may receive testimony and set the matter for a subsequent meeting. Comments are to be limited to five minutes per individual. C. ITEM(ID OF BUSINESS 1. DISCUSSION OF AN INCLUSIONARY ZONING ORDINANCE D. ADJOURNMENT I, Debra J. Adams, City Clerk of the City of Rancho Cucamonga, hereby certify that a true, accurate copy of the foregoing agenda was posted on July 17, 2006, per Government Code 54954.2 at 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California. From: July 6, 2006 Mayor and City Council Members Jack Lam, AICP, Executive Directo~l~ Housing Subcommittee Members Gutierrez and Mich INCLUSIONARY ZONING WORKSHOP - 4:00 P.M JULY 19, 2006 MEMORANDUM REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY Date: To: Subject: Over the past several months, the Housing Subcommittee has been meeting with staff and counsel to discuss the City and Agency's obligations and opportunities in providing affordable housing. As we all know, the production and preservation of affordable housing is a State requirement imposed on redevelopment agencies and cities, but it is unrealistic to think that local communities can meet affordable housing requirements solely using local funding sources. Rancho Cucamonga has made great strides in addressing its affordable housing obligations primarily through the use of Redevelopment Agency Housing Set-aside funds. Despite these efforts, which have produced approximately 1700 units of affordable housing (1,320 through Redevelopment and the balance through City/County Agreements), a tremendous need still exists. During the approval of the Redevelopment Agency's Housing Production Plan (Attachment 1), which is part of the Housing Element of the City's General Plan, 12 potential programs to assist in providing affordable housing were identified. Programs 9 and 10 present goals for investigating the feasibility of an affordable housing overlay zone and a mixed use overlay zone in order to create new opportunities for providing affordable housing. Given the need to provide a balanced community and recognizing there are limited resources remaining to provide affordable housing (both in terms of available land and finances) the Subcommittee is proposing the City Council discuss creating a limited Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance. The policies which the Subcommittee is proposing for discussion will also help accomplish the program goals of the Housing Production Plan and the Housing Element. Many cities have adopted an Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance that requires developers to either provide affordable units (on or off-site) or pay an in-lieu fee as part of the entitlement process. The Housing Subcommittee has reviewed and discussed several Inclusionary Zoning options and concluded that a limited approach to Inclusionary Zoning could be considered in Rancho Cucamonga. The Subcommittee has requested a~workshop on Wednesday, July 19th at 4:00 p.m. to discuss with the full City Council the status of our affordable housing efforts and potential policies for a limited Inclusionary Zoning application. To facilitate the discussion, the following background material and information has been provided in advance of the workshop. INCLUSIONARY ZONING WORKSHOP - 4:00 P.M.,JULY 19, 2006 ]UL Y 6, 2006 PAGE 2 WHAT IS AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO A COMMUNITY As the City Council is aware, over the past 25 years the City has grown in population, jobs and housing units. In the early years of the City's growth, Rancho Cucamonga was viewed as a haven for affordable land and housing for young families as compared to the Orange and Los Angeles county areas. While prices for land and housing in Rancho Cucamonga remain lower than neighboring counties, the ability to purchase and rent housing - the market rate affordability - has changed dramatically in recent years. How many times have you heard your friends and neighbors say they wouldn't be able to afford the home they are in today? The Housing Subcommittee is also aware that the growth in the City has begun to expand the employment opportunities and thus the wage earning opportunities in the City. In the past 10 years the City has seen significant growth in office and higher end jobs that are generally associated with higher wage earning capabilities. The City has also seen a significant increase in the number of retail, service/restaurant and hospitality (hotel) jobs. The Subcornmittee has frequently discussed the value to the cornmunity in providing affordable workforce housing for the residents, and employees of companies in Rancho Cucamonga. The ability for people to live and work in the community has far reaching social and econornic benefits to the city and the families/employees needing affordable housing. For 2006, the median income for the County of San Bernardino for a family of 4 is $57,500. While the median income for Rancho Cucarnonga is much higher, approximately $72,525, it is the County rnedian income figure that is used to calculate eligible incornes and affordable housing rates. During the Subcommittee meetings inforrnation was discussed regarding wages and job types that would be considered affordable wages. Attached #2 to this memo is a small sampling of the types of jobs which at entry level would typically qualify as being an affordable income assuming a family size of 4. The Subcommittee also noted that using the lowest income possible, minimum wage at $6.75 an hour, a single person household would have to work 115 hours per week in order to achieve the median income. While this is an extreme example of wage earning, it is important to note that even at an hourly rate of $15, a single person would have to work 52 hours a week in order to achieve the median income. The following table illustrates the various eligible income limits, based on family size. County of S. B. Family Size Median Income 35% income 45% income 60% income 90% income 1 $40,300 $14,105 $18,135 $24,180 $36,270 2 $46,000 $16,100 $20,700 $27,600 $41 ,400 3 $51,800 $18,130 $23,310 $31,080 $46,620 4 $57,500 $20,125 $25,875 $34,500 $51,750 5 $62,100 $21,735 $27,945 $37,260 $55,890 6 $66,700 $23,345 $30,015 $40,020 $60,030 7 $71,300 $24,955 $32,085 $42,780 $64,170 8 $75,900 $26,565 $34,155 $45,540 $68,310 INCLUSIONARY ZONING WORKSHOP -4:00 P.M.,JULY 19, 2006 JULY 6, 2006 PAGE 3 These family incomes translate into the following affordable monthly rental rates, including the amount allocated for utilities. FAMILY SIZE 35% income 45% income 60% income 90% income 1 $353 $453 $605 $907 2 $403 $518 $690 $1,035 3 $453 $583 $777 $1,166 4 $503 $647 $863 $1,294 5 $543 $699 $932 $1,397 6 $584 $750 $1,001 $1,501 7 $624 $802 $1,070 $1,604 8 $664 $854 $1,139 $1,708 As a comparison, the current average rental rate for an apartment in Rancho Cucamonga is $1,166 per month. Attachment #3 shows a listing of some of the rental complexes and rental rates in Rancho Cucamonga that are advertised on www.apartments.com. The average existing home price in the City is $533,930. At an interest rate of 6%, a 30 year mortgage and a down payment ranging between 10% ($53,400) and 20% (106,800), a family of 4 would need an income between $102,450 and $115,245 in order to qualify for the mortgage payment. These incomes are almost double the current County median income for 2006. Attachment #4 shows a comparison of incomes to existing and new home prices for the past 10 year period of time. The chart shows that housing costs have increased significantly more than increases in income, which impacts home ownership affordability. BACKGROUND DATA AND INFORMATION Attachment #5 is a summary table which the Subcommittee has reviewed with staff regarding our achievements in the providing affordable housing. Attachment #6 is information summarizing the Regional Housing Needs Assessment and identifies the number and distribution by income category of affordable units that were expected to be provided in the City between 1999 and 2005. A review and explanation of this information will be part of the staff presentation at the workshop. The more critical data that is important for the City Council to be aware of are the following: . Based on the State Housing Production Requirements, the Agency has a responsibility of providing approximately 2,755 units of affordable housing to meet the 15% minimum affordable housing requirement for the Project Area. . The Agency has directly provided 1,025 units, and another 295 units are proposed (1,320 total units). Through multi family bond financing, another 268 units have been provided which the Agency can receive credit for. The total number of units the Agency receives credit for is 1,588 units; approximately 68% of the number of units that should be available. The Agency has an existing 1,167 unit shortfall in the number of affordable housing units. . Between 1999 and 2005 the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) estimated the need for 7,700 units to serve families who were paying more than 30% of their income on INCLUSIONARY ZONING WORKSHOP - 4:00 P.M., JULY 19, 2006 JULY 6, 2006 PAGE 4 housing. Of these units, approximately 79%, or 6,110, were for families earning 60% or less of median income. During this time period the City/Agency was able to obtain covenants for 144 units for families earning 60% or less of median income - or 2% of the need. o The RHNA numbers for the City for 2006-2011 time frames are currently being developed, but have not been distributed. Staff expects the City's "fair share" numbers for housing for families earning 90% or less of the median income to be adjusted to account for the families that had unmet needs in the 1999-2005 timeframe (approximately 7,450 families), as well as the projected families that will need affordable housing in the upcoming 5 years based on the City's growth. o The Agency has expended or pledged more than $232 million from its housing set aside fund in order to provide the 1,320 units. The Agency's resources are nearing capacity as the Project Area and tax increment reach the limits of the Redevelopment Plan. o Unlike the early 1980's when the City was seeing tremendous moderately priced housing growth, the majority of the units that are being constructed today are not considered to be affordable to low or moderate income families. o The Agency can provide affordable housing by either obtaining covenants on either existing units or through new construction of units. At a minimum, 50% of the units provided must be through new construction methods, and no more than 50% of the units can be acquired through covenants on existing projects. o The Agency is required to spend housing set aside monies on family/senior projects in proportion to the City's population. Based on the 2000 census, the City's senior population (65 and older as defined by State law) is 5.5% and its family age population (64 and under) is 94.5%. . At the workshop, staff will present maps that identify properties that could be affected by an inclusionary requirement and a vacant land summary that clearly identifies the limited opportunities for construction of new housing units. Attachment #7 is a listing of cities in the State of California that have some form of Inclusionary Zoning Requirement; Attachment #8 is a sampling of articles that discuss the issue of affordable housing in the local communities. PURPOSE The purpose of an Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance is to require private development projects to provide a share of housing that is affordable to low and moderate income households. These housing units are to be provided without financial assistance from local sources. Some cities require inclusionary units as part of any residential development, and other cities have required Inclusionary Zoning be accomplished on a more limited practice. After many meetings of discussion and review of affordable housing material, the Subcommittee is suggesting the City Council consider developing a limited Inclusionary Zoning requirement which would only apply to projects that request the following types of discretionary approvals: o Land Use change from a Non-Residential land use (Open Space, Flood Control, Industrial, or Commercial) to a Residential or Mixed Use land use; INCLUSIONARY ZONING WORICSHOP -4:00 P.M., JULY 19, 2006 JULY 6, 2006 PAGE S . Land Use change from Residential to Commercial; . An increased density on Residential land; . A Map revision to allow a conversion from apartments to condominiums. The Subcommittee's reasoning behind this approach is that a proposed re-zoning could add value to the property, and the community could also add value through the provision of affordable housing. Additionally, property owners that convert apartments to for-sale condominiums are removing rental units from the market and potentially driving up the rents of the remaining rental housing in the City. The Inclusionary Zoning requirement could compensate the community for the loss of affordable housing rental stock when this occurs. Requiring affordable units as part of an increased residential density application ensures that the increase in housing units is in proportion with the overall affordable housing need. The requirement for providing affordable housing when a land use change is proposed to convert a residential site to commercial is also sound because you are removing potential housing opportunities for residents. When this type of zone change is requested, the opportunity to provide housing on-site would be limited to those instances where a mixed use designation is granted. Otherwise, the developer would have to provide the required affordable housing off-site, or pay in-lieu fees sinca a commercial zoning does not permit residential land uses. Through a limited Inclusionary Zoning practice, the city could gain workforce housing for the employees of the proposed commercial development and the city as a whole. The Subcommittee felt it was important that any Inclusionary Zoning requirement not be applied to property that is currently allowed to be developed for residential uses. If a developer must receive an approval to a proposed development that they would not otherwise be entitled to, then the City should be able to share in the benefits of that development through the provision of affordable housing. RECOMMENDED STANDARDS The Subcommittee and staff have compiled the following standards that could be considered as part of an inclusionary requirement. The Subcommittee is suggesting these standards as a starting point for discussion only, and could be modified or enhanced during the workshop, and any subsequent public workshops. 1. When a land use or density change application is made, as part of the entitlement process the developer would be allowed to meet the Inclusionary Zoning requirement in one of four ways, subject to City approval: . construct the affordable units as part of the proposed project . donate land and/or construct the required affordable units on another residentially zoned site . acquire units or covenants in another property . pay an in-lieu fee 2. The minimum percentage of inclusionary units should be 15% of the total residential units proposed as part of the zone or density change. The Subcommittee has proposed that 50% INCLUSIONARY ZONING WORKSHOP - 4:00 P.M.,]ULY 19, 2006 JULY 6, 2006 PAGE 6 of the Inclusionary units provided be affordable to families earning 50% or less of median income. 3. Through recorded covenants, inclusionary units produced could be legally restricted to occupancy by affordable income households for a minimum of 55-years for rental units and 45-years for owner-occupied units. 4. All inclusionary units should be constructed and occupied concurrently with or prior to the construction and occupancy of proposed project. In phased developments, inclusionary units could be constructed and occupied in proportion to the number of residential or commercial units in each phase of the development. 5. Developer would be required to enter into an Affordable Housing Agreement with City/Agency to ensure on-going maintenance and preservation of units. 6. Within a proposed rental project, the number of bedrooms of the restricted units should be in the same proportion to the non-restricted units. 7. In the case of a for sale single family affordable unit, the resale requirements of the Agency's first time home buyer program will apply. When an affordable single family unit is sold at a profit and not to an income qualified family, the seller will be required to share a percentage of the equity for reinvestment back into the affordable housing program for future single family home purchases. 8. Rental and Home Ownership Inclusionary units should be indistinguishable from market-rate units; they should be of similar construction and contain similar amenities. The minimum bedroom unit size for any rental Inclusionary unit should be 1 bedroom and there will be a need for a percentage of the units to be 2 and 3 bedrooms as determined by RHNA goals at the time a project is proposed. The bedroom mix for an Inclusionary home ownership unit will be based on the ratio of bedrooms in the project that is being proposed. 9. A Development Agreement will be required as part of the land use or density change entitlement process which approves the location and method for meeting the Inclusionary Zoning req ui rement. POLICY QUESTIONS The Housing Subcommittee has identified the following as the 2 initial policy questions for discussion by the City Council: . Is there Council support for continued discussions on possible implementation of a limited Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance? . Should the Ordinance apply only to applications for zone or density changes? Following the discussion by the City Council of these two policy questions, the Subcommittee would recommend that the Council discuss the recommended standards in order to provide staff the needed direction to work with legal counsel on the framework of a limited Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance. INCLUSIONARY ZONING WORKSHOP - 4:00 P.M.,JUL Y 19, 2006 JULY 6, 2006 PAGE 7 CONCLUSION: At the conclusion of the workshop, should the Council recommend moving forward with the limited Inclusionary Zoning concept, the Housing Subcommittee would suggest that staff be directed to begin a series of meetings with the Building Industry Association (BIA), non-profit housing organizations, Chamber of Commerce, local developers, and brokers to gather input on policies and recommendations for Council's consideration at a future meeting. " ,j) c: .!!i! Q. c: .g u ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ &! a. <<l :2 CJ) ID ~ ::> o CJ) ID 0: "C <:: <<l ...J - <:: <<l u <<l > <0 X w 0: ::> (!) u:: Ai+achment J:i: I <jz ~ i " " ~ ,(") ...- ~ . ~. N AJUT a:> ...-' .. R"E!LIA Ar tlllt !: CJ) ICI Q) o.e !: :l o 0 ;:::l fA U Ql :l~ 'l::I'l::I o !: ... ICI 0...1 Cl_ !: !: .- ICI fA u :l co 0> ~ (0 or-.: .~ 5'Z'i EO;: E" "'eoca:: B U-E (0, S ""Cc.c:: a.. = a.lUu .: en ="'l:Jro:: CI) Q) = Q)"(3' >. cD cc: ~ C Q) ;;'::l:"'Cc..cc. "'C Q;II= C ,l'lCI..!!(I) c ~ ~ tl:I. Ui c.. 'ii ~Vic=>~!2.;:: a:I (;.c, ~ llOI 0 ;; .~.;'': ~ '~.~.~ u2o: > 1--:>.5 <~lJm~~ ~ c c '" '" 5 ~ c o :w III E L.. 42 c Q) - o C L.. 42 (0 >< Q) .c III I- o - L.. ~ Q) a::: (') ~ , x Redevelopment Agency's Housing Production Plan C. HPP PROGRAMS AND IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES, JULY 1, 2000, THROUGH JUNE 30, 2005. Having examined the mandatory production requirement and the resources available to meet the requirement, programs and quantitative goals for the period July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2005, are set forth below. These programs shall be consistent with the General Plan, the settlement with the Western Center for Law and Poverty, and with Article 34 of the State constitution. As stated above, the projected production requirement from the formation of the RDA through June 30, 2005, is 1,024 units. As of January 1, 2000, a total of 675 units have been provided. In addition the RDA has a current unmet obligation of 911 new or substantially rehabilitated restricted, affordable units. The discussion of programs, including a program-by-program quantification and timetable for implementation is included below. Tables X-9 and X-10 illustrate the program quantification. Eleven programs are recommended. Proqram 1: Neighborhood Non-Profit HOC To meet the needs of specific neighborhoods, the RDA shall facilitate the development of Non- Profit, 501 (c)(3) , Neighborhood Housing Development Corporations. Special neighborhood needs may include areas of long-term residential overcrowding, special infrastructure needs, or historic neighborhood identification. ".....~ ."... Implementation This program is underway. During the 1992-1993 fiscal year, the RDA facilitated incorporation of the NHDC to serve the Northtown neighborhood. The RDA shall continue to work with the NHDC through the 2005 reporting period. Proqram 2: Land Bank The RDA continue to seek Non-Profit Housing Development Corporations to assist in the development of affordable housing on property that the agency has banked to date for affordable housing. No new land bank purchases are planned since the program has not meet planned expectations. Implementation This program is underway. As of June 30, 2000 a total of 38.9 acres of land capable of accommodating up to 359 affordable units had been purchased by the RDA (see Table X-7 and Figure X-4). Of the 38.9 acres, 4 acres are currently being developed by NHDC. The RDA is seeking Non-profit Development Corporations to assist in the development of the remaining 34 acres. X -14 (June 2001) / Redevelopment Agency's Housing Production Plan Proaram 3: RDA Assisted Multi-Family Project Development The RDA shall work with property owners, financial institutions, public agencies, non-profit housing development corporations, and for-profit corporations to construct new restricted, affordable rental units within the redevelopment area. The RDA shall also work with private for- profit corporations to achieve affordable housing goals. Consistent with the HAS, priority for project development and property management shall be given to City-based housing development corporations, then to non-profit housing development corporations with experience in the area. Also, consistent with the HAS, tax credit participation shall be encouraged as the primary, but not the only, role of for-profit corporations. Consistent with the State Density Bonus Requirement for Affordable Housing, the RDA anticipates that affordable housing will be developed at 125% of the maximum density for the residential zone. Consistent with the HAS, a minimum of 40% of the units shall be restricted, affordable units. Implementation () This program is underway. The RDA is assisting the SCHDC and the NHDC has developed 88 restricted, affordable units from land bank resources. The goal for this program is development of a total of 400 units of restricted, affordable rental housing units between July 1 , 2000 and June 30, 2005. Proqram 4: RDA Assisted Multi-Family Project Acquisition The RDA shall identify and purchase, or facilitate purchase, of existing multi-family projects that become available for sale. On a case-by-case basis, the RDA shall lease, purchase, or by other means secure affordability restrictions for individual units within existing and new construction multi-family units. The purpose will be to increase the supply of restricted, affordable units. Consistent with HAS policy, 40% of the units shall be affordable to low and moderate income renters. Implementation This program is underway. By June 30, 2000, the RDA had assisted the SCHDC with acquisition of 1,096 units. Consistent with HAS policy, 504 units (45'7'0) are restricted, affordable units for low- and moderate-income families. The RDA also assisted in the development of Villa del Norte, an 88-unit apartment complex, where all units are held as affordable. The goal of this program is to assist in conversion of one additional multi-family project to 40% restricted, affordable status between July 1, 2000 and June 3D, 2005. Proqram 5: RDA Assisted Conservation of Multi-family Units at Risk of Conversion To Market Rate ) -.-,../ As required by law, the City has completed a study of the restricted, affordable multi-family units that are at risk of conversion to market rate. The RDA shall enter into discussion with property X -15 (June 2001) Redevelopment Agency's Housing Production Plan owners regarding acquisition and/or conservation of the 79 units-at-risk that are located within the redevelopment area. Implementation This program is underway. As of June 30, 2000, the RDA has conserved 592 units-at-risk. The RDA shall enter into discussion with property owners regarding acquisition and/or conservation of units at risk during the next reporting period. Of the 404 units-at-risk of conversion, 79 are located within the redevelopment area. Proaram 6: RDA Assisted Existing Single-Family Acquisition and Rehabilitation The RDA shall assist non-profit agencies with the purchase of existing single-family homes that may then be offered for resale with affordability restrictions on future sales. Under this program, opportunities shall be explored to acquire homes that become available through mortgage foreclosure. Toward this goal, the RDA shall open communication with FHA, as well as with banks and mortgage companies, indicating interest in suitable purchases. In instances where rehabilitation is required as a condition of resale, acquisition and resale may be coordinated with the City's Housing Rehabilitation Program. These homes shall be incorporated into affordable owner or renter programs. Owner programs shall be combined with limited equity strategies to maintain affordability for the lifetime of the project. ...--, . , Implementation This program is underway.. Three units have been purchased, substantially rehabilitated, and sold with restricted affordability provisions. The goal of this program is to assist with the purchase and, if necessary, substantial rehabilitation of up to 20 units between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2005, which shall then be rented or resold with affordability restrictions. Proaram 7: RDA Assisted Single-Family New Construction The RDA shall facilitate new construction single-family ownership programs, including but not limited to, single-family infill projects, as well as condominium and townhouse developments. These projects may be rented or sold. Owner programs shall be combined with limited equity strategies to maintain affordability for the lifetime of the project. Implementation The goal of this program is 65 units of single-family new construction between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2005. These units may be rented or sold with restricted affordability provisions. " , X-16 (June 2001) ,j Redevelopment Agency's Housing Production Plan Proaram 8: RDA Assisted Single-Family Home Ownership The RDA shall continue to provide down payment assistance to qualified households through several programs, first-time homebuyer programs including the program administered by the Neighborhood Housing Services and NHDC. The NHDC operates a first time homebuyer program where homes are offered to buyers earning up to 90% of the area median income. Implementation The goal of this program is to assist 75 qualified single-family homebuyers July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2005. Proaram 9: Affordable Housing Overlay Zone The RDA shall investigate the feasibility of establishing an Affordable Housing Overlay Zone using the Senior Housing Overlay Zone as a model as recommended by the HAS (I-D-6). The purpose of an overlay zone would be to facilitate the siting of affordable housing. Implementation C-) Between July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2005, if adequate funding is available, or upon request by a . developer, the RDA and the City's Planning Division shall investigate the feasibility of establishing an Affordable Housing Overlay Zone to facilitate the siting of affordable housing. Proaram 10: Mixed-Use The RDA and the City shall investigate the feasibility of a mixed-use overlay zone to facilitate the development of affordable housing. The primary focus shall be to introduce residential use into commercial and possibly industrial districts where design opportunities would allow residential units above ground level in multi-level commercial buildings or behind commercial strips. Also, part of this study would investigate the feasibility of rezoning industrial areas for mixed industrial, commercial, and residential use. The study for this program may be combined with the Affordable Housing Overlay District Study. Implementation Between July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2005, if adequate funding is available, or if requested by a developer, the RDA and the City's Planning Division shall research and develop a mixed use overlay zone, including an analysis of the benefits of a mixed use overlay zone compared with rezoning. X -17 (June 2001) Redevelopment Agency's Housing Production Plan Proqram 11: Financial Mechanisms The RDA shall utilize a variety of financial mechanisms to assist development of affordable housing units including, but not limited to, the following: Loan write-down, mortgage revenue bonds, state tax credits, on-site improvement costs, off-site improvement costs, and City fee waiver, and as well as a school fee waiver for Senior Housing. Implementation This program is underway. Between July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2005, the RDA shall continue to use the above financial mechanisms to assist with the development of restricted, affordable housing units. ProQram 12: Community Outreach A Community Outreach Program is desirable. An outreach program goes further than legally required public participation and notice. It can serve as an educational tool to inform the community of the RDA's legal obligation to provide affordable housing as well as to inform the comniunity of the RDA's past actions which resulted in affordability to first time owners and first time renters. Further, a Community Outreach Program could enlist community direction on which programs and actions should be emphasized to reach mandated liffordability goals. ~ /" Implementation ,~ Between July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2005, if adequate funding is available, or if requested by a developer, the RDA, and the City's Planning Division shall oversee a community outreach program. TABLE X-7: Restricted, Affordable Housing Production in the Redevelopment Area from b 1 h hJ 3 Decem er23, 981, t rougl une 0,2000 I Program Total Total Incom$ L~ve! Units Afford- I II. III IV . prQJected able BelQw 36% 3645% 46-60% '61..90% Program 4: RDA Assisted 1,326 548 140 148 142 118 Multi-Family Acquisition Program 5: RDA Assisted 592 592 126 170 170 126 Conservation Units-At- Risk Program 6: Substantial 3 3 1 0 0 2 Rehabilitation Existing Single Family Units Program 7: RDA Assisted 65 65 4 11 21 29 Single Family New Construction Total 1,986 1,208 271 329 333 275 X -18 (June 2001) " ", .J Machment :li:2.. The following is a partial list of common job titles whose entry level salaries (national/state averages) are considered to be wages that qualify as a low or moderate income. This information was obtained from a variety of sources including a survey by USA Today, the City of Rancho Cucamonga General Plan and the California Employment Development Department. Accommodations (hotel) Administrative and support services Amusements, gambling, and recreation Apparel manufacturing Auto Mechanic Bank Tellers Bookkeeper I Building material and garden supply stores ClerklTypist Clothing and Clothing accessories stores Cook Credit intermediation and related activities Dental Assistant Dental Hygienist Electrical equipment and appliances mfg, Electronics and appliance stores Fabricated metal products manufacturing Firemen Food and beverage stores Food manufacturing Food services and drinking places furniture and home furnishings stores Furniture and related products mfg, Gasoline stations General merchandise stores Groundskeeper Health and personal care stores Machinist Miscellaneous manufacturing Miscellaneous store retailers Museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks Nurse Aid Nursing and residential care facilities Personal and laundry services Plastics and rubber products manufacturing Police Officers Primary metals manufacturing Printing and related support activities Real estate Rental and leasing services Repair and maintenance Retail Manager Scenic and sightseeing transportation Secretary Social assistance, incl. daycare Sporting goods, hobby, book, music stores Stock Clerk Teachers Teller Transit and ground passenger transportation Truck Driver WaiterlWaitress Warehousing and storage Welder Wholesale trade, nondurable goods AHad1IYlefli" -:!\OS The following is a sampling of apartment complexes and their rents as shown on www.apartments.com This is not a complete listing of apartment units that are available in the City of Rancho Cucamonga. Apartment Complex Rental Unit Range The Reserve at Empire Lakes $1180 - $2030 112104th Street Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 Verano at Rancho Cucamonqa $1100 - $2536 Town Square 8200 Haven Ave. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 Chambrav at Victoria Arbors $1105 - $2025 7828 Day Creek Blvd. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739 Meritaqe at Victoria Arbors $1140 - $2040 7922 Day Creek Blvd. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 Sierra HeiQhts $1050 - $1845 10801 Lemon Ave RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91737 Heritaqe Park Alta Lorna Senior $750 - $995 Community 9601 Lomita Ct. Alta Loma, CA 91701 The Terrace Apartments $875 - $900 8383 Fir Dr. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 Miramonte $968 - $1773 10757 Lemon Ave. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737 Ironwood At Empire Lakes $1185 - $1985 11100 4th Street Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 AMLI at Empire Lakes $1060 - $1920 9200 Milliken Ave. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 BarrinQton Place $1215 - $2035 7650 Etiwanda Ave. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739 Camino Real $1210 - $2160 7951 Etiwanda Ave. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739 . WoodsonQ $1135 - $1480 8255 Vineyard Ave. RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91730 Waterbrook Apartments $1045 - $1520 10400 Arrow Rte. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 VillaQe on the Green $905 - $2025 9400 Fairway View PI. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 Victoria Woods $1000 - $1530 8496 Etiwanda Ave. Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739 s: OJ ~ " C en ll<> ~ 1;" ::T OJ "0 )> "0 OJ ;l. 3 C1l ;l. 8~f; ::> '" " '" 0 0.:-0 a. 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A+l-a.ch mem- ~ b REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY 15% HOUSING PRODUCTION REQUlRMENT* Vflry Low Low Modflratfl Proiect Tenure Less than 50% 50-79% 80-120% Unit Total Villa del Norte Rental 47 41 88 Las Casitas Rental 14 0 14 Rancho Verde Village** Rental 26 10 16 52 Mountainside Rental 96 48 44 188 Monterey Village Rental 56 28 26 110 Sycamore Springs** Rental 30 15 3 48 Pepperwood Rental 100 130 230 Villa Pacifica ** Rental 0 79 0 79 Heritage Pointe** Rental 12 12 24 Olen Jones Sr. Apartments** Rental 22 26 48 Woodhaven Manor ** Rental 30 28 58 Parkview Place - Terra Vista Rental 30 30 Mountain View - Terra Vista Rental 54 54 Sycamore Terrace - Terra V. Rental 26 26 Evergreen - Terra Vista Rental 79 79 Waterbrook Rental 79 79 First Time Homebuyers Owner 2. 9 75 86 Total 435 426 432 1293 Percentage of Total Units 34% 33% 33% *Based on 2001 General Plan projection of 18,368 residential units in the project area at buildout 2,755 affordable units will be required to meet Redevelopment Project Area requirements. ** These units are outside the Project Area and have been calculated as 1 unit per 2 units produced. Proposed Projects Tenure Very Low Low Moderate Total NHDC Foothill/East ** Rental 55 27 28 110 SCHDC Rancho Verde Exo. ** Rental 6 13 19 F ooth ill Vistas Rental 83 83 166 Prooosed Project Total 144 123 28 Cumulative Total 579 549 460 1588 Cumulative Percentaoe 36% 35% 29% (unit numbers are estimates) Very Low 50-120% Total State Mandate 1,102 1653 2,755 Agency Totals 579 1009 1,588 58% I Unit Deficit 1,167 2001 GP Project Area Units 18,368 2005 Existing Units 17,791 96% Buill Out Unbuilt Residential Units 577 6/26/2006 AHa.chment ;0 I Z 0 )> 0 ::J ::J ;0 '" ~ ~ :;: to , I N to C Z (') c.., '" Q. )> 0 '" ::J -I> o. -I ~ w 0 ::J 0 0 , U1 Z ![ c Q. '" o. '" 0. ::J '" ~ ~f III ro 0. (') 0 ::J '" '" Z < '" 9l. :;: <. I '" 0 -< c 0 ~ en ~. ::J to O::J '" to )>'" , ~ '" G)C a , ~ w " ::J ...... '" m~ ::r N ,,- '" '" !:!':.-o 9l. 0 N3", III 0"" 0~3 "0 U'ICD;::;: , ~ .2. '" '" 0. (') ro 0. 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(fJ ::r '" co z '" :;: I o c '" S. <0 o a ::J ~ , c Q. o. ::J . ~ to '" '" N o o U1 ;0 ::r o m .., I z ...... CD CD CD ~ o o U1 :;0 m C> o z )> r :I: o C (J) Z C> z m m o (J) )> (J) (J) m (J) (J) is: m z -l At/achment iP7 . Research Methodology CCRH and NPH initiated the 2002/03 survey to reassess the use of inclusionary housing practices across California. The survey questionnaire used in CCRH's 1994 study was modified, updated and expanded to include detail on housing production and. other program features. Local advocates, planning officials and academics were consulted in these revisions and a final questionnaire was distributed by mail in early April 2002.All planning agencies listed in the California Planners' Information Network were contacted, , including 58 counties and 467 cities (San Francisco is counted as both a city and county). "~ ~..".., -','. ':.b;""" \~~I~:~~~'~ ~ ~.____ ,. : ., ' ~n,= "_, . .,' c,,,., ..M. ,. "'" . ... ... O't:><> ., '" - '\ . '.-.~. . l."'l'I(J - 6eoc1> ";-~_, ___.___.__ ~___ "':\.. .", . . :~.SanD' \><. "'9'> ~._- ----- 1. \. } i i .i ,_,-~,C" " '\ \ 1 I \ s,'",,,,,,, "L",..,,, '..(;,~!":-,,, 0;""~ ",-V< EH;~~~~,~ _-' . """""""" ,/ ~ 'I ~'C"'!I . ~",.-..J ':>( '.,. .~ ~~,,~,,;~. ,~: ~!=~'" ,/-, .J.t"'~-~ ~~/"~~7,_,f <'. >,-t" \_---~.. ,,""'"-, /~ ./ rlf;'~ '::::" Map provided by Greeninfo Network. . City with inclusionary housing program County with inclusionary housing program ".,e. '(d."'~ s..", ~,,,,',~,,,h,,,- . "(--'''''''J~ ~=r.,....'>C - r' ,,,~,:,,; 11 .. To increase the response rate, two rounds of follow-up surveys were conducted. In June 2002, the questionnaire was again mailed and telephone contact was made with nonresponding jurisdictions reported to have local programs. In January 2003, a short follow-up survey was prepared and forwarded to responding jurisdictions seeking additional information on methodology for determination of in-lieu fees, total fees collected, income targeting goals and production numbers. !n total, 98 jurisdictions returned completed questionnaires accounting for 92 percent of known programs in California. Based on previous studies and Internet searches of jurisdiction Web sites, another nine jurisdictions that did not return completed questionnaires are judged to have some form of inc1usionary housing. 1 Findings A. Number of Inclusionary Jurisdictions As of March 2003, 107 California jurisdictions are known to use local indusionary practices to provide affordable housing outside of the requirements of State redevelopment law. These include cities and counties that require affordable construction through an ordinance, general plan or perntit approval process.2TItis list consists of 12 counties (21 percent of all counties) and 95 cities (20 percent of all cities). The spread of inclusionary programs is most dramatic among cities, which represent 41 of the 43 new programs.As the map (see p. 11) clearly demonstrates, inclusionary housing is most prevalent in high-cost housing markets in the coastal counties. The most significant clusters are in the San Francisco Bay Area, metropolitan Sacramento, and San Diego County. At least two dozen other California jurisdictions are presently considering adopting inclusionary housing, including the largest city, Los Angeles. Figure -I shows the increasing popularity of inclusionary housing in the 199Os. Nearly half (48 percent) of all programs were adopted during that decade compared to about one-third (37 percent) in the 1970s and 198Qs.The trend is continuing in the 2ooos. Figure 1: Year of Adoption 12 JUii~Ui""LiUH~ LHdL UdVe:; dH .1HviU~lVUdiY .1.1UU~U15 ilU5lilliU .1 Q.5"" 1 Vi.J Jurisdictions that have an Inclusionary Housing Program , lnclusionary housing programs reql\ire developers to subsidize affordable housing as a condition of project approval. This may include making a percentage of the project available to low and moderate income residents or payment of an in-lieu fee. The following cities and counties report that they have some form of an inclusionary housing program. Agoura Hills American Canyon Arroyo Grande Bakersfield Beaumont Bell Belmont Benicia Berkeley Blythe Brawley Brea Buellton California City Calistoga Carlsbad Chula Vista Clayton Clovis Coalinga Colusa County Corcoran Coronado Corte Madera Cupertino Daly City Davis Del Mar Del Norte County Del Rey Oaks Desert Hot Springs East Palo Alto Encinitas Escondido Farmersville Fort Bragg Gonzales Grover Beach Half Moon Bay Hawthorne Healdsburg Hemet Hidden Hills Hollister Huntington Park lndio lone http://ceres.ca.gov/planninglbollsurvey _ housing.html 6/27/2006 jurisdictions that have an Inclusionary Housmg program Irvine La Habra La Quinta . La Verne Lakewood Larkspur Lathrop Livermore Los Altos Los Angeles Los Gatos Mammoth Lakes Marin County Mendota Menlo Park Mill Valley Mono County Monterey Napa County Newport Beach Novato Oceanside Palo Alto Paramount Patterson Perris Petaluma Pico Rivera Placer County Pleasant Hill Port Hueneme Portola Valley Poway Rancho Palos Verdes Redwood City Ripon Rolling Hills Estates Salinas San Anselmo San Bernardino County San Carlos San Clemente San Francisco San Gabriel San Jacinto San Juan Capistrano San Leandro San Luis Obispo San Marcos San Mateo County San Rafael Santa Barbara County Santa Cruz Santa Cruz County .1."'0'" - ............ . httn./lceres.ca.l2ov/olanninglbol/survey _ housing.html 6/27/2006 JunSOlcuons [na[ nave an llll;lUt;lUuary nUU:S1ug rl-ugCaIU r(1l:)c J Ui. J Santa Monica Sebastopol Shasta County Signal Hill Solana Beach Sonoma South Gate Sutter County Vista Waterford Watsonville West Hollywood West Sacramento Willits Winters Woodland Yolo County Y orba Linda Y ountville . I W~1!S_e_a.l"c!ll.com_lllent I LUPIN H(lm~ I.cERES Home I http://ceres.ca.gov/planninglbollsurvey_housing.html 6/27/2006 ;Jl:: Altadlment g . ~be.Ne\u lork Qrinu'~ May 7, 2006 The Least Affordable' Place to Live? Try Salinas By ALINA TUGEND IN 2005, the least-affordable place in the country to live, measured by the. percentage of income devoted to mortgage payments, was Salinas, Calif. The second was the Santa Cruz- Watsonville area of California. The third? Santa Rosa-Petaluma, Calif. Q In fact, California has the distinction of having the nleast-affordable metropolitan areas in the country. One would need to go all the way down to 12th place - and across the country to the New York region's northern suburbs - to find a non-California metropolitan area on the least-affordable list of 2005. Much of California is pretty. It has beaches and the mountains and, of course, the weather. But why are places like Salinas, which is surrounded by agriculture, topping places like Honolulu (No. 17) and Miami (No. 22) on the out-of-reach list? There is no one answer, but demographers and public planners who study such trends say that a confluence of factors in California - both artificial and natural - have combined to create a particularly acute problem. "California has both political and geographical constraints on building," said Dowell Myers, professor of policy, planning and development at the University of Southern California. "That drives up prices, and then it snowballs. " . The geographical limits on developable land are the hills and the coast, while the political restrictions are state and local regulations that prevent building new homes, in response to both environmental and congestion concerns. "One of the key factors here is the basic law of supply and demand," said James W. Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. "California is in marked contrast to Florida, where you can expand without constraint. It's more like the New York suburbs, where too many dollars are chasing too few homes." While many states have regulations on growth, California is a leader, Dean Hughes says. ~\ o California is also in the forefront of population growth, but it is not driven, as might be expected, by envious Easterners and Midwesterners escaping snowbound winters. Nor is it driven by long-term Californians. In fact, census figures show that over the past decade, more people have left California - emigrating to neighboring states like Nevada and Arizona and farther away, to Texas and Florida - than have moved in from other parts of the country. The population increase is driven primarily by births and foreign immigration. According to census statistics, from April 2000 to July 2005, California experienced a net natural increase - taking into account births and deaths - of 1.5 miIlio~ people. And an additional 1.4 million moved in from other countries. While California's birth rate is not the highest in the nation - Utah's is - it is near the top. "N ew York has the constraints but doesn't have the population growth," Professor Myers said. "Florida has the population growth but doesn't have the constraints." While it is difficult to build new houses in California, that isn't to say none are going up. According to the California Association of Realtors, there have been . increases in the number of housing units built over the past nine years - from 94,283 in 1996 to 207,154 in 2005. That is substantially more than the low in 1993, when California was in the throes of a severe economic recession and only 84,656 units were built. But it's not as prolific as in 1988, when 255,559 went up. There are a number of reasons for the restraints on home building, including the fact that many desirable areas in the state are already "built out" and the permit process is more complex and drawn out now than it was a few decades ago. Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the Realtors group, said the state needs about 250,000 units a year to meet housing demand. "We've been below that every year over the past 10 years, " she said. Q The high demand and low supply created a perfect breeding ground for investors and speculators, which became "the last straw" in driving housing prices up, said David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders. Another quintessentially California issue is Proposition 13, the 1978 measure that slashed property taxes by more than 50 percent and ignited a national property tax revolution. The measure, which was supposed to facilitate home buying, has backfired to some extent; local governments prefer that land be used for retailing rather than housing because they collect more from sales taxes than from property taxes. "Proposition 13 is a'big stop sign saying 'no housing needed,' "said Peter Dreier, professor of public policy at Occidental College in Los Angeles and an author of "Place Matters: Metropolitics for the 21st Century" (University Press of Kansas, 2001). "Every municipality is engaged in a bidding war for retail - they're battling for Wal-Mart, to keep the libraries open." It is unlikely that will change, Professor Dreier and others say, calling Proposition 13 "the third rail of government - it's untouchable." . Although it is no surprise that house prices have gone through the roof in places like Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, what is more unexpected is that less-popular areas away from the coast are also topping the list of least-affordable places to live. "There's a huge movement away from L.A. County and from San Francisco and the great beneficiary is the Inland Empire" in Southern California, and in Sacramento and points east in northern California, said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. The migration is happening both among high-skilled and middle-class residents, as well as low-skilled and lower-class ones, so the cost of housing is exploding even in areas of the state that most people do not think of as traditionally expensive, he said. ~ ~ "Baby boomers are getting older and moving into the higher-income bracket and into the top-dollar markets," Professor Myers said. "Immigrants have high ownership rates at the bottom of the market. It's a recipe for a bubble." These noncoastal communities are no longer simply attached to established cities, but in many cases have become job centers in their own right, Ms. Appleton-Young said. The Inland Empire, made up of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, has been in a 3o-year transition from a bedroom suburb to a metropolitan area, she said. "People are now working where they live," Ms. Appleton-Young said. "It's not a commuter area." The San Joaquin Valley, in central California, on the other hand, still has a way to go to attract an educated work force and to create a diverse and thriving economy. But Ms. Appleton-Young said it . appears to be following in the footsteps of the Inland Empire: "As we say, jobs follow housing." The final paradox in this state of paradoxes is that traditionally, many Californians are not homeowners; the state ranks 48th, behind only New York and Hawaii, in terms of homeownership, and about 10 percent below the national average. But over the past several years, even as housing prices have increased, more people are buying. Home sales climbed fairly steadily from 1996 through 2005, with only a slight downward blip in 2001, said the California Realtors' association. Hans Johnson, a demographer with the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California, said, "It's counterintuitive." But apparently typical. Those familiar with home-purchasing trends say that people buy when the market is going up, not when it is going down. r-'l c;/ If houses are so costly, how are people managing to make the leap and become homeowners? In some cases, they use methods of financing that were not previously available, Mr. Johnson said. Instead of fixed-rate 30-year mortgages, they take, for example, variable-rate interest-only loans, which have lower monthly payments. In many cases, he said, homeowners are paying far more on mortgages than the 30 percent of income recommended by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A study by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 40 percent of all households in California, the most anywhere, exceeded this recommended threshold. "In some cases, they're even paying more than half," Mr. Johnson said. New homeowners are buying smaller homes or condominiums; according to the study, only 15 percent of long-term homeowners in California live in multifamily housing units, like condominiums, while 26 percent of recent buyers do. . "In some ways it's good, because people own a house and have equity," he said. "In other ways it's bad," he explained, because "if interest rates go up, there will be a large increase in monthly rates." "If there's a bubble that bursts or slowly leaks," he added, overextended owners may not be able to sell and recover enough to payoff theloan. Professor Dreier of Occidental College said he also blamed state government and business leaders for failing to support the creation of moderate-priced housing- not just for low-income residents, but also for middle-class people, like teachers and nurses, who cannot buy into the overheated housing market. I~ (~ When he was a city official in Boston, the state government, businessmen and bankers "understood that affordable housing was part of a healthy work force," Professor Dreier said. "In California, businesses and the Chambers of Commerce have not embraced housing issues like they have embraced other issues, such as health care. We won't see the political will to solve the housing crisis until the organized business community weighs in and says it's unacceptable." The big question. now is whether the housing market will deflate while the economy stays strong, which would enable more Californians to buy. The answer seems as elusive as predicting the next earthquake. The signs point toward a slowdown: interest rates are going up, and investors and speculators, who drove up prices by buying and selling houses, seem to be pulling back in hot markets nationally. But everyone, even those who study the subject, knows it is dangerous to predict. Ask Professor Myers of D.S.C., who sold his house in Los Angeles last year. "I was convinced it was going'to peak," he said. "After I sold, it rose another 15 percent." .1 "'0.... ... -- A '.. [ Close WindoW J [ Send ToPr.inter 1 Guest Columnist ~~ ~J{\ Affordable housing key part of infrastructure Article Display Date: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin As the founder and chairman of one of the largest government-funded, national, nonprofit, affordabie housing organizations, J was astonished to read the Daily Bulletin's March 6 editorial, "Funds for housing not appropriate for bond project." Affordable housing _ not just hornes, but homes that our workers can afford - is a challenge to California's future and is an Integral part of the state's Infrastructure just ilke the "roads, levees, schools, jails and courts" cited in the editorial. \ \ \. i II j Quality affordable housing: . Reduces traffic, because people do not have to travel so far to get to work. . Saves money on jails, courts, poilce and fire protection services, because good housing, both market-rate and affordable, supports good families, and good families support good citizens. . Helps schools, because children who are housed in decent, safe housing grow in a better environment and are better students because of It. . Most Importantly, keeps a healthy socioeconomic mix in our state, without which Cailfornia will become a two-class society. Had the editorial limited its focuS to the urgency of other infrastructure priorities, it could have made an affirmative point. But In dismissing afford ability and casualiy implying that developers couid solve it If they wished to, the editorial endorsed a solution that will actually make our state's housing problems worse. It presumes that the affordable housing crisis should and could be soived by a wave of government's hand, through requirements placed on new developments and wealthy.developers. As someone who has dedicated both the time and money to a nonprofit organization over the past 13 years that has created or preserved more than 10,000 apartments throughout the unites States with more than 5,000 apartments of affordable housing in California alone, 1 have a different opinion. , \ I Production of new homes by itself does nothing for affordability, since those homes are sold to peopie who can afford to pay high prices. Today, for Instance, only 14 percent of CalifornianS - one household in seven - can afford our state's median priced home. (The Cailfornia Association of Realtors puts the median home price at $548,000, and the annual income needed to bUY it at $134,000.) The fut\lre does not look bright for our children, and 86 percent of all californians. Contrary to the editorial, affordability cannot be cured within the existing market forces of production. That may be true elsewhere, but in high-cost markets such as Cailfornia, affordabiilty comes when government Is willing to place substantial financial resources in the hands of capable, mission-driven owners and developers - companies that speciailze in trying to lessen the costs of housing for those who the private market leaves behind. Affordable housing in the volumes we need cannot be created simply by afterthought or on the backs of the remaining few who buY new homes. Every time a local government places the whole burden of affordable housing on the private sector by mandating an affordable unit be constructed as a condition of approval (often called "inclusionary zoning"), that afford ability is subsidized by the new market-rate buyers, because the Impilcit subsidy of the affordable home gets added onto the cost/sales price of the market rate home, thuS increasing the price of homes even further. ThiS trend du jour only increases the gap between those who have a home and those who do not. It wili cause more challenges to Cailfornia's future, which our children and their children will have to overcome. Although local government is a critical participant, local government cannot cure this condition on its own; a broader statewide approach Is necessary. None of the choices are easy _ the challenge Is too great. Currently, no option exists to create funds for affordable housing that will make everyone hapPY, but leadership is required for a majority of Cailfornians who need housing. Better statewide options are available, such as: . An increase of the documentary transfer tax which is collected on all real estate sold, versuS putting the burden on the new home buyer only. (A higher documentary transfer approach is used by other states.) . , n,,_1I+rocrments/print_article.jsp?article=36163... 3/2112006 . c, Page 2 of2 c . An increase in the Housing Set-Aside Fund portion of local redevelopment agencies, a proposal regularly advanced in the state Legislature. . A "housing IRA," where family members, friends or employers contribute to a tax-deferred account whose funds may be used only to purchase a home. (Imagine funding a savings account for your child's home, with the government's contribution limited to foregoing tax on the fund's earnings!) All of these ideas bring more funds into the housing marketplace and enable those who have less to become homeowners. All of them require state-level action, which can occur only with the support of a majority of California's citizens or elected officials. For California to remain economically and culturally vibrant, affordable housing is a must. For that to happen, government must do its part. This bond issue is a good place to start, and worthy of strong support and endorsement. Educated people can agree to disagree on issues that are meaningful, and the editorial could have stated that affordable housing Was not enough of a priority to place on the ballot at this time compared to roads, levees, schools, jails and courts. If that was the premise, I would have just humbly disagreed. Unfortunately, the editorial went too far and not only took an ill-informed shot at developers that was way off the mark, but endorsed a concept for solution that will only make the pr'oblem worse. - Jeffrey S. Burum is founder and chairman of National Housing Development Corporation and Southern California Housing Development Corporation, located in Rancho Cucamonga, one of the largest nonprofit affordable housing organizations in the United States. He served two years on a blue ribbon committee appointed by Congress to look for ways to solve our national housing crisis, Q http://www.dailybulletin.comlportletJ article/html/fragments/orint artic 1 eo i sn ?arti" 1 p.= 1 Ii 1 Ii 1 if? If?OO'; Page I of 1 [ Close Window ] t Send To Printer C.., j Article Display Date: Guest Columnist fYCli\..1G \;\J('[(lCt.I~. Low-income housing is important to economy Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Regarding the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin's March 6 editorial "Funds for housing not appropriate for bond project" in response to recent demands by California mayors for Gov. Schwarzenegger to add affordable housing funding to his proposed Strategic Growth Plan, we realize it's easy to overlook the vallie of state funding for low-income housing when California's traditional infrastructure deficit is so massive. Neglect in Sacramento has left our state's roads clogged, our schools crowded, our levees threatening to give way, our ports in near-paralysis, our jails overrun and our residents increasingly fighting over an ever-shrinking supply of water. However, are the conditions in the state's housing markets much better? In most urban markets - where the jobs are - rents are so high that a vast number of working-class men and women forfeit more than 50 percent of their household income every month to house themselves. In those same markets, incomes would have to double and in many places triple before a typical, middle-class household could afford to buy a home priced at the area's midpoint. c Not surprisingly, only the state of New York has a worse homeownership rate than that of California, where a working-class family has about a 14 percent chance of finding a home it can buy. Instead of maligning developers (nearly all of the "developers" that use state funds to build affordable housing in California are nonprofits), shouldn't the media be a little more curious about the impact of the state's abysmal housing conditions on the economy just as they are about other infrastructure? Indeed, much of California's enormous wealth is built and residing on the foundations of homeownership and the people who live in those homes - or who want to live in those homes - represent the machinery that makes the state's economy go and grow. Supplying California with the housing it,needs is as economically axiomatic as widening a highway, strengthening a levee, upgrading a port or building a new public school. The truth is, the impact of California's housing neglect is just as serious as the 30 years that the state has been AWOL on other infrastructure. For example,' employers in Silicon Valley cite unaffordabte housing as their most serious economic concern. The same story is often repeated in Southern California as well. Housing is as much a part of the state's existing infrastructure - and deficit - as roads, schools, levees and reservoirs. To take on that deficit such as the governor has proposed is not political - It is courageous. As former Catifornia Gov. and President Ronald Reagan used to'say, "If not us, who? If not now, when?" - Frank Williams is chief executive Officer of the Building Industry Association Baldy View Chapter, a not-for-profit trade association affiliated with the National Association of Home Builders, the California Building Industry Association and the Building . Industry Association of Southern California, Inc. The Baldy View Chapter represents all of San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County east of the 605 Freeway. http://www.dailybulletin.com/portletJarticle/html/fragments/orint article. iso?article=301 03.. in1 noo!> , Seeing Factories as Essential Parts - Los Angeles Times Page I of3 I. I o rkf1lIiir~~~ Isearch I rtl!>1 10:28 AM PST, March 14,2006 o HOME Site Map NEWS California I Local National World Entertainment News Business Sports Politics Opi nion Columnists Print Edition _.What is RSS? Cah:!ridarlive Travel Wes;'f'.Magaziile House & Hon,-e Health Food Car Culture Obituaries Crossword. Sudok'u All Se'ctions CorrecliQns BUY, SELL & MORE Jobs Cars Real Estate APartments Personals Deals at Local Stores Coupons Newspaper Ads PLACE AN AD MEMBER SERVICES Sign Up Log In Help Contact Us l.A. Times Archives HOME DELIVERY Customer Support Subscribe to LA. Times JOBS CARS REAL ESTAT latimes.com ~ Single page Il!l Seeing Factories as Essential Parts The shape of modem American cities may be changing as urban planners .weigh the conflicting merits of housing versus industry. By Maria L. La Ganga and Roger Vincent, Times Staff Writers March 13, 2006 OAKLAND ~ One after another, they stepped to the lectem, pleading. Don't take. the land, they told City Council members, Don't put houses on it. If we lose it, it's gone forever. This wasn't a scene from some Central Valley agricultural town, with fecund acres being gobbled up at a rapid pace, This was a bustling urban enclave in late January, and the appeals came from anxious residents and business owners demanding that city officials protect factories, not farms. ADVERTISEMENT "Many businesses, even small businesses like mine on a half an acre, give you 40 good jobs," Bob Tuck, owner of Atlas Heating and Air Conditioning Co., insisted at the packed hearing on Oakland's land- use policies. "If you pave over our business land, it's never going to give you another economic crop. Let's make sure that it doesn't become a residential zone." o D ~ rF ;~~ ~~ Large tracts of land are increasingly hard to find in Califomia's crowded cities. Freeways are more congested than ever. Elected offiCials and environmentalists are clamoring for developers to build new houses within existing urban boundaries instead of fostering o 0 1 f"C" lIo.s.~iti!lW: ""'balendarlive.COm. Dt6f(f_1ilfd'linlri.DiJ;~. more traffic and sprawl. At the same time, Califomia lost nearly 340,000 manufacturing jobs in the last five years, making some industrial zones look like remnants of a more vibrant age. So what's a canny developer to do? Put new homes in old manufacturing zones, of course. But as a flood of houses and condominiums has been proposed over the last several years where smokestacks once belched, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities in California and throughout the country have been pressed to protect the ugly ducklings of urban land use - industrial neighborhoods. Existing business owners want to guard livelihoods, urban residents want good jobs close by and many cities hope for an infusion of cleaner enterprises, such as biotechnology firms or solar panel makers. Seeing Factories as Essential Parts - Los Angeles Times Page 2 of3 n \.....,,.../ This spring, as plans to protect industry take form throughout the state, civic leaders are debating the very shape of the American city in a new century. They must ponder whether allowing family houses near warehouses will drive out industries with well-paying jobs. And if new, clean manufacturers will come if land is saved for them. Or if preserved land will end up as a lose-lose proposition: No new industry and no new homes. 'We are dealing with the vestiges of a 20th century city where industrial manufacturing has been this nasty, gritty, ugly thing, which is harmful," said Stephanie Pincell, visiting professor at UCLA's Institute of the Environment. "But what does the 21 st century city look like? Do we exclude people from being nearby? Or do we change the way industry is done?" Early 21 st century Oakland is a striking patchwork. The tree-studded hills are filled with high-end houses sporting million-dollar views. The flats are a jumble of low-end homes in varying states of repair, industrial neighborhoods in varying states of occupancy, a vibrant port and a downtown that largely empties at sunset. At the high end, there is Rockridge, with Craftsman bungalows, Bugaboo strollers, late- model SUVs and tony restaurants offering balsamic vinegar tastings and nettle pappardelle. And then there is West Oakland, which embodies the current clash between jobs and houses. New lofts gleam amid bustling salvage companies and swaths of empty or underused industrial buildings whose owners, critics say, would rather sell to developers than fill vacancies. G It is the place that Planning Commissioner Michael Lighty might have had in mind when he told the City CounCil at January's hearing that the city is "at a crossroads." "Are we going to be a bedroom community with some industrial," he asked, "or are we going to be a full-blown city?" Those who fear the former have some cause for concem. Nearly 7,000 new housing units are under consideration in neighborhoods zoned for industry. All but about 1,000 of the city's 4,770 industrial acres are controlled by the airport and port. Of the 1,000,725 acres have been designated as so-called housing and business mix, but a report to the Planning Commission last June said that most of the new development in that area is housing. As many as 2,700 of the homes considered for the city's industrial neighborhoods are in West Oakland, including 1,550 units approved for the 3D-acre site of a shuttered Amtrak station, a lonely spot fenced in chain link and barbed wire, nestled against Interstate 880. In his deep blue coveralls with "Bob T' stitched over the left breast, business owner Tuck is giving a neighborhood tour. He drives by the Amtrak station with its broken windows and a Camation ice cream plant "that's been sitting there for 1 0 years with no use." Tuck points out the former Nabisco plant with its multi-story silo and ornate front and gives entrepreneur Sterling Savely a verbal pat on the back. Savely bought the empty factory in 1994 and turned it into California Cereal Products, which mills rice flour and makes organic breakfast cereal. Like Tuck, he told the City Council at its recent hearing that Oakland needs jobs such as the ones he offers, not low-paying retail work. "Starbucks is what you do when you're looking for work," Savely told the council. @I Single page CONTINUED 1 2 3 4 next >> 1 . ~. II. 1.,' . , ~.. . ,~ The Business Press I Inland Southern California's Business Newspaper I Section Title o Page 1 of 4 Business (--1 1",1 1.&1 1$1 ~ Inland Southern California's Business Newspaper Online Wednesday March 15,20068:24 a.m. PST Q HOnle News Special. events Datebook Archives Order/Subscribe About Us Contact Us Business Wire Classifieds Commercial Real Estate Digital Extra Homes Soid The List PR Newswire What's your opinion? PE.com Notlcias en espanal Advertising Supplements Foreclosures rise as buyers pay for spree Pressures push home prices down in region The Inland Empire's housing market is showing signs of slipping as more homeowners default on their home loans. Mortgage default notices rose sharply throughout the Inland Empire during the fourth quarter of 2005, compared with the same quarter in 2004, according to DataQuick Information Systems. San Bernardino County homeowners received 1,473 notices of default, which increased 14% from 1,292 notices. In Riverside County, homeowners received 1,607 notices of default, which increased 43% compared with 1,123 notices filed in the fourth quarter of 2004. 10:22 AM PST on Monday, March 13, 2006 BV COREY WASHINGTON CW ASHINGTON@THEBIZPRESS.COM Carii'ia Casas I The Business Pres~ Bob Bishop is manager of Exit Inland Realty in Riverside. Real estate analysts expect mortgage delinquency notices to rise again this year leading to more home foreclosures, they say. Job loss, health problems and and divorce typically contribute to delinquenc and foreclosure, said Bob Bishop, manager of Exit Inland Realty in Riverside. Though layoffs are most often behind a high mortgage delinquency rate, thi http://www.thebizpress.com/news/storiesIBPNewsLocaIDbo0313focus.af284c7.htm1 3/15/2006 The Business Press I Inland Southern California's Business Newspaper I Section Title Page 2 of 4 o is not the case in the Inland Empire, said John Marcell Jr., owner of Better Mortgage Brokers Inc. in Upland. "If we had a bunch of layoffs and the economies here were less than attractive, that would lead people to being delinquent. But that is not what I am seeing. The Inland Empire economy is a plus unless [home owners] are into a loan that is not in their best interest," Marcell said. Industry experts point to high-risk home loans and brokers writing loans to people with low incomes and bad credit, which can force home owners into debt that causes a home foreclosure. One type of high-risk loan, referred to as an 80/20 loan,- is two separate loa representing the entire cost of a property, Bishop said. The 80% of the loan for the home can be an adjustable or fixed-rate loan, currently of about 6%, but th 20% loan usually comes with an adjustable percentage rate of at least 7% and used as the down payment, Bishop said. The adjustable 20% loan is commonly made with a higher percentage rate, contingent on the homeowner's credit, he said. Nearly all adjustable-rate mortgage loans are considered high-risk because interest rates can fluctuate, Bishop said. "Some people were just flat out put into homes they can't afford and it catches up to them," Bishop said. "People have an escalating [mortgage] payment. Rates are up and some people have difficulty making money or keepir up with their payments." Increasing interest rates coupled with household incomes that increase marginally each year force homeowners to fall short on their mortgage paymenf he said. Mortgage brokers exploit loose underwriting practices among some lenders, said Marcell, who is president of the the Ca.lifornia Association of Mortgage Brokers in Folsom. The association provides education, legislative and regulator representation and public relations for its membership and the mortgage industl while promoting standards of professional and ethical conduct. The economy is strong and people are working, unlike the 1990s, when McDonnell-Douglas downsized and General Motors closed its plants in Los Angeles. "There aren't a J of reasons now, unless [home owners] have gotten into a ioan where they were told one thing and ended up on the other end," Marcell said. Consumers should consider 40-year loans over high-risk loans, he said. The Inland Empire housing market will slump as housing supply outpaces th demand from consumers, Bishop said. Exactly how the Inland Empire will react uncertain because the reasons for high foreclosure risk now are "totally differen- from Southern California's housing collapse in the early 1990s, said Alexis McGe president of Foreclosures.com in Sacramento. Foreclosures.com provides listing: of foreclosed properties and educational resources for consumers and investors. Baby boomers are buying second homes, immigration is high in the state ar interest rates are low, McGee said. "1 just think we are going to have a flattening of the appreciation curve. There are negative prognosticators speaking about the collapse of housing and: don't think that is true," McGee said. Across the nation, home appreciation is slowing after five years of strong Q http://www.thebizpress.com/news/storiesIBPNewsLocaIDbo03]3focus.af2R4c7.html 1/1 ~/?OOIi The Business Press I Inland Southern California's Business Newspaper I Section Title Page 3 of 4 o growth, but the Inland Empire's average home value is still healthy. The median price of San Bernardino County homes sold in January was $355,000, an increase of 27.7% from $278,000 in January of 2005, according t, DataQuick. Riverside County's median home price was up 15.8% in January to $410,000 from $354,000 in January of last year, according to the report. Slow appreciation of values is another hurdle homeowners must overcome t avoid foreclosure in what most experts consider to be a buyer's market, Marcell said. "The equity that people have in their homes today is not enough for them te refinance and pull themselves out of a difficult situation and still come out who I! Marcell said. Mortgage lenders are hurt when homeowners default because the interest rates are too low for them to profit on high-risk loans even if a foreclosed home revamped, discounted and sold after a foreclosure, said David Schalow, profess' of finance and real estate at California State University, San Bernardino. Banks are tightening their underwriting practices and making it more difficu for homeowners to refinance their homes to avoid foreclosure. Schalow said. C\ 'C7 Unlike the past five years, "people are not using their homes as ATM machines anymore. You see refinances sometimes, but not as much because people have done it already," Schalow said. "It will create more opportunities for investors," McGee said. "I think foreclosures are going to have to happen." Real estate investors stand to benefit the most as foreclosures increase, Bishop said "When the market starts to turn like this, this is when investors' eyes start t light up," Bishop said. As the housing market sours, investors may be able to fir bargains on foreclosed homes. In January, Riverside County was one of several areas in the country identified as a "problematic" market for investor purchases, according to Loan Performance, a mortgage research company based in San Francisco. Home values will transition from slow appreciation to depreciating values, said Bill Norris, president of the Norris Group, a Real Estate Investment firm in Riverside. . Norris has been involved in the transactions of about 2,000 homes in the Inland Empire during his 20 years as an investor. "I think this is a long-term trend. How an investor benefits is to be cautious the beginning. I caution them not to buy [quickly] because the property could b worth less next year," Norris said. Investors would have to buy a lender-owned property at 70% or less of its value to turn a profit by selling a year later, Norris said. Things may get worse. "We've only seen the tip of the ice berg," Norris said http://www.thebizpress.com/news/storiesIBPNewsLocaIDbo0313focus.af284c7.html 3/15/2001i The Business Press I Inland Southern California's Business Newspaper I Section Title Page 4 of4 o More headlines... Law lets Temecula wines flow freely __._...___........_...._.__u.__u__......_un___....+_......H................h.".....~hn^.._._L.._.__.....N.......".."n..._.......n_nn.__...____u.v.._..........._...... Do they stay or go? .......____u_+un..nd._.._~._'-un_._N...._+.........._vu..._._..........a.......N......................................_.~......_._....._.__._..__.u_u....u......._.... Hydrogen fuel catching fire with buyers .__+u...__Hn....n_nn......n_nh'-.__.............._..........u................................__.............__.....h.........v..n ...__o_un_._un.,__,__... ,...._.~. California's job engine __nn____'nn_.__.__o___,___._..._.__.____________".."..<_____........._h____.._n_n_n____e__.__nn____n___________ ____._n._.__.__ ..__._.__.........n_hn_.__ More... ARTICLE TOOLS: Print it I Discuss it I E-mail it to a friend r:r J+' ,~ ,. t! O! About us Advertising Archives Book of Usts Order form Circulation Classifieds Copyright agreement Datebook Digital Extra Editorial calendar 2006 The Business Press Table of Contents FAQ Profile Home page Archives registration News Search archives Order/Subscribe Archive search tips PR Newswlre Special Events Submit Subscril Press Th is we Help Center I Contact Us I Terms of Service I Privacy I Site Map @ 2006, The Press-Enterprise Company d http://www.thebizpress.com/news/stories/BPNewsLocaIDbo0313focus.af284c7.htmJ 3/15/200fi ".~~'" ",,~;a ." ~"llitiii!>1it bjilWEiiislt!-i' oc' gBJloi1s1~IW ~, ,;;::~iirbftlllfdf ,,'patiohWide,>"saf4,:glanchig aHIi~ crow ";1fidi'; (i:;S'W~t~w.ki~ill~:ii'~~~~~~~~~:~~q~~~;: ~e~r:~s~~:i~'~09ryr ' '., h~~ti1:Igaco!l~re~Cl!On~lqilies~lm~<p1,'; T1ieBIQWllhe;brand,)m~wrt ,,.'B20; , Diego. M,ore thli'Ji 600 filling stations sell' IS a'blend of80 percent petroleum diesel , biodies.;l tothepublic," "',';, ", luid 20'percent 'biOdieselmsde from ' , Nelson first learned sbOlit biodi"",,] " soybean oil. which NP.i~ori ~t,"P""prl w;,. ' '".'C. " " :,~J~~?} drilotithIiJ:~'pliyih ~, 75~':: , ".> Ass.er~d. ?\'\,'~';.:f,: \'~h:;,'>~~~?:t(~0?~~*,jI;~~;:'i\\{:~:;':~~~,::::.::;'ii'';: ': :_~. .' Iii 2005; t)i"ldiJfe~Cew;;S$i;224;,nesiJct!." DeVelopers wQuld liJii; to btiiJd "lOre apartnients " . ,'to .f!ll~th~n~ ~f]lOOplewho. ~'tbuj a home, .& ~"'" ~"'"I,;i" . ;", ...~;:,:;~~ ;;;;:.i:;~~~}~1'~;f2~4,~;"i,:, "nland renters losing ground Only Hawaii is more expensive than California 08:14 AM PST on Wednesday, December 14,2005 By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER I The Associated Press The cost of rental housing has increased faster than wages, making it increasingly difficult for low-income families to afford even modest apartments, an advocacy group said Tuesday. "The picture is similar to past years, but it's getting worse," said Danilo Pelletiere, research directorofthe National Low Income Housing Coalition. The coalition, which advocates for more affordable housing, issues a report each year tracking rental costs in every state, county and metropolitan area in the country. It says families should spend no more than 30 percent oftbeir incomes on housing and utilities, a standard recognized by many housing experts. Under that standard, the coalition said it could not find a single county in the United Otates where a full-time worker making minimum wage could afford a one- \"">O'edroom apartment. ElIPEHSIVE RENTAL HOUSING: ND>t1jJ6n'1l1iooU.5. ~--crone.1hltdofChetata1-ercNlte<l.nlhcrttlatl _.lIm.,,1'J"'res. CO$!> lcr a()llica/ _roomllllOl1lm!l are aut r;Ar~rorlf1lN'WqeWOf1c:eq. 1I8Il~__laa"otdal""__nl...uJ AI: .Ohou~otl'llrtpl!fw-eej.: . S9.l).$II.l) :,.' Stl1. SlUI (fii Slot). _ $t..1-$tll.O ,~,~~, $15.0 _ $18" ~ i'+ t.~~ :~ .... "..{7A ,':,"~r~:.'. ',' - .: . .~~. '''',-.~;,!,,: tt,.,;,:'i D.C. . ~;~ "".,~~ . 5o:)Jf!.~ tJ]l:t.lt nil ~t;'tl HSlt; C!lI!llU\; j-'l!"-'ro1I:~~~ d!ll'l Illustration: Click to enlarge A worker has to earn at least $18.62 an hour to be able to afford the two-bedroom, one-bath apartment that rents for an average of $968 a month in Riverside County, according to the report. RISING RENTS What does an employee have to earn to live in the average two- bedroom, one-bath apartment in Southern California? $18.62 per hour in Riverside County (based on $968 per month rent) $20.06 per hour in San Bernardino County (based on $1,043 per month rent) $24.52 per hour in Los Angeles County (based on $1,275 per month rent) $25.69 per hour in Orange County (based on $1,392 per month rent) Source: National Low Income Workers in San Bernardino Housing coalition County have to earn at least $20.06 to pay the $1,043 a month rent for a two-bedroom, one bath unit, the report said. The report found many low-income families spend a far larger share of their incomes on housing. Hawaii is the state with the most expensive rental costs, followed by California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. California also had eight of the 10 most expensive counties for rental housing, led by Marin County, near San Francisco. Vest Virginia had the most affordable rents, followed by Arkansas, North Dakota, Alabama and Mississippi. Nationally, families have to make an average of$15.78 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment, while spending no more than 30 percent of their earnings on housing costs. That is up from $15.37 a year ago. The federal minimum wage, at $5.15 an hour, was last increased in 1997. Fifteen states, including California, have minimum wages higher than the federal level. ~heila Crowley, president of the housing coalition, said rising housing costs have forced many families to "double up," .oving multiple families into apartments designed for only one. "You've got a family living in the garage and another living in the basement, that kind of thing," Crowley said. The coalition analyzed data from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to track wages and rents. The report found that the cost utilities increased by 13 percent in the past year, contributing too much of the increase in renter costs. Online at: h!!P:!!Yfww..pe..C9m!bYsio'!'ssjI9C'lI!st9Jie.s/EE_fliz _0 _ i]QlJSiOg"Qsts..1.4.:z.~OgQf. tJt.r:nJ ('"" '<d Print Article Page 1 of1 Article Last Updated: 10/09/200501:27 AM . High demand, tight supply inflate area housing prices By Kerry Cavanaugh, Staff Writer Whittier Daily News Three-hour commutes, million-dollar tract homes and low-income, interest-only loans -- is this the new American Dream in Southern California? Back in 2000, real estate experts predicted higher home prices --but nothing like the 10 percent, 20 percent and even 25 percent annual increases that resulted. In some areas, homes jumped $100,000 in one year. And those ever-increasing prices accelerated the buying frenzy and amplified the sticker shock. "There Is this sense that there's a ship moving out and a lot of people are willing to do a lot to get on it and the people who haven't gotten on are embittered and waiting and wanting the ship to to hit an iceberg,n said Hans P. Johnson with the Public Policy Institute of California. Real estate economists differ on whether Southern California is overpriced and perched atop a bubble that is liable to pop or slowly deflate in the near future. Some, like Christopher Thornberg, author of a quarterly economic forecast from UCLA's Anderson School of Management, figure Los Angeles Is overpriced by 30 percent. People are buying and paying more than they would if they rented the same house because they expect home prices will keep going up. He expects prices to go flat or make a slight decline. Recent home buyers may not necessarily lose money n they just got 10 years worth of appreciation in two years. Others believe Southern California prices will continue to be high as long as home construction does not keep up with population growth in the region. Q Southern California added 318,014 residents last year, but built only 111,019 new houses and apartments n that's roughly 6,700 units short of what the region needs, according to the Building Industry AssocIation of California. And Southern California is stJlllagging from a dramatic decline in home construction in the 1990s. With high demand and tight supply, experts say, prices can only go up. More importantly, some experts say, Southern California hasn't built enough housing to supply the middle-income folks -- the firefighters, teachers and $40,OOQ-a-year workers -- particularly in the western end of the regIon. ~We can't build enough houses at the right price for the majority of people, ~ said Bill Rattazzi, president of John Laing Homes' LA/Ventura Division. Rattazzi has lost about 10 percent of his workers, among them receptionists and middle-managers, who moved out of the region in order to afford their American Dream. That concerns Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., who said continued high home prices could make it difficult for some businesses to relocate to Southern California and for existing employers to recruit qualified workers from outside the area. And, the region could start losing some of its skilled young people, who decide to move to Arizona, Nevada or other states where they can afford to buy a house. "Is there anything being done to solve the problem? The answer is no. We've boxed ourselves in, all we can develop is high-end stuff. It's a real concern," Kyser said. -- Kerry Cavanaugh can be reached at (818) 713-3746, or bye-mail atkerry.cavanaugh@daJlynews.com. L.l-4-__. f L______"\ ..]_~L_L__', _4-~__ _ ___ 1_ _....1_4-/_.-.~ _'_IL4-_1/.!"__ ___ __4-_1_-:'_4- _-4-~ _1_ ~__1)_.-.~_1_~") 1 ^ 1 A/ll /"\r"lr"I~ Print Article Page 1 of 1 Article Last Updated: 10/09/200501:24 AM . Advocates, others urge greater density By Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer Whittier Daily News While economists debate the existence of a realMestate bubble, developers, housing advocates and some politicians are pushing for major changes in the way Southern California plans and builds homes, In economic symposiums and housing summits, academic studies and advocacy reports, experts are pushing for more home construction and denser cities. Build more housing, the price will come down. Build taller buildings, then you can fit more homes in existing communities. Some say existing communities are too resistant to new homes and apartment buildings, a nnot in my back yard" attitude that kills new for-sale and rental housing projects. In Fontana, a San Bernardino County community mushrooming with new home developments, city leaders touted plans for three luxury apartment complexes, saying they would provide housing for young teachers and police officers unable to afford a new home. But after neighboring homeowners complained renters would bring crime and overcrowding and drive down their property values, two of the projects have been canceled and replaced with plans to build for-sale condos or small homes, which wiJllikely be less affordable than the apartments. "People who are here and have it, they want to pull up the drawbridge and not let anybody else in. We need to find a way to become more tolerant as a com-munity, n said Robert J. Norris, executive vice president of Century Housing, which provides loans for low- and moderate-income projects. Local governments also are getting involved, creating public funds to spur private housing projects u though some question whether government should be subsidizing the private sector. Q Los Angeles has created an affordable housing trust fund, and city leaders are considering asking voters to approve a bond that would underwrite new housing construction for poor and middle-class families. Long Beach is considering tapping hotel taxes and developer fees to create a similar fund to prOVide low- and moderate-income families with mortgage assistance, and to help developers build below-market-rate houses. Self-described optimist Delores Conway, with USe's Lusk School of Real Estate, believes Southern Californians are flexible enough to fix the housing problem. "In Southern California there are a myriad of factors -- culture, economics, a tradition of creativity u that enable us to solve our problems. We have a beautiful state and a beautiful place to live and they want to preserve that." -- Kerry Cavanaugh can be reached at (818) 713-3746, or bye-mail atkerry.cavanaugh@dailynews.com. http://www2.dailvbulletin.com/portlet/article/htmllfragments/print article. isp ?article=31 0... 10/11/2005 Print Article Page I of3 Article Last Updated: 10109/200501:23 AM American Dream? Real estate boom leaving many behind By Kerry Cav.anaugh, Staff Writer Whittier Daily News Record-breaki~g home values have jeopardized the American Dream for more and more Southern Californians who aspire to the security and stability of home ownership but find the prices and sacrifices too much to bear. The hot real estate market has generated unimaginable wealth for homeowners but has left others priced out of the market; feeling they'll never get their piece of the dream. Five years ago, teachers Julie and Jeff Jacks were ready to start a family and buy a little house in Temple City for $200,000. But they decided to wait, feaift.il that they wouldn't be able to make the mortgage if Julie got pregnant right away and quit her job. Then they watched as houses "in their Rosemead neighborhood climbed from $200,000 to $300,000 to $400,000 and higher-- frustrating the young parents and lifelong Southern Californians who now believe their future lies outside the region. Kimi Lee bought her first home, a gOO-square-foot fixer-upper in Highland Park, for $158,000 in 2001, just before her neighborhood became the hip, -new affordable area. Four years later, she's amazed at her good fortune and perfect timing as homes in her community now fetch $500,000, pricing many of her friends. out. Then there are the newest hortle b1Jyers -- often making incredible sacrifices for their piece of the American Dream. Kirsten O'Brien drives six hours a day from her new house in Yucca Valley to her teaching job In Watts. With rents and prices out of her reach in the L.A. basin, the single-mom dec.ided the stability of home ownership was worth the long commute. High home prices -- coupled with overcrowding, traffic, air pollution and long commutes from far-flung subdivisions --are taking the sheen off the Golden State. Even more worrisome, experts say, are what high prices and low affordability are doing to middle-class families and the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. "Owning a home is closely tied to the American belief in social and economic opportunity." said Mara Marks, a professor of urban studies and senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. "We've got this belief, this kind of social contract, that if you work hard and have big dreams you can have a piece of this American dream, . she said. "As more and more people begin to sense that that dream is out of reach and not a reality for them, that's a dangerous situation." Roots of the dream It wasn't always this way. Suburban tract housing built after World War II a"Ad home loans offered through the GI bill made home ownership a reality for thousands of returning veterans -- many of whom moved from their native states, touching off Southern California's explosive growth. " For generations, owning a home has been the cornerstone of the American Dream and a hallmark of a financially secure middle- class life. Even todaY, about 80 percent of Californians surveyed say they want a home of their own. Stay-at-home mom Julie Jacks grew up in Sou.them California expecting to own a. house and make her life here. She and many others have found the dream elusive. In a report lastweek by the California Association of Realtors, only 12 percent of Los Angeles County residents cquld afford the median-priced home. The state Is only slightly better at 14 percent. "All of our parents got married and bought a house, on one income. We're educated people. But here we are in Rosemead, renting," Jacks, 36, said. "Everybody strives to own their own home. It's a sign of independence. I'm an adult. I'm educated. I deserve this." , Southern California" home prices began hitting record highs in 2000 and have doubled since then. http://www2.dailvbulletin.comlportletlarticle/html/fragments/print article. isp?article=31 0... 10/11/2005 Print Article Page 2 of3 F"'""'-~ In August, the median price --the point between the most and least expensive -- for a Southern California home hit $476,000. That's a 132 percent increase from 2000, when a middle-oF-the road home sold for about $205,000. Average wages and household incomes in California have risen less than 10 percent during that same period. Today, a potential home buyer would have to make around $110,000 to afford the median-priced house -- assuming traditional guidelines of 20 percent of the price as down payment and spending one-third of gross income on the mortgage, taxes and insurance. Though some neighborhoods, such as those south of the San Fernando Valley's Ventura Boulevard, were always more expensive, they're now seeing median prices at or near $1 million. But even communities once considered affordable are becoming less. so. Across the rest of the San Fernando Valley, once a haven for middle-income families, the home price tops $600,000. In the Inland Empire, peppered with middle-class cities, home prices have more than doubled since 2000. A household would have to make at least $80,000 a year to buy a median-priced $344,000 home. That concerns Andy McCue, managing director of the Center for Sustainable Suburban Development at UC Riverside, who believes home prices are undermining the middle class, which fueled the state's prosperity from the 1950s through the 1980s. "We've priced the middle class out of new houslng,n he said. "I would worry that we become like Manhattan where you have the very rich and the very poor with nothing in between." That, said Marks, with the Center for the ,Study of Los Angeles, is one of the dangers in a region where so many people can't afford the American Dream. She worries that Southern California may ultimately see more class division and ethnic division. Already, the region is already seeing the ripple effects: two and three families sharing a house, post-college-age children living with their parents, skilled workers leaving in search of cheaper housing. Buying the dream Despite high prices, home ownership rates are higher than they've been in decades, with 59 percent of Californians owning their own homes. likewise, the rate of homeownership among those age 30-34 rose from 38 percent in 2000 to 41 percent in 2003. And mlddle- and low-income people are getting into the market as well. Nearly half of recent California homebuyers have household incomes of less than $60,000. Some in the real estate business say home-price sticker shock distracts from the reality: People buy based on the monthly payment, not the overall price. Low mortgage rates have helped keep monthly payments low in relation to the sale price .and in line with what people would pay in rent, said Delores Conway, director of the Casden Forecast at USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate. "Just to look at-the sale price is misleading. Even though home prices are high, the actual cost to homeowners is not that much higher." For example, a $350,000 home bought with 5-percent interest costs around $1,800 per month. Monthly payments on the same price home would have been $3,000 in 1990, when mortgage rates were 10 percent. Hans P. Johnson, a research fellow with the Public Policy Institute and author of a study of how Californians are "Affording the Unaffordable," says there can be a risk to that. One in five new homeowners in the state spend more than half their gross iflcome on their home loan. Half of new homeowners spend more than the federally recommended limit of 30 percent of their income on the mortgage. "If you're willing to spend a lot on housing, if you're willing to move inland, and use this flexible financing method, you can find a home." Experts fears that these buyers may be creating a new class of homeowners vulnerable to losing their homes if they get laid off, have health problems or can't meet the rising payments on an adjustable rate mortgage. Kirsten O'Brien shared that fear and instead stuck to her limited budget. But to do that, she spends most of her day away from home. - ( htto:l/www2.dailvbulletin.com/oortlet/articlelhtmllfragments/print article. iso?article=31 0... 10/11/2005. rnnL ATIICle Page 3 of3 c-~'i ~ The teaching intern found a $139,000, two-bedroom house that fit the small budget of a single mom in the desert city of Yucca Valley n 140 miles from her job in Watts. She drives six hours a day, leaving home at 4 a.m. and returning after 7:30 p.m. Her mom lives with the family and cares for O'Brien's 5-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son during the day. Yes, it's a sac'rifice for the whole family. And O'Brien wishes she could spend more time with her children. But O'Brien was ready to put down roots and after moving from rental to rental for the last few years, she believes the stability of home ownership is worth the long commute. "For once in my life, it feels safe," O'Brien said. "I know my payment. 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Ventura ttan where' d th~ very ~en." . ing the rip- Dilles share :Iii1dren liv- 3d workers . hOusing. lam ~p' ve been In . Californh ~S. In_e, people ,.1 as well. nia 'home~' nes ofless siness say racts from ed on the ~rall priqe. 'e helped n relation vith what d Delores den Fore- .ern. Cali- d Estate. lee is mis7 .Ii though; ,tual cost at' much )0 home.. 'est costs ~h1y pay- . ae would .en nl9rf:., i:..:o",iE!llow STAff GRAPHIC with the Public Policy Institute. and author ofa study of how. Californians . a.re"Affordingthe Unaffordable," says there can be a risk to .that. '. .' . 'TWenty .percent "of new: homehwners' " in the state spend more than half their gross income .ontheir home loan. Half of new homeowners sPend more than the . . federiilly recommendeglimit of30 per- cent of their income on the mortgage:. . Experts fear that thesebuyets may be-'c~atirig - a, new .class. of homeown:- era v~lnerable tOlosing-the~r,hom~s.if they get IBid off, have health problems or can't meet -the rising payments on anadjustsbili tate mortgage. . . . Kirsten O'BnenSbared that fear mid instead stuck to lier1iIDitedbudget. But to do.that; she spends most or her day; aw~y from home. ,.. . . .. The teaching ititern found' a $139,000, two-liedfooni house that fits . the small budget of a single mom ia the desert city of Yucca Valley": 140 miles froinherjob in Watts. , . She drives sishours a day, leaving h01Ile at 4 a.m.. and returning after 7 :30 'p.m. Yes; it's a sacrifice for the . whole family. But O'Brien said ahebe" lieves the stability of home owpership is worth the'Iong commute. . . "For o.nce in my life,. it feels" 'safe," O'Brien said. "1 know my paYment. I know it cari'tgoup.' . . .. . . . . . . . . . Stair writers Don Jegier, Kelly Ray- . bUm, Andrew BlaziEr, Jason Newell and Andrea Feathers contribut"d to this report. . . . Kerry _ Ga.vanaugh can be reached at" . (818) 713-3746 or by e:mailatkerry.ca- . l!anau~~@dailynews.corri.. ..' . - , Housing continued from page A 1 i . San Bernardino and Riverside cOl'm~jes 'have outpaced nearly eve.ry othermetjo- ': politan region io the.United States dlii-- .jng the past three years. . , . Since 2002, the price.of a mid.ran/ie 'home io the Inland Empire has more thim doubled, rising from about $177,000 ito $385,000, according.to the. most recmt numbers. Analysts predict the regia*," median home price will soon hit $400,040. The' National Association of HO~' e Builders ranks thetwo-cilUnty area as' e 19th least. affordable option in the co n- try _ with less than 13 percent ofloeal fajn: ilies bringing home enough income to ,be able to afford a nrid.rangehome. , .' . But those who bought at the right tilne i have reaped significant rehuns on th~it . investments. .. ... _ :. . Stephanie Smith, for exirmple, bought a home in Fontana in October 2003, afier finding homes in Chino Hills aIid Or,,!,%e County too pricey. Smith, 56,aretired In- surance'sale~ executive,_paid $300,009: . She was deterred, at fii-st,byFontaIi,a's less-than-stellariInage. But she consid- ers 'hoine9wnership ..a comerl?tone of the American Dream; So, afte.r renting_an . apartment for a year after her divorCe, she tOOk .her chances. . . . .By spring 2005, houses of similar square footage on her stteet :were goi.ng for $470,000. Elsewhete in north Fontalla, similar houses are selling for $539,000. Smith said she could sell now and triPle the investment she made on her down payment. . Though she said it would still be diffi- cult to JISe her return to purchase a more valuable home, she believes she couldn't have made a better investme)lt two years' ago. . Others - such as Rodriguez ~ shoulq be . 50 fortunate. .. , ~ . . In the .Inland Empire; thei\merican Ilreamothomeownership is increasingly elusive, with many having to put off,buy- iog their. first home until prices cool off. , Rick.Marciano,-25, of Fontana, for ex- ample, said ideally he would bJIyajlome somewhere in the north end of the city, but.for now he has to rellt ~sharinga . house with..three.others....: near Baseline and CherrY avennes. Matciano workS about 60 hours a week at twojobs; he said,one of them in a post- production studio in Hollywood. About. sis months' ago, he began looking for a house to buy, to no avaiL . At the notion that the Inlan\l Empire was once considered an an'ordable option, . he said, -"Ncit. anymore,. I don't think they're building anYthing that's too Hf- fordable right now." Bill Velto, manager of Tarbell.Realtors in Upland, said the American Dream is, for many, "more of a dream than a.reality." "It. can be more of a nightmare for some people,'~ he said. ' Many in the real estate industry say local governmentS'have exacerbated the' difficulty o[buying a home. . . Hefty fees levied to pay for roads, parks and. schools get passed directly from de- veloper to: buyer. Overly strict enViron- mentalregulatioris tie up approval and 'construction for years, keeping supply low, they argue.. ., And increasingly, status-minded loeals discourage apartmerits, i~Q;ndoniii1iwris and townhomes ~ the.tr'lditional step- ping stolles to home owrierijhip - in favor of pricey, spacious houses tpat are far out of range for most workersJsaid BillRuh, governmental affairs direcitor for the Cit- rus Valley Association o~altors: . . . . In. . Font. a."a, .fa.' exa.ple,S.mith is among hundtedsofhom era uIibappy with plans tobuildapattments in the north.end, which. is, for now,. an area_of single-f~ly homes.:. .' . "Local communities ne~ to teallze that density'is our destiny.if we're going to house allthesepeople,iRuh said. "We need to: ask ou~~elves: ~f't~e person"iE! good enough to wash oUr car," clean our h. otel rOom.;'se.. rv. . e'O..ur..fO.p .,teach.our..chil.- dren, take_ care of-us w eil we.are sick; - why are they notgoodnough toiive in . . our neighborhood?" . . . , Butno matter what Ifeal governments do, theJUIlaway Ip.arkettwould leave some behind. . . '. .' . Sonie cities have i,bplemented pro- grams to help low. to/moderate-iocome h;ome bu!ers, but ho~sing prices have nse)l so high ~t svsIllsome whoelil'll too much toquaJify.{or th!>se programs can't. affordahome.' ~ . " .. . . JillPeick,62, of Up and has tented an apartment for 13 ye s. A widow, she be- came .interested- m',qlvning a .home.two years' ago fat the firs~time since her hus- band died.,. .'. . . . '.. She figured she co~. d have qualified to . buya satisfactory h me if she had. acted more quickly. Now- e.sees-noway.__ . ,Peick works as a p/ychiatric technician in Rosemead, bririgjng in about $50,000 a year, she said.' I .... . .' "If I could. fInd ~ tWo-bedroom home with two bathroo and a fireplace and a little yard, I waul be very content,~ she said. ,. . She said she co' 't spend mote than $200,000, th6ngh, d she can't!ind what she's looking fat a :\'where - not inUp- land, Ontario, Fa' tana or Bloonrington. She's hoping for a! ousing downturn, "I'm no~ hopingpr the worst,"she said. , ."rID; j~st hoping It becomes reasona~le agBln. .1 . ' /'. I Community answers forhotlsmg 11, 11 '_'._ _ _ __ _ ___ _ ~ __ ___ .":!'_ -1 .-.1 ~_~J-..a-_ ....:...:. l,...!.."';-.:::J.OOQ) '(1)(1)0""'" .'0' O'Tl . )~~.::< ~a 8S>..s-t; tI:I(I)~[g ~d)cUg Cll'1:lQ) ;.....,.6.d-d~ I ~ 1O,~ :g g Q.,81l Fl ~ 't:l~ A 'i~:OO_ ~;~ ~~:;:JB.,..til~ 01..-. I'< Q) 't:l lill1.l ..r:: (I) "'" ..... 0 ...r:: _ ~? 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Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) October 8. 2005 Section: unknown Finding affordable housing still a struggle Jason Newell and Kelly Rayburn, Staff Writers Frances Rodriguez could have bought a house eight years ago. Instead, she moved into a Rancho Cucamonga apartment. Newly single with four children to put through college, the nurse and one-time homeowner worried about making such a long-term financial commitment. And she had doubts about the housing market. In the years since, home prices in the Inland Empire have sky-rocketed beyond virtually anyone's wildest predictions. Now, barring a major promotion at work or a significant downturn in housing costs, Rodriguez will find it next to . impossible to come up with a down payment -- let alone the monthly mortgage payments she would need for a home. Q She said she doubts whether she ever will own a home again, at least one in Southern California. "I don't want to move from here -- I love Rancho Cucamonga," said Rodriguez, 50. "But I don't know, it's too expensive." The Inland housing market has followed the lead of that in the Southland during the past few years. But, here, the trends are even more pronounced. The staggering surge in home prices has boosted the fortunes of homeowners and chipped away at the stigma of this long looked-down-upon region. But, at the same time, it has priced out a huge segment of the population in what was once one of Southern California's final outposts for affordable housing. The increases in home prices in San Bernardino and Riverside counties have outpaced nearly every other metropolitan region in the United States during the past three years. Of those tracked by the National Association of Realtors, only the coastline region south of Florida's Tampa Bay has experienced a more rapid rise in housing costs. Since 2002, the price of a mid-range home in the Inland Empire has more than doubled, rising from about $177,000 to $385,000, according to the most recent numbers. Analysts predict the region's median home price will soon hit $400,000. '0 The National Association of Home Builders ranks the two-county area as the 19th least affordable option in the country -- with less than 13 percent of local families bringing home enough income to be able to afford a mid- range home. But those who bought at the right time have reaped significant returns on their investments. " , , , 1.1..___ I A. .1. __n Document Delivery Page 20f3 Stephanie Smith, for example, bought a home in Fontana in October 2003, after finding homes in Chino Hills and Orange County too pricey. Smith, 56, a retired insurance sales executive, paid $300,000. She was deterred, at first, by Fontana's less-than-steHar image. But she considers homeownership a cornerstone of the American Dream. So, after renting an apartment for a year after her divorce, she took her chances. By spring 2005, houses of s.imilar square footage on her street were going for $470,000. Elsewhere in north Fontana, similar houses are selling for $539,000. Smith said she could sell now and triple the investment she made on her down payment. Though she said it would still be difficult to use her return to purchase a more valuable home, she believes she couldn't have made a better investment two years ago. Others -- such as Rodriguez -- should be so fortunate. In the Inland Empire, the American Dream of homeownership is increasingly elusive, with many having to put off buying their first home until prices cool off. Rick Marciano, 25, of Fontana, for example, said ideally he would buy a home somewhere in the north end of the city, but for now he has to rent -- sharing a house with three others -- near Baseline and Cherry avenues. Marciano works about 60 hours a week at two jobs, he said, one of them in a post-production studio in Hollywood. About six months ago, he began looking for a house to buy, to no avail. g At the notion that the Inland Empire was once considered an affordable option, he said, "Not anymore. I don't think they're building anything that's too affordable rightnow." Bill Velto, manager of Tarbell Realtors in Upland, said the American Dream is, for many, "more of a dream than a reality." "It can be more of a nightmare for some people," he said. Many in the real estate industry say local governments have exacerbated the difficulty of buying a home. Hefty fees levied to pay for roads, parks and schools get passed directly from developer to buyer. Overly strict environmental regulations tie up approval and construction for years, keeping supply low, they argue. And increasingly, status-minded locals discourage apartments, condominiums and townhomes - the traditional stepping stones to home ownership -- in favor of pricey, spacious houses that are far out of range for most workers, said Bill Ruh, governmental affairs director for the Citrus VaHey Association of Realtors. In Fontana, for example, Smith is among hundreds of homeowners unhappy with plans to build apartments in the north end, which is, for now, an area of single-family homes. "Local communities need to realize that density is our destiny if we're going to house all these people," Ruh said. "We need to ask ourselves: if the person is good enough to wash our car, clean our hotel room, serve our food, teach our children, take care of us when we are sick, why are they not good enough to l.ive in our neighborhood?" But no matter what local governments do, the runaway market would leave some behind. Some cities have implemented programs to help low- to moderate-income home buyers, but housing prices have risen so high that even some who earn too much to qualify for those programs can't afford a home. o Jill Peick, 62, of Upland has rented an apartment for 13 years. A widow, she became interested in owning a home two years ago for the first time since her husband died. httn../lnl "I'>UfC'h<:1n1r ....rnn/nLcp"-lr"'h/uT""/ dr....h-iupc?n <:l....t;n:n=rl.............Q........ ..-1..........~rl-l nrV1A"7DD'l 1 A I:.' 1AJ,.../,...,^^," Document Delivery Page 3 of3 . She figured she could have qualified to buy a satisfactory home if she had acted more quickly. Now she sees no way. Peick works as a psychiatric technician in Rosemead, bringing in about $50,000 a year, she said. "If I could find a two-bedroom home with two bathrooms and a fireplace and a little yard, I would be very content," she said. She said she couldn't spend more than $200,000, though, and she can't find what she's looking for anywhere -- not in Upland, Ontario, Fontana or Bloomington. She's hoping for a housing downturn. "I'm not hoping for the worst," she said. "I'm just hoping it becomes reasonable again." (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. Q , ,/ htto://nl.newsbank.comlnl-search/we/ Archive.?n ~r.tion=rlor.Xm rlor.irl=l 0T17L17PP, 1 A" 1 ()!1 ()/')()(V, Print Article Page 1 of2 Article Last Updated: 10(02(200501:45 AM . Low-income housing needs not being met Michelle Knueppel, Staff Writer San Bernardino County Sun ONTARIO - When Juanita and Calvin Gillette moved from Chicago to the Inland Empire last year to be closer to their children and grandchildren, they said they felt lucky to find coveted affordable housing in Ontario. Calvin, a retired electriCal engineer, said he and his wife pay less than $300 a month for a Quiet apartment in a senior housing complex on 0 Street that affords mountain views and includes a vegetable garden in back. "It's sort of like staying in a hotel suite," Calvin, 62, said. "I love it." He also said the vegetable garden allows him to pinch pennies. "Tomatoes are two sixty-something a pound. I can't afford that. But I can just go out back and pick my own fresh vegetables." But several residents who live in the 91 units in the Ontario Senior Housing complex complain that more low-income housing needs to be built for residents. However, city housing officials across San Bernardino County contend that affordable housing is becoming increasingly harder to build. And though there are state guidelines for how much affordable housing each city should build over a five-year period, city officials said the guidelines, set forth by the Southern California Association of Governments, do not have any teeth. "There has been talk in the state Legislature in the past that if you don't make efforts (to build affordable housing), they might take away some of your funding sources," said Brent Schultz, Ontario's Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Director. 8 Schultz added, however, "Nothing has happened so far." City housing officials said recently that they encounter multiple problems while trying to meet low-inc9me housing requirements for their cities. The challenge, they say, is that as costs of land and construction increase, cities have to fight against market-rate developers for plots of land to build upon. Also, state and federal grant dollars do not stretch as far as they once did. "It's kind of a perfect storm right nowt" Schultz said. "There is a convergence of very limited land sites for housing, a high demand for housing, and a lot of real-estate money to buy these units," which inflates housing prices beyond many residents' budgets. Another problem, Schultz said, is that some cities lack the political support to build low-income housing. He said he was fortunate to have a supportive city council to back him on housing projects. "A lot of cities, that's what stops them. They don't have the political will, land or money," Schultz said. Another problem, according to Schultz, is that the city is forced to compete against market-rate developers for sites, and developers can afford to pay much more than the city. Across the street from the Ontario Senior Housing complex on 0 Street, developers are building houses that are selling for nearly $600,000 apiece. "That's who we have to compete against for sites," Schultz said. A state redevelopment law says that 20 percent of all revenue that city redevelopment agencies receive through property taxes must be funneled into a housing fund. However, according to Janet Huston, spokeswoman for the California Department of Housing and Community Development, "The Jaw states that cities just need to make sure they have enough land zoned for affordable housing, but they aren't required to actually build it." There are no solid requirements for how many low-income housing units each city must build over a given period because that varies depelJding on the cost of land in each city, Huston said. http://www2.dailvbulletin.comlportlet/articleihtml/fragments/print article. isp ?article=307... 10/1 0/2005 Print Article Page 2 of2 . Schultz said the SCAG Regional Housing Needs Assessment guidelines for 2000 through 2005 call for Ontario to build 495 very low- income, 373 low-income, 498 moderate-income, and 1,035 above-moderate-income housing units, where the average median income for a family of four is $66,800. While Schultz said his- city has multiple affordable housing projects in the works, he added that it was impossible to meet the guidelines. "Nobody provides it all. Nobody has enough money to provide it all," Schultz said. "Nobody ever reaches it because it is very expensive and very time-consuming." And a growing number of residents are having difficulty finding affordable homes because of it. An 86-unit, low-income center on the corner of Mountain Avenue and Flora Street is building 20 new units this December. According to Schultz, 1,500 people are on the waiting list. Said Juanita Gillette, a resident of the senior housing center on D Street, "Seniors are living longer. They need more (low-income housing) for seniors so when you retire, you are not so stressed about food and rent and light. "This is a time of your life you should be able to relax a little bit and enjoy your time on earth." Brian Desatnik, the Claremont Redevelopment and Housing Project manager, cited "lack of available land to build new housing" as a main problem. Because Claremont is more built-up than others such as Rancho Cucamonga, Desatnik said it presents a problem. "As construction costs have risen and the housing market in general has risen, it requires a much greater public investment per unit than it did three to five years ago. "There have not been any additional funding sources to support this. Funds have not increased - costs have," Desatnik said. He added, however, that while redevelopment agency revenues do have guidelines, "there is a fair amount of local discretion as to how you use It." But Schultz said the payoffs were worth the long months trying to gain city approval of a housing project and then getting state and federal money to finance It. g "There are very good people who are low-income and they need a place to live and they need a playground. "I've never had people come up to me and hug me after doing an office building," Schultz said. But after completing a low-Income housing project in Anaheim a few years ago, Schultz said, "I had women coming up and hugging me and thanking me and saying they never have had such a beautiful home. They take great pride in It." http://www2.dailvbulletin.comloortlet/article/html/fragments/orint article. iso ?article=307... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page 1 of3 " INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to qO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) October 1, 2005 Section: unknown High costs doom affordable housing. Michelle Knueppel, Staff Writer ONTARIO - When Juanita and Calvin Gillette moved from Chicago to the Inland Empire last year to be closer to their children and grandchildren, they said they felt lucky to find coveted affordable housing in Ontario. Calvin, a retired electrical engineer, said he and his wife pay less than $300 a month for a quiet apartment in a senior housing complex on D Street that affords mountain views and includes a vegetable garden in back. "It's sort of like staying in a hotel suite," Calvin, 62, said. "I love it." He also said the vegetable garden allows him to pinch pennies. "Tomatoes are two sixty-something a pound. I can't afford that. But I can just go out back and pick my own fresh vegetables." G But several residents who live in the 91 units of the Ontario Senior Housing complex complain that more low- income housing needs to be built for residents. However, city housing officials across San Bernardino County contend that affordable housing is becoming increasingly harder to build. And though there are state guidelines for how much affordable housing each city should build during a five-year period, city officials said the guidelines, set forth by the Southern California Association of Governments, do not have any teeth. 'There has been talk in the state Legislature in the past that if you don't make efforts (to build affordable housing) they might take away some of your funding sources," said Brent Schultz, Ontario's Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Director. However, Schultz added, "Nothing has happened so far." City housing officials said recently that they encounter multiple problems while trying to meet low-income housing requirements for their cities. The challenge, they say, is that as costs of land and construction increase, cities have to fight against market-rate developers for plots of land to build upon. Also, state and federal grant dollars do not stretch as far as they used to. "It's kind of a perfect storm right now," Schultz said. "There is a convergence of very limited land sites for housing, a high demand for housing, and a lot of real estate money to buy these units," which inflates housing prices beyond many residents' budgets. Another problem, Schultz said, is that some cities lack the political support to build low-income housing. He said he was fortunate to have a supportive city council to back him on housing projects. "A lot of cities, that's what stops them. They don't have the political will, land or money," Schultz said. htt.,...../Inl "<=lurch>:).,.,lr r>ru.,..,!nl_C'Qar....l,!urp! A Tf"'h,,,,,,,,,?n ~{"'t1f)n=r1(\f"'.A?rn Anro,r1=l nrRPOLi"'PrRaO 1 nil ()f'){)n<; Document Delivery Page 2 oB . Another problem, according to Schultz, is that the city is forced to compete against market-rate developers for sites, and developers can afford to pay much more than the city. Across the street from the Ontario Senior Housing complex on D Street, developers are building houses that are selling for nearly $600,000 apiece. "That's who we have to compete against for sites," Schultz said. A state redevelopment law says that 20 percent of all revenue that city redevelopment agencies receive through property taxes must be funneled into a housing fund. However, according to Janet Huston, spokeswoman for the California Department of Housing and Community Development, "The law states that cities just need to make sure they have enough land zoned for affordable housing, but they aren't required to actually build it." There are no solid requirements for how many low-income housing units each city must build over a given period because that varies depending on the cost of land in each city, Huston said. Schultz said the SCAG Regional Housing Needs Assessment guidelines for 2000 through 2005 call for Ontario to build 495 very low-income, 373 low-income, 498 moderate-income, and 1,035 above moderate-income housing units, where the average median income for a family of four is $66,800. While Schultz said his city has multiple affordable housing projects in the works, he added that it was impossible to meet the guidelines. "Nobody provides it all. Nobody has enough money to provide it all," Schultz said. "Nobody ever reaches it because it is very expensive and very time-consuming." g And a growing number of residents are having difficulty finding affordable homes because of it. An 86-unit, low- income center on the corner of Mountain Avenue and Flora Street is building 20 new units this December. According to Schultz, 1,500 people are on the waiting list. Juanita Gillette, a resident of the senior housing center on D Street, added that "seniors are living longer. They need more (low-income housing) for seniors so when you retire, you are not so stressed about food and rent and light. . "This is a time of your life you should be able to relax a little bit and enjoy your time on earth." Brian Desatnik, the Claremont Redevelopment and Housing Project manager, cited "lack of available land to build new housing" as a main problem. Because Claremont is more built-up than others such as Rancho Cucamonga, Desatnik said it presents a problem. "As construction costs have risen and the housing market in general has risen, it requires a much greater public investment per unit than it did three to five years ago. "There have not been any additional funding sources to support this. Funds have not increased - costs have," Desatnik said. He added, however, that while redevelopment agency revenues do have guidelines, "there is a fair amount of local discretion as to how you use it." But Schultz said the payoffs were worth the long months trying to gain city approval of a housing project and then getting state and federal money to finance it. 'There are very good people who are low-income, and they need a place to live and they need a playground. "I've never had people come up to me and hug me after doing an office building," Schultz said. But after completing a low-income housing project in Anaheim a few years ago, Schultz said, "I had women coming up and hH......./Jrol 1'"\t:>HTc>h.<:lnlr .....n.rt"l/nl_"""'<;Ir.....h/nu:,,f Arrhi'lf~~?n ~('ti"n=rlf'lrXrn nnr-it1=l hrFFQ4FrH4Q 10/1 O/?OO'i Document Delivery Page 3 of3 . hugging me and thanking me and saying they never have had such a beautiful home. They take great pride in it."!- . (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. G httn:llnl. new.<h~nk.c.nm/nl-..e~rc.h/wel Arc.hive..?n ~dinn=onc.&n onc.io=10rFFQ4FrR4Q 1 Oil o/?on~ :; Document Delivery Page 1 of2 INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to QO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) October 1, 2005 Section: unknown Claremont Habitat project opens doors Six low-income families join effort in building their own homes @BY1:By Sue Doyle, Staff Writer mid-November, the 1,267-square-foot, four-bedroom homes with two-car CLAREMONT - At last, there will finally be enough room in the kitchen so the whole family can eat together. That's what Marcia Trujillo, 46, was thinking on Saturday as she and her husband, Jose Trujillo, 45, and four of their children hoisted the walls of their first home. The family was one of six swinging hammers and pounding nails alongside more than 230 volunteers building six new homes through the Pomona Valley Habitat for Humanity. The nonprofit organization raised $1 million in funds and donated materials for the project. 8 mid-November, the 1 ,267-square-foot, four-bedroom homes with two-car garages will stand at the corner of First Street and Claremont Boulevard. then a play area for the children will also be finished. "It's a dream come true for us and an answer to our prayers," said Marcia Trujillo, weeping. The assistant preschool teacher wiped her face with a handkerchief she bought to mop the sweat from working under the scorching sun, not realizing she'd also need it for her tears. This was the third time the Trujillo family applied for a Habitat home. About 100 families last year filled out housing applications with the nonprofit Christian housing ministry that heips low-income families get out of undesirable living situations and into homes of their own. Families under consideration by the nonprofit organization net 30 to 60 percent of the area's median income. A qualifying family of four, for example, would have an annual income of $32,000 to $36,000. Last spring, the six families were selected by the Pomona Valley affiliate's 12-member board. For the Trujillos, this means they can move out of the one-bedroom mobile home they've shared with Jose Trujillo's mother in Pomona for the past seven years. Two beds are outside in an enclosed porch. The rest of the family sleeps inside. They all share one bathroom. The family fell on hard times about five years ago when Jose Trujillo injured his back lifting a steel wheel in his maintenance job. Several surgeries later, the father of five still walks with a cane. He's been on disability since 2000. "It's been depressing," Jose Trujillo said at the construction site, signing his name and a message on the studs of his new neighbors' homes. The structures were signed by many involved in Saturday's event who wrote inspiring words about peace and faith to the new homeowners. The triangle-shaped lot, about an acre in size, was once home to Our Lady of Assumption Church. The facility httn:llnLnew,h;mk.com/nl-'e~n,h/wel Archive..?n ~ction=c1oc&n c1ocic1=1 0(;FFq4F4~(;0.. 1 0/1 01?00~ Document Delivery Page 2 of2 . was later torn down and left vacant, until the Archdiocese of Los Angeles donated the northern part of the property to Habitat for Humanity. The southern part of the property belonged to Claremont until the city's Redevelopment Agency donated it to Habitat for Humanity to help build homes. The gift helps fulfill a state redevelopment law requiring redevelopment agencies to spend 20 percent of their revenue on affordable housing projects. For Guadalupe Lopez, the house will be a new start. The divorced father lives with his two children and sisier in a rented Pomona duplex. He says the neighborhood is bad, and he's concerned about its influence on his 14-year- old son Carlos. The 41-year-old, who works in maintenance for the city of Rancho Cucamonga, has tried for years to move his family to a safer area. After not qualifying for much of a bank loan for a new house, he tried Habitat for Humanity. He was denied the first time, but tried again and got it. Claremont, he said, will provide his children with a beUereducation, and the neighborhood will have respectable role models for his children. . "I feel my son will be a better man when he grows up and will help others too," Lopez said. Sue Doyle can be reached bye-mail at sue.doyle@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9347. !- (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. g httn:1 In 1. newshankcom/nl-search/wel Archives?o action=doc&o docid= I OCFF94 E45CO... 1011 0/2005 Document Delivery Page I of2 INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to QO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) September 28, 2005 Section: unknown Claremont buys land for housing Jason Newell, Staff Writer CLAREMONT The city moved a step closer to building affordable places to Jive in pricey north Claremont this week, agreeing to buy a piece of land it has been pursuing for a potential housing development. The City Council unanimously decided Tuesday night to purchase the half-acre property near the southeast corner of Towne Avenue and Base Line Road, adding to a nearby 1.9-acre parcel it bought last year. At the same time, the council held off on a decision about what kind of housing it wants at the site, tabling city staffs request for direction on whether to pursue rental apartments for low-income families or for-sale condominiums for more moderate incomes. ;--\ t;:j "I think there are a lot of options rather than just strictly rental or strictly ownership," Councilman Peter Yao said, agreeing to put the decision off for an upcoming study session on affordable housing options in the city. The half-acre vacant lot will be purchased with $550,000 from the city's Redevelopment Agency, which is required to spend 20 percent of its revenues on affordable housing projects. Tuesday's decision also authorizes staff to make an offer on a smaller piece of land, owned by Southern California Water Co., that connects the two larger lots. Once completely acquired, the city will have about 2.4 acres upon which to build some sort of affordable- housing development. The issue spurred lengthy and heated debate when the first chunk of land was purchased for $1.3 million in October. At that time, organized opponents argued that a low-income development would attract crime and that pollutants from the neighboring 210 Freeway would pose health risks to children Jiving there. Proponents said those claims were baseless and pointed to a troubling shortage of housing in the city for people of diverse incomes. On Tuesday, the debate was brief and much more subdued. Resident Andy Winnick, one of a few to speak against a high-density, low-income project at the site, said such projects haven't worked most places in the country and pointed to environmental concerns about Jiving next to a freeway. "I wouldn't buy a house there," said Winnick, a recent appointment to the city's Human Services Commission. "Putting the poor there is not a good idea either." Others encouraged the council to dedicate the site exclusively to low- to very low-income housing, arguing that a project geared toward more moderate incomes would squander an important opportunity to serve the most needy in the community. httn'//nl n"w~h~nkr.nm/n1-~"~r"h/w,,/ Archiv,,~?n ~dinn=nnc&n nncin=10rRFr1D9rIi0... 10/101200'; Document Delivery Page 2 of2 . Resident Opanyi Nasiali suggested not putting any housing on the site. Instead, he proposed building a new police station on the property and using the land where the current, undersized station now stands for affordable housing. The City Council has called for a study session in the near future to nail down its position on what the city's approach to affordable housing should be including where it shouid be and what types of developments are suitable to Claremont. City staff said the city is able to swap the land or sell it if the council decides in the future not to build affordable housing there. 'We have flexibility," said Brian Desatnik, redevelopment and housing project manager. Jason Newell can be reached bye-mail atjason.newell@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9338. (e) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. o httn,//n1.m,wshank.mm/nl-search/we/ Archives?n action=rloc&n rlocirl=10CEFC3D9C60... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page I of2 ~ i INLAND VALLEY Daily Bulletin . Click here to qO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) September 24, 2005 Section: unknown Program tackles affordable housing Edward Barrera, Staff Writer CLAREMONT. Streamlining regulations and innovative long.term planning are key to easing the shortage of affordable housing in California, experts said Saturday at Claremont McKenna College. Part of a two-day program that began Friday, speakers at the Rose Institute Academy for Civic Engagement noted that outdated ordinances, public resistance and local officials' reluctance to approve controversial projects were just a few elements preventing more housing development. "If we don't do something in California, we are going to have challenges," said Jeff Burum, founder of two affordable housing organizations. "If we are going to make changes, it is going to be uncomfortable for a while." '"' b Housing was one of several topics addressed during the two-day conference, induding transportation, government finances and water issues. Dozens of local elected officials from Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties attended the event. Organized by Burum, who is also a co-managing partner of the Colonies project in Upland, the event was created . to give local elected leaders a broader perspective on the issues facing their communities, college officials said. Burum was joined at the housing seminar by Randall Lewis, executive vice president of Lewis Operating Cos., and Bart Doyle, a land.use attorney and former mayor of Sierra Madre. Lewis said local leaders need to look at what works in other areas and attempt to change the outmoded perceptions of the public and city staff, especially concerning the attributes of master.planned communities and higher density projects. "Density is one of the key things that drives down housing costs," he said, acknowledging that each city must decide how that fils into its general plan. Doyle, president of the Building Industry Association, Los Angeles County East Chapter, said that one way to speed development is for cities to create a specific zoning plan for a particular area. A specific plan would allow builders to know exactly what is expected of them in developing a project. If they stay within the guidelines, the development would automaticaily be approved, Doyle said. Residents would have the opportunity to comment while the preliminary plan is put into place, he added. Burum said local leaders must fight the stigma of affordable housing. Such housing should not be isolated and relegated to undesirable areas, he said, adding that mixed.income residential neighborhoods work best in creating sustainable housing. Pomona Councilwoman Paula Lantz said these types of seminars are important for local leaders who are trying to devise ways to overcome chalienges, especially in housing. "I think it helps to educate elected officials and policy httn"//n] n"w..h~nk ""m/nl..."~rr.h/w,,/ Arr.hiv".?n Hd;on=c1or.&n c1or.ic1=l 0~F.'i1nF.l)ORO.__ 10/1 0/200'i Document Delivery Page 2 of2 makers, and it shares the wealth of knowledge that these people have," she said. . Organizers said they plan to make the Academy of Civic Engagement an annual event. Edward Barrera can be reached bye-mail atedward.barrera@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9356. (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. ("\ bt httn'//n 1. new~hank.com/nl-searchlwe/ Archives?o action=doc&o docid=IOCE536ED080... 10/10/2005 !' Document Delivery Page 1 of2 INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to ao back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) September 19, 2005 Section: unknown Experts contend regulations slowing affordable homes Michael Rappaport, Staff Writer ONTARIO Randall Lewis had a succinct message to government bureaucrats at all levels. They can't solve California's affordable housing crisis. They can only be facilitators to the people who really know what they're doing. ''They need to create an environment for us in which we can do our job," said Lewis, executive vice president and director for marketing for Lewis Operating Corp. "Then they need to get out of the way." g That was the general consensus at Monday's Housing Summit 2005, a get-together of government officials and developers at the Ontario Convention Center. The theme was "Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing," and even the highest-ranking government official present - Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Roy A. Bernardi - was preaching the anti- government gospel. "There are too many unnecessary local regulations," said Bernardi, a last-minute replacement for his boss, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. "They are the biggest obstacles toward getting new housing built." Bernardi said simply removing some of the barriers local governments have constructed could reduce costs by 10 pecent to 35 percent. "There's your affordable housing," he said. Of course, "affordable" means different things in different parts of the country, and programs designed to help people take their first steps out of poverty in other areas aren't enough to help teachers, nurses and firefighters forced to look for homes an hour or two away from where they work. That's what happens in a state where the median price of a home is well above $500,000. "That's clearly not good," Bernardi said. "When you have your work force pushed so far out and commutes made so long, productivity will be a problem." One problem several speakers addressed is that when too few houses are being built, all the ones that are available become less affordable. Supply and demand, Economics 101 material. ''The fact is that we need to build 225,000 homes a year just to keep up with population growth," said Lucetta htln://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/ Archives?n action=doc&n docid= 1 OCC04CFB2B9... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page 2 of2 . Dunn, director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. "We haven't reached that number since 1989. We need to be planning for growth or growth will continue planning for us as it has for the last 30 years. ""Let them drive' is not a growth strategy." Attendees were bombarded with horrifying statistics. All 1 0 of the least affordable housing markets in the United States are in California, and the state has the second-lowest overall home ownership rate in the nation. Richard Lambros, chief executive of BIAlSouthern California, suggested that the good news is that having only 1.3 million new homes in California would lift state home ownership to the national rate of 68.3 percent. Of course, those 1.3 million new homes need to be built in addition to the 225,000 every year; Southern California is expected to add 6 million residents by 2030. "Affordability begins with availability," said John Young of Young Homes. "What we need is a mobilized constituency for housing." Michael Rappaport is business editor of the Daily Bulletin. He can be reached at (909) 483-9395 or m_rappaport@dailybulletin.com . (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. , d httn://nl.newsbank.comlnl-search/we/ Archives?o action=doc&o docid= 1 OCC04CFB2B9... 1 0/1 0/2005 ( D6td~ (~1tlJvtVliL . Article Published: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - 7:55:25 PM PST HOO secretary will speak at Ontario summit Monday By Joe Florkowski, Staff Writer ONTARIO The secretary of Housing and Urban Development will speak Monday to building and government officials at a summit to discuss Southern California's housing affordability. Alphonso Jackson is the featured guest at the 2005 Housing Summit: Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing. He will discuss HUD programs to remove barriers to affordable housing at the Ontario Convention Center. The morning summit is intended to create more awareness about what issues home builders face, according to Frank Williams, chief executive of the Baldy View chapter of the Building Industry Association. Q Government regulations and building fees limit developers and increase the final price of a home, Williams said. "We'll hopefully get a better understanding of why we're in this situation," Williams said. The city of Ontario, Building Industry Association of Southern California and Southern California Association of Governments are co-sponsoring the summit. Officials will speak through the morning about how home prices continue to increase throughout Southern California making homes less affordable for many potential buyers. The median price for a San Bernardino County home in August was $344,000. More than 400 people have registered for the summit and about 1,000 people are expected to attend. Among those expected to speak are Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, and Lucy Dunn, director of the state department of Housing and Community Development. . Miller,who sits on a finance committee for HUD, was key in getting Jackson to attend, Williams said. "Without him, it never would have happened," he said. After the summit, Williams said he hopes government officials and the public take with them some understanding of why homes cost so much. , "If I could put a sticker price on a house, I would do it, like a car," Williams said. Builders in California face a number of issues when building homes, including overlapping rules between state and local government, said Jeff Lustgarten, spokesman for the Southern California Association of Governments. Q Cities also have to balance their planning to include retail development - which brings in sales tax revenue - with homes that cost money in the form of schools and fire and police protection, he said. "In a lot of ways, it's created disincentives to build homes," Lustgarten said. The association's executive director, Mark Pisano, will speak at the Monday summit and.discuss the 2 percent strategy, Lustgarten said. Such a plan could create more affordable housing and less congestion by changing a small percentage of planning, he said. The conference is $25 and the general public is invited. The event begins at 9 a.m. Information: (909) 945-1884 Joe Florkowski can be reached bye-mail atjoe.florkowski@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9391. DailyBulletin.com - Business . ""..,~, ~\;.;:.~ _..~")?~...~~.~:r _~ ::~~ ,,;.~...;"" , Article Search III Advanced Search t:::> ~~ \'D:,:2":.Zt ~-:;;<::::~ ..,:::~"::~:':,:.,,::r. /', :,,:: Archive Search ~.;:,;.r' ,k'~_ _-~;-:~..:.:~::;:;;~.::::::;:::f_:<>'. ":". ImpactoUSA.com ~ ~ :':: :.',;.:i;, .,': ,~~:,,;.: Marketplace Place an Ad AdHound My List Jobs Autos Homes Rentals Special Offers Personals Obituaries Business Directory Worship with us Special Sections Classifieds ,'" 'N ,_. _ ,._._._.{._,_;.__." ~','; ': ,; ..~' .,',',.. -,.,' . ,_t ,. News Living Here Route 66 Religion Traffic State I Nation I World Weather Newsletters Special Reports Rancho Cucamonga Fontana/Rialto Chino Valley Jurupa Valley/NoreD Upland/Claremont Pomona/Diamond Bar La Verne/San Dimas Ontario/Montclair David Allen Our Past Sunday's Best Society Lottery Columnists Coffee Break Flash games Crickler Crossword Horoscopes Gossip Page 1 of3 NEWSPAPER ADSSU8SCRI8E I PERSONA~S s:1dnny if,..~ dipper LiVINGJOPIl-jjClNSTHIiA.C,.~ j-;:'LMl ~ EMAI~ ARTICLE I1J LINK TO ARTICLE g PRINT ARTICLE Article Published: Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 7:30:52 PM PST Families finding fewer alternatives By Michael Rappaport, Staff Writer ~ The affordable alternative is no more. According July numbers released Thursday by the California Association of Realtors, only 15 percent of would-be home buyers in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area could afford a median-priced home at $384,910. That's an all-time low for the area, and it's the first time local afford ability has fallen below the number for California as a whole, which stood at 16 percent in July. Given that afford ability is measured by qualifying for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at 5.73 percent and making a 20 percent down payment, the real numbers are probably even lower. "There is no question that affordability could get down to Single digits," said Jack Kyser. senior economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. "Some markets, such as Orange County (at 11 percent) are bouncing along sideways, so there is a feeling among some people that the market has peaked. "if that's true. we'll see more markets heading sideways." That's not the case locally, where affordability fell from 19 percent to 15 percent in the last 12 months, or In Los Angeles, where it fell from 17 percent to 14 percent. It certainly isn't true in the High Desert, which fell from 42 percent to 30 percent in the past year and remains the most affordable region in the state. "That's an area where a.lot of people have been buying the last couple of years," Kyser said. "So it's no real surprise to see those numbers dropping." With prices climbing for nearly nine years in most parts of the state, affordability has become a major issue. Even in the High Desert, with a median price of $298,950, a family Income well above the state median is needed. Particularly in the service portion of the economy, families are finding fewer and fewer places they can afford to live. Bill Ruh, government affairs director of the Citrus Valley Realtors Association, asks where they'll live. "It isn't fair to ask someone to commute from Banning to be a teacher or a firefighter in Claremont," he said. "These are issues that must be faced, whether it's by building housing designated as affordable or by offering 40- or 50-year mortgages to reduce the payments. "What the last decade has done is given us a generation that got rich on housing. But where will the next generation go to find its housing?" Bill Velto, manager of Tarbell Realtors in Upland, wonders what effect Hurricane Katrina will have in the short run. "Look what has happened to oil prices," he said. "We're supposed to see a 40 percent spike in gas prices. I don't know if that will cause anything dramatic in the short run, but I [ Yc: R Fi I II ,""'-':->'11 "<i,:,,';l H( -;;.:,;',:,: http://www.dailvbulletin.com/Stories/O.1413.203%7E21482%7E3046282.00.html?search= . 1 O/Ii/200'i DailyBulletin.com - Business Page 2 of3 . ,~.P,~:';~ ~h~~.I~nge Sports Lakers I NBA Dodgers I MLB Kings I NHL Galaxy Chivas USA use UCLA NFL Special Reports Prep Sports Sports Challenge Sports Columnists Other Sports r".JjQ~}~ ~132.~lD9_""."".,,,~_ v .._,~_.,,"~.;._"'~. :",.":.,-~-,-_ . ...c.:, U-Entertainment Film TV Music Gossip ".gi!)Lr}9.,-.. >,.:L<.,'::.'>C,.c- Living ,'.~ Y~~;:=^'~'" >-" Travel ':i~t~~i?:J;~.;.t ,"',.:._f':~:!f:": C:':i:~:~ ,::.~r: Food ;';.~'~L':;~,::'J('~:-~,.". ,_.. ., _.~':::-:t:'1 Health o ~::_i,:-:-I~~.].;:rr--.:.~,;;::.,Y::::::_ :::~-';~,:::;:~:-: Business YHu r.I..?~~s ;',\,-<,:_'-,.f._""J>. _'.;~':::.':l,,_.S, :.:~']':'.:.,., Opinions ;.c: :.:~'~~:,s::_~ Services ~--~ ,-.--....:... Subscribe Pay / Renew Vacation Holds Delivery Problems ~C~~~g~"gf~~[eg;7_" . _~.- Info~"'-~-'" ." - ~..-;.- .~,>,. - 4. do think the market will slow down by 2007 and we'll see price increases in the 3 (percent) to 5 percent range instead of what we have had." The affordability index has been as low as 14 percent statewide, and Velto agrees with Kyser that it can go lower. "I think if it drops below 10 percent, prices may start to come down." Michael Rappaport is business editor of the Daily Bulietin. He can be reached at (909) 483-9395 or at m_rappaport@daiiybulietin.com . ffJ RETURN TO TOP '>'.k< . Associate i~ Arts . . Bachelor of BusineSS Administration · Bachelor of Science _.-,."""-.(",_.""-_.,,,",.,,,-,.,-.., Sponsored Links -' Zip code directory Gift Baskets and Flowers Shima no Reels Animal & nature gifts . Master of Busihess Admihistration . Master of Science. . Master of Science i~ Professional Accouhting Las vegas hotels Vacations Mortages Debt Consolidation Full Color Printing Phentermine Auto insurance Payday Loan Office Partitioning Platinum Wedding Rin( Credit Repair Diamond Stud Earrings http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0.1413.203%7E21482%7E3046282.00.html?search=. .. 10/6/2005 , ,. Document Delivery Page I of3 INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to qO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) August24,2005 Section: News Local median home price nearly $385K Michael Rappaport, Staff Writer "No money down." "Special introductory rate - 1 percent." ''You can't afford NOT to buy now!" There's still heat in the housing market. So much so, that it may take Baker's famous thermometer to measure exactly how hot it is. "Experts told us that 2004 was going to be the biggest year ever," said Bill Velto, manager of Tarbell Realtors in Upland. "But at this point, 2005 looks even bigger. There is still plenty of money out there, interest rates are low and people are buying in droves." ~ d Prices, however, are any1hing but low. Numbers released Tuesday by the California Association of Realtors show that the median price of an existing, single-family detached home in the state during July was $540,900, a 17.1 percent increase from a year ago but a 0.4 percent drop-off from June's record $543,120. It's still nearly $80,000 more than a year ago, and that's one of the factors that continues to drive a housing surge that many people felt would be exhausted long ago. The scene locally is even more heated. The median for the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area hit a record $384,910, up 21.1 percent from a year ago, and 13 of 16 Inland Valley cities had prices above that. Eight local cities had median prices of half a million or more, with Claremont topping the list at $637,500. "Claremont has that wonderful image as a quiet college town," said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. "You have that rustic ambience yet you still have good access to downtown via Metrolink. "It used to be that school quality and public safety were the big factors, but access to mass rail transit is becoming more and more importan!." Of course, some folks see it differently. "If you own a home, this is great news," said Bill Ruh, government affairs director of the Citrus Valley Association of Realtors. "If you're trying to buy a home, it's not so great." At $637,500, Ruh noted, many of the people who would traditionally live in a city such as Claremont - including college professors - are being priced ou!. htto://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/ Archives70 action=doc&o docid=1 OC3 730E8620... 10/10/2005 I; Document Delivery Page 2 of3 . "You also have to ask where the people will come from to service this community," he said. "With gas pushing $3 a gallon, you can hardly ask people to commute from Banning to work here." Another question is how buyers can keep surfacing when affordability is at a record low of 16 percent statewide. At least in part, it's because of all the gimmick loans being offered by lenders who don't want to miss the run-up in prices. More than half of all buyers in San Diego this year have taken interest-only or adjustable-rate mortgages. Many of those loans were at 1 percent for the first year and will be changing next year. "Just looking at the data, even if rates don't go up, people will be paying a lot more when they have to roll interest- only loans over into fixed-rate mortgages," said regional economist John Husing. "If they got in at a payment that was 25 percent of their income, their new payment would be 42 percent." In general, these will be people who made no down payment and haven't paid anything on the principal. "They took out the loan hoping for gains in value," Husing said. "It all depends on when they did it. If it was a year or two ago, they may be OK. But if they did it last month, it's hard to say. My instinct is that we will see some loss of houses." With that in mind, Kyser has been urging people to get into fixed-rate mortgages. "I have my fingers crossed that the economy will remain strong," he said. "But in talking to a friend who is a m?rtgage broker, I got the same message - as soon as you can, get into a fixed-rate mortgage." ~ It's a message that isn't getting out there yet. . , C7 "A lot of the buyers I'm talking with are still doing adjustable-rate mortgages," said Veronica Siva of ReMax Legends in Rancho Cucamonga. "They're more concerned about prices going up than they are about the loans." Silva sees prices still climbing, particularly in the Inland Valley and the High Desert. "Even with the higher prices, this is still affordable housing to me and to the people who are looking," she said. "I tell them if they can ride the wave, ride it while they can." Velto says he sees some slowing in prices but doesn't really expect a drop-off to reasonable growth - 3 percent to 5 percent a year - until 2007. "Right now, people are still jumping on the bandwagon," he said. "But I do think people are being a little more careful. Properties are staying on the market longer and there's more inventory out there." Husing says that without an overriding external factor - the 21 percent prime rate of 1982 or the end of the Cold War in 1989 - it would be surprising to see a major drop in prices. "We have no factor like that now," he said. "So my instinct is that whatever happens would only be gradual, but that's just a guess." The median price of a home in Inland Valley cities in July, along with the percentage increase from July 2004. Chino $425,500 up 17.4 percent Chino Hills $555,000 up 20.7 percent Claremont $637,500 up 22.5 percent httn:1 In 1.newsbank.com/nl-searchlwel Archives?o action=doc&o docid= 1 OC3 73 OE8620... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page 3 of3 f Corona $507.500 up 17.7 percent . Diamond Bar $532.500 up 14.5 percent Fontana $390,000 up 30.0 percent La Verne $509,000 up 17.1 percent Mira Lorna $507.000 up 35.2 percent Montclair $392,000 up 23.5 percent Norco $575.000 up 22.3 percent Ontario $370,000 up 23.7 percent Pomona $375,000 up 25.0 percent Rancho Cucamon9a $478,500 up 24.9 percent Rialto $335,000 up 23.6 percent San Dimas $519.000 up 21.3 percent Upland $510,000 up 17.9 percent ~ U Sources: California Association of Realtors. Dataquick Information Services Michael Rappaport is business editor of the Daily Bulletin. He can be reached at (909) 483-9395 or m...:.rappaport@dailybulletin.com . (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by News Bank, Inc. __.J httn:llnl.newshank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?o action=doc&o docid=] OC3730E8620... ] 011 0/2005 \', Document Delivery Page I of3 INLAND VAllEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to QO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) August 5, 2005 Section: Pomona/Diamond Bar/La Verne/San Dimas Habitat fills void for families to get a home IMANI TATE, STAFF WRITER Operating in one of the state's highest priced real-estate regions, the Pomona Valley Habitat for Humanity network of volunteers satisfies some of the need for quality affordable housing. The objective of the La Verne- based nonprofit serving cities of Diamond Bar, Pomona, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, Montclair, Chino, Chino Hills, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Glendora, Covina, West Covina, Walnut and La Puente is the same as Habitat for Humanity International. "We help low-income families realize the joy of home ownership," said Pomona Valley Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Cyndi Torres. Q "Quality housing is always relevant," Torres said, "because people, families, need roots. Millard Fuller, a millionaire businessman, and his wife Linda founded Habitat for Humanity in 1976 in Americus, Georgia because he believed all people deserve a decent place to live. "He felt in this giant world of ours there is so much poverty, but if people and resources are pulled together no one has to live on the street or in deplorable housing conditions." This month, Habitat for Humanity International will dedicate its 200,OOOth house in Knoxville, Tenn. The milestone moment will be short-lived because officials have timed the completion of the No. 200,001 Habitat house in Sri Lanka to take place 24 minutes later. "Every 26 minutes, there's a Habitat house being built somewhere in the world," Torres proudly asserted. "I love saying that. That's very powerful - powerful for families who realize the dream of home ownership and powerful because it satisfies volunteers' need to do something meaningful in their respective communities." To achieve Fuller's dream within this region, the Habitat affiliate founded by the now late activist Syd Smith of Claremont in 1991 patterns projects on its international model. It uses an extensive network of volunteers drawn from every conceivable profession, business and walk of life, the "sweat equity" of new homeowners literally laboring to build their own and other families' houses, donations of dollars, services, skilled labor and materials by individuals, groups and businesses and unconventional funding techniques, Torres said. The Habitat is a nonprofit, Christian housing ministry "working in partnership with very low- to low-income families to improve their living conditions," she said. "Our goal is to eliminate poverty housing." Twenty-eight Habitat houses have been built in Chino, La Verne, Ontario, Upland, Montclair, San Dimas, Rancho Cucamonga and Pomona since 1991. Six more houses will be built this year in Claremont on donated land located on Claremont Boulevard between First and Huntington streets. httn://n1.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/ Archives?D action=doc&D docid=IOBCDBA1990... 10/1 0/2005 Document Delivery Page 2 of3 . The Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly called by its nickname Fannie Mae, will hold a golf and tennis tournament Sept. 1 and 2 at St. Regis Monarch Beach Golf Resort in Dana Point to raise additional funds for six Habitat affiliates in Los Angeles and Orange counties, including Pomona Valley. Persons wanting to participate may call Torres at (909) 596-7098 Ext. 202. Applicants for Habitat houses must currently reside in the Pomona Valley service area and be first-time homeowners. There are three other basic criteria. The first - need for adequate shelter - considers the condition of the applicant's current home and looks at hazardous conditions, overcrowded bedrooms, unsafe neighborhoods for children and other items relating to housing quality, Torres noted. The ability-to-pay criteria, she said, requires prospective homeowners to have an income of at least 30 percent but not more than 60 percent of the median income for families of comparable size in the county where the house will be built. The third mandatory criteria is the family's willingness to partner with Habitat volunteers. This "sweat equity" clause, Torres said, requires new Habitat homeowners to actually help build their houses. "Sweat equity doesn't just apply to the family that will own the house," she continued. "If the new Habitat homeowner is disabled, we can accommodate the partnership requirement with help from relatives, friends and co-workers. " The Habitat holds workshops for sweat equity. These workshops cover budgeting, home maintenance, code enforcement and a variety of topics which help assure successful home ownership, the director said. The workshop hours can also be translated into sweat equity hours, she added. 8 The Habitat acts as the mortgage company for its homeowners. "What keeps our homes affordable are the volunteer labor force which constructs the house, the donations of materials, land and money and a zero-percent interest loan from Habitat," Torres explained. "If you take it over a 3D-year mortgage, the principal remains affordable because of the zero interest." Torres cited several examples to make her financial point. A Montclair house finished in January 2005 was sold to the Habitat homeowner for $147,000. The female head- of-household with four children pays a monthly mortgage payment of approximately $740 for the four-bedroom, two-bath, 1 AOO-square-foot house. The last Chino Habitat house built was 1,100 square feet and had t1hree bedrooms and two baths. It was completed in early 2004 for parents with three boys and sold to the family for $137,000. A Pomona house for a divorcee with five children and a grandmother caretaker was sold for $150,000, assessed at $200,000 and has a $560 monthly mortgage. 'What's killing us is the property tax," Torres complained. "We can't control it and assessors do not give breaks to low-income households. They give breaks to disabled and senior citizens, but for the average low-income Habitat households there are no tax breaks. "So although a Habitat home is sold for cost since there are no development, building or materials' profit, the properties are assessed at comparable values in the neighborhoods where they're built." The Habitat is the lender or mortgage company, so it adjusts the mortgage terms to help families facing financial difficulties because of the property taxes. Its volunteer officers can extend the mortgage repayment period beyond the standard 3D-year period if necessary to additionally relieve pressure on the Habitat homeowner struggling to pay property taxes based on assessed valuation, she said. htto://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/ Archives?v action=doc&v docid=IOBCDBAI990... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page 3 of3 . The mortgage payments are recycled back into the Habitat's "revolving fund for humanity" to build more homes, Torres said. "The only costs we incur are the escrow fees," she added. "We do require up to a 2 percent down-payment on the cost of the home to cover the escrow. This aiso teaches them it's not a handout and to save money before they move in. We emphasize this is not a free home." The land donors can be private or public entities. The land for the six Claremont Habitat houses included the city of Claremont which donated surplus property, the Los Angeles Archdiocese and Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Claremont. Part of the area where the houses will stand was the site of Sacred Heart Catholic Church before Claremont Boulevard was extended. The Sacred Heart parish was absorbed into Our Lady of the Assumption with the street extension. Land donations for the Pomona Valley Habitat will be exhausted with the completion of construction of the Claremont sextet. Torres said the Habitat desperately needs land and also for local donors to give their contributions directly to the Pomona Valley affiliate. "Many Inland Valley residents contribute to Habitat for Humanity International which builds homes throughout the world," she said. "Many do not know the Pomona Valley Habitat exists and assists families in the local area. We want people to support international and local programs which improve housing conditions for families in need." Local donors can specify their dollars be applied to a particular local project. Those funds not designated for local use can be used to satisfy this Habitat's tithe to Habitat International. 8 "Ninety percent of the funds raised by Pomona Valley and other local chapters stay within the local area," Torres reported. "Ten percent goes to support Habitat International projects. People can commit to building houses locally as well as in Mexico or Sri Lanka." Imani Tate can be reached by email at Uate@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8544. (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. httn:llnl.newsbank.com/nl-search/wel Archives?o action=doc&o docid= I OBCDBA1990... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page I of2 INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to qO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) July 30, 2005 Section: Business Construction can't keep up with demand for housing Michael Rappaport Staff Writer It would appear that all the factors are in place - and have been for some time - for a "perfect storm" in housing construction. Prices in the state are at all-time highs. Mortgage rates remain at near-historic lows. The state's population is continuing to grow; in fact, one of every eight Americans lives in California. The California Association of Realtors estimates that if builders add 200,000 homes a year to existing inventory, all they will be doing is keeping up with population increases. Yet only once since 1989 -last year - has that goal been reached. Q Mostly, it's too many buyers with too many dollars chasing too few properties farther and farther out into previously uninhabited areas. It may be that the mid-20th century picture of new housing developments going up almost overnight is more Golden State dream than California reality, but there's no question supply isn't keeping up with demand anymore. There are numerous reasons for this, but there appear to be two that stand out above the others - American regulations and Japanese management. . A third, related reason - the scarcity of available lots in desirable locations - also plays into the hands of those who choose not to build. "Government regulations and high local fees are making our lives very difficult," said Frank Williams, chief executive officer of the Building Industry Association's Baldy View Chapter. "They're the No. 1 thing, and after that, you have to deal with environmental issues." In some local cities, all the fees and government regulation add as much as 10 percent to the cost of a house. They also make it easier for folks trying to prevent developers from coming into their cities. 'There are major parts of this state with very little construction going on," said regional economist John Husing. "That certainly isn't true in the Inland Empire, but if you look at cities like Santa Barbara and Ventura, where the NIMBYs dominate, housing is simply not being built." In areas such as those, environmental issues tend to come into play more, but there are very few cities willing - iet aione eager - to encourage developers to build so-called "affordable" housing. It's that end of the market in which shortages are the most desperate, with families looking for housing below the statewide median price of $542,720 forced into the High Desert or the Central Valley. That means people who work as the teachers and nurses, the police officers and firefighters in places such as httn:llnl.newsbank.comlnl-search/wel Archives?n action=doc&n docid= 1 OBAE 14C66FF... 10/1012005 Document Delivery Page 2 of2 Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles or Orange County can't afford to live where they work. . "That's something that simply isn't fair," said Bill Ruh, government affairs director of the Citrus Valley Association of Realtors. "Cities have to do a better job of making sure there is housing for these people who are so important to their communities." State law mandates that a certain percentage of new housing in a city be designated as "affordable," but some city officials have argued that this works against cities still growing and in favor of those already built out. For example, Chino Hills has a median price of $529,500 and is building the most expensive neighborhood in the Inland Valley. Vellano has a price range of $900,000 to above $2 million, the kind of development any city would love to have. But that raises the question of where the affordable housing is, and why Chino Hills should have to carry the burden for other cities. "One thing we can do is make it more attractive for cities and for developers," said Steve Johnson, director of the Inland Empire office of real estate think tank Metrostudy Inc. "Maybe we allow them to avoid certain fees, or to build at a slighUy greater density when they're doing affordable housing." In a way, though, developers have been reluctant to get out ahead of the curve and take chances. That's where the Japanese management technique comes in. For the last generation or so, the concept of "Just in Time" inventory has taken hold in this country. Businesses don't keep a large supply of products in warehouses; they order products that will show up just before they need them. o Developers have been trying to do the same thing ever since an economic downturn in Uhe '90s left them with newly built, unsold houses on their hands. "Look at companies like KB Home," said Bill Velto, manager of Tarbell Realtors in Upland. "They don't build homes anymore until someone puts a deposit down. You buy a house from them, and it may be 10 months till it's ready for you to move in." With land prices what they are, and building costs climbing all the time, there's just too much money involved to build a house and then wait for it to sell. "It's harder to stay ahead of the market Uhe way things are these days," Williams said. "You don't see very much built on spec anymore; most everything is presold." It makes sense. With prices what they are, with even the High Desert at a median of $290,510, a developer would. much rather build the last houses that do sell than the first ones that don't. Whether it's government interference, environmental concerns, NIMBYism or Just in Time building, they all serve as inhibitors to developers. "You definitely get some unintended consequences," Husing said. "You're telling the middle class, "You're not going to own your own homes.''' Michael Rappaport Is business editor of the Daily Bulletin. He can be reached at (909) 483-9395 or bye-mail at m_rappaport@dailybulletin.com. (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. httu:l/nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/ Archives?u action=doc&u docid= 1 OBAE14C66FF... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page I of2 INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to qO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) July 19, 2005 Section: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin House prices soar again Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer San Bernardino County homeowners continued their wild ride in June as median home prices hit a record high for the fifth time this year. The median price for a home in the county hit $322,000, up 30.9 percent from the $246,000 registered in June 2004, DataQuick Information Systems reported Monday. Homeowners like Tracy Shaw have benefited from soaring home prices, which have allowed them to tap the equity to payoff other bills and buy larger houses. G Shaw, a San Bernardino Fire Department employee, and his wife, Rebecca, a San Bernardino schoolteacher, recently sold their four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Highland for $368,000 which they had purchased seven years ago for $129,000. Proceeds from the sale have allowed them to buy a five-bedroom, three-bathroom house in Redlands. "It's crazy. I would have never dreamed it would have appreciated as much as it has. It's almost like hitting a minor prize in the Lotto," Tracy Shaw said. DataQuick analyst John Karevoll said he believes the June numbers may be the last time the year-over-year appreciation rate registers in the 30 percent range. The market will likely cool down to annual appreciation rates in the 20 percent range later this summer and perhaps drop into the teens this fall. A slight cooldown occurred in most of the Southland this June, Karevoll said. When San Bernardino and Riverside counties are factored out, year-over-year home price appreciation in Southern California slowed to 12.3 percent, the lowest since November 2001, he said. Although appreciation rates slowed down, every Southland county hit a record median price in June. Orange County's median crossed the $600,000 mark for the first time, registering $603,000, Karevoll said. San Bernardino County's median topped $300,000 for the first time in April. A wide variation in the year-over-year price increases reflects how far along individual markets are in their local cycle, said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president, in a prepared statement. San Diego County, which started seeing double-digit price increases in early 2000, last month saw a modest 6.3 percent price gain. htto://n1.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/ Archives?o action=doc&o docid=l OB75F268EF A... 10/1 0/2005 Document Delivery Page 2 of2 In San Bernardino County, double-digit increases started in rnid 2002. . Despite dramatically rising prices, San Bernardino and Riverside counties both set records for the number of homes sold. The 4,700 homes sold last month in San Bernardino County demolished the previous high mark of 4,335, which was set in July 2004. "Demand is just tremendous," said Bill Velto, broker for Tarbell Realty in Upland. "I don't see a slowdown barring some sort of catastrophe. Because of the price of oil and the stock market, people are still looking at real estate." Danny Q. Ta, owner of Phoenix Realty & Mortgage in San Bernardino, said there is a shortage of affordable housing for people who live in San Bernardino County, but many people who live in Orange or Los Angeles counties are coming here to buy houses. "Prices here look a lot lower than in their neck of the woods," Ta said. The typical monthly mortgage payment that San Bernardino County homeowners committed themselves to paying last month was a record $1,399, up from $1,370 in May and $1,168 in June 2004, 'Karevoll said. (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. Q http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p _ action=doc&p _ docid= 1 OB75F268EF A... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page 1 of3 INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to 00 back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) June 24, 2005 Section: Business Limited housing supply boosts prices Michael Rappaport Staff Writer It was just 30 days ago that the median price of a California home topped half a million dollars for the first time. A month later, $500,000 is beginning to look perfectly normal, with six cities in the "affordable" Inland Valley equaling or topping that level. Statewide, the median climbed 2.5 percent to $522,590 in May, although sales fell by 2.1 percent for the month in numbers released Thursday by the California Association of Realtors. Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president and chief economist for the association, suggested that part of the problem with sales was that there simply aren't that many homes on the market. Q "Inventory levels, which have been at or above three months since July 2004, fell below three months beginning in March and have ranged between 2.6 and 2.8 months since that time," Appleton-Young said. ''While not at the record low levels we experienced earlier last year, the tight inventory of homes for sale has impacted sales over the past couple of months." Locally, sales were off even more. Although the median home price in the Riverside-San Bernardino area came in at $364,700, up 24.9 percent from a year ago, sales were down 8.4 percent from May 2004. The High Desert had the hottest market statewide with prices climbing 31.7 percent to $282,510 and sales rising 34.4 percent from a year ago. 'That's where the affordable housing is," said Bill Velto, managing broker for Tarbell Realtors in Upland. "But also look at cities like San Bernardino ($238,500, up 42.2 percent) and Redlands ($340,500, up 29.3 percent). The prices are good and there's a buzz. People are excited." People are certainly excited in Chino Hills, Claremont, La Verne, Norco, San Dimas and Upland - the six Inland Valley cities where the median reached $500,000 or higher. With five other local cities - Chino, Corona, Diamond Bar, Mira Loma and Rancho Cucamonga - all above $400,000, "affordability" has headed east. For many of the people who work in and around those cities, that's hardly good news. "We have a serious supply problem, particularly in the iow end of the market," said Bill Ruh, government affairs director of the Citrus Valley Association of Realtors. "There are a lot of middle-income earners, people like teachers, who won't be able to afford to live anywhere near where they work." Earlier this week, economist Jack Kyser of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. suggested that the upper leveis of the market could be starting to slow. http://nl.newsbankcom/nl-search/we/ Archives?p _ action=doc&p _ docid= 1 OAF03 CF793 7... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page 2 oD Thursday's numbers - at least locally - seemed to bear that out. With the exception of Norco, which saw a 34 percent bump to $592,500, the other five cities in the half-million range all had increases of less than 20 percent. Meanwhile, the five lowest-priced cities in the valley all saw increases of 25 percent or more. With the statewide median moving well above half a million, CAR President Jim Hamilton said "eroding affordability and concerns about rising interest rates are constraining sales." Tarbell's Velto has worked in Upland since 1991, and he says he could never have imagined that the City of Gracious Living would someday have a median of $504,000. "No way," he said. "When I came here in the early '90s, prices were on the down slide. The prices we have now just were not imaginable then." City-by-city median home prices for Inland Valley cities in May 2005, along with the percentage increase in the prices since May 2004: Chino $421,500 up 16.8 percent Chino Hills $530,000 up 18.7 percent Claremont $525,000 up 6.1 percent Corona $485,000 up 13.6 percent Diamond Bar $489,000 up 13.2 percent , Q Fontana $360,000 up 28.6 percent La Verne $519,500 up 11.5 percent Mira Loma $467,500 up 29.9 percent Montclair $360,000 up 23.1 percent Norco $592,500 up 34.0 percent Ontario $350,000 up 24.8 percent Pomona $350,500 up 25.2 percent Rancho Cucamonga $448,000 up 21.1 percent Rialto $320,000 up 28.0 percent San Dimas $500,000 up 12.3 percent Upland $504,000 up 17.3 percent Michael Rappaport is business editor of the Daily Bulletin. He can be reached at (909) 483-9395 or at m_rappaport@dailybulletin.com . (cl 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, http://nl.newsbank.comlnl-searchlwe/ Archives?p action=doc&p docid= 1 OAF03 CF793 7... 10/1 012005 Document Delivery Page 1 of2 Ii INLAND VALLEY Daily Bulletin Click here to QO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) Ju ne 8, 2005 Section: News Montclair OKs housing ordinance Edward Barrera, Staff Writer MONTCLAIR - Tempers flared at Monday's City Council meeting over a housing ordinance that Councilman Bill Ruh derisively called "price control" and detrimental to rectifying the lack of affordable housing in the city. The city passed an inclusionary housing ordinance, with Ruh the only "no' vote, that would require developers to either build affordable homes on part of their project or pay a fee to the city to subsidize the mandated housing requirement. While Ruh blasted other council members and city staff for continuing to make it even more difficult for low- income families to buy homes in the city, Mayor Pro Tem John Dutrey said carefuily planned growth, both high and low density, would forestall any future problems while eventually alleviating the housing shortage. ~ CJ "The city is mandated to have affordable housing, so eventually, through taxpayers, the city will have to foot the bill if developers don't," Dutrey said Tuesday. State law requires that at least 15 percent of all new or substantially rehabilitated units must be affordable to low- lo-moderale income households. The ordinance must pass again at the next council meeting, and it would take effect 30 days later. Ruh said the ordinance is one more regulation passed by the city that strangles the development of more low- income housing. "This is nothing but glorified rent control," he said Tuesday. "I think this ordinance is coming right now because they don't want to give developers a chance to make any more affordable housing. This way it will never be' built." According to the city, the proposal can create affordable housing without creating islands of low-income communities, and thus alleviate the financial impact on the city. It also attracts more residents to a specific area that wo'uld allow for mixed-use and transit-oriented development the exact reason the ordinance was pushed forward now, said City Manager Lee McDougal. Staff are currently proposing a high-density transit community for north Montclair, near Montclair Plaza, where more than 1,500 units could be built. McDougal said without requiring some type of affordable housing construction or fee, which couid turn out to be between $20,000 to $30,000 per unit, the city would be forced to spend millions of dollars out of its redevelopment funds. Those funds are paid out of property taxes. Even with the fee, the city will still see a financial impact, he said. http://nl.newsbank.comlnl-search/we/Archives?p action=doc&p docid=l OA9BDCB 12A... 10/1 0/2005 Document Delivery Page 2 of2 .') Ruh said studies show that inclusionary zoning creates too few affordable homes, forces buyers of the market- value units to subsidize others, and doesn't create home equity, State law requires any affordable housing unit included under this ordinance to be kept affordable for more than 40 years, With a final adoption, a consultant, at an estimated cost of between $5,000 and $10,000, will be retained to determine the fee. - Edward Barrera can be reached bye-mail at edward.barrera@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9356. (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. Q http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p action=doc&p docid= 1 OA9BDCB 12A... 10/10/2005 , Document Delivery Page 1 of3 INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to 00 back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) June 7, 2005 Section: News Study finds more Inland Valley residents going hungry L. C. Greene, Staff Writer A growing number of low-income Inland Valley residents are having a tough lime putting food on the table or are actually going hungry, according to the findings of a university research effort being released today. More than 1.3 million residents of San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties were struggling to afford food in 2003, a roughly 11 percent jump above 2001 numbers, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research survey found. For the three-county area, that means 130,000 more low-income people Q Low-income people struggling to buy food 2001 2003 . Los Angeles County 886,000 957,000 . Riverside County 125,000 145,000. San Bernardino County 148,000 188,000' California 2,536,000 2,926,000 Low-income people going hungry . Los Angeles County 240,000 287,000' Riverside County 39,000 http://nl.newsbank.comlnl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p _ docid= 1 OA9696958B55... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page 2 of3 47,000' San Bernardino County . 44,000 50,000 . California 720,000 892,000 Source: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research More info onlne: . UCLA Report on hunger. . Preventing Hunger - A Valley Interfaith Council Initiative . National Awareness Day joined the ranks of what researchers call the "food insecure" during the two-year period. Statewide, the numbers climbed by about 15 percent. "It seems to be a worse change in California than elsewhere in the nation," said Gail Harrison, a UCLA Community Health Sciences professor and lead investigator for the study. In a further breakdown of the numbers, the survey found more people specifically going hungry: 47,000 more in Los Angeles County, 6,000 more in San Bernardino County and 8,000 more in Riverside County between 2001 and 2003. Factors contributing to the increased numbers of food-insecure people and families included a rising r'\ unemployment rate during that period, as well as the ballooning costs of basic necessities such as transportation, '<::::..;I health care, child care and especially housing, the report found. Between 2000 and 2003, rents rose by more than 50 percent in some parts of the state, the study noted. Low-income families often are forced to make tough decisions in their household budgets, said Wytske Visser, executive director for the Inland Valley Council of Churches, which provides food assistance. "They either pay the rent or gas or child care or food," she said. "Food will stretch a lot easier." The council's hunger program has seen more people, particularly the working poor, asking for help, Visser said. 'They just can't make it a whole month without coming to a food security site," she said.' The Second Harvest Food Bank of Riverside and San Bernardino counties also has witnessed a similar trend, with rising numbers from among the working poor. "There is an increasing problem," Second Harvest executive director Daryl Brock said. Additionally, more families with children and more senior citizens appear to be showing up at local soup kitchens and food pantries, he said. Some of the blame lies with federal assistance programs that have not kept pace with the rising cost of living, Brock said. Isaac Vega of the Beta Center food pantry in Pomona said he's actually seen a reverse trend during the past year, with fewer people seeming to need groceries. The sudden drop could indicate rising employment, he said. http://nl.newsbank.com/nI-search/we/Archives?p action=doc&p docid=IOA9696958B55... 10/1 0/2005 Document Delivery Page 3 of3 o At Gap Food Bank Ministries in Rancho Cucamonga, the numbers have remained steady during the past several years, ministry director Pari Blackman said. The agency provides food for about 350 families a week. Many served by the food bank are single mothers who work in the service industry or other low-paying jobs. "It's kind of tough to make it on minimum wage," Blackman said. According to the UCLA study, more than 40 percent of low-income pregnant women were concerned about getting enough to eat. "It's particularly worrisome that it's affecting a large number of pregnant women," Harrison said. The UCLA study concluded its report with public policy recommendations to alleviate the growing problem. The study's authors called for an increase in the state minimum wage, increases in public assistance programs and more affordable housing. The center also advocated boosting participation in federally funded nutrition efforts such as school breakfast and lunch programs and the underutilized federal food stamp program. The university's research effort extracted the findings from the most recent California Health Interview Survey. Low-income people and families were defined as those with incomes of less than twice the federal poverty level, which for 2005 translated to individuals earning less than about $20,000, or less than about $40,000 for a family of four. - L.C. Greene can be reached bye-mail at Lgreene@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9337. Q (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. R'eproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. http://nl.newsbank.comlnl-search/we/Archives?p action=doc&p docid=10A9696958B55... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page 1 of2 INLAND VALLEY e Daily Bulletin Click here to QO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) May 29, 2005 Section: News Housing price tags highlight needs Edward Barrera Staff Writer UPLAND - Low-income housing advocates see a silver lining in the scorching housing market: buzz. As working- class professionals, such as nurses and teachers, are being squeezed out of the market, cities are being forced to come up with solutions to provide more housing, benefiting not only those with moderate incomes but those with low incomes as well. Prices have nearly doubled in the past three years in the Inland Valley area, hovering at a median of $362,780. Statewide that mark has briefly stopped at $509,230, and no one expects it to ease up anytime soon. ~\ d "There has been a buzz on the inability of low-to-mid income earners to buy a home that has reached Congress," said Linda Couch, deputy director of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. "The housing crisis is so widespread that it has affected people in all income groups. We think it has trickled down to help people." The outcry has pushed a House committee, as it is restructuring Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac - the two biggest u.s. buyers of home mortgages, to put forward a proposal to dedicate between $400 million to $600 million a year to assist low-income buyers, Couch said. In addition, the companies, created by Congress to keep mortgage rates low, would also be allowed to buy bigger mortgage loans - the nationwide limit is now $359,650 - in high-cost states such as California. The restructuring will now be voted on by the full House, and the Senate will be reviewing similar legislation in the next few months. The Inland Valley area is a perfect example of that crisis, with only 24 percent of residents being able to afford to purchase a median-priced home, said Clemente Mojica, director of the Neighborhood Housing Services of the Inland Empire. "It's not a poor man's problem anymore," he said. "We are getting recent college students making decent money, $50,000 to $55,000, who are being priced out." The low-income level in the Inland Valley is a family of four earning approximately $48,900, Mojica said. Mojica's organization has a low-income homeownership program that provides education and financial assistance for new buyers in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The housing shortage in the state has been a major contributor to the spiraling house costs, said affordable housing advocates. In California during the 1980s, 2.1 million houses were buiit and that production level dropped by nearly 50 percent in the 1990s with the greatest gap in the development of muitifamily homes. Montclair Councilman Bill Ruh has continually criticized the city and state for not creating development of more affordable housing. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p action=doc&p docid= 1 OA6720C5 8D5... 10/10/2005 Do<eument Delivery Page 2 of2 o "We need to ease up on the restrictions we put on developers," Ruh said. "Communities need to start rezoning land, working on partnerships with developers and finding what incentives they want. Developers are building what cities are allowing them to build." Housing advocates said there are a variety of funding programs, including funding provided by a statewide bond passed in 2002, and cities are being more active in easing the financial gap. But more subsidies are needed, they said. It's an argument that rankles John Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. "The best thing government can do is to get the heck out of the way," he said. "More regulations are an obstacle. The harder you make it to build housing, the more expensive it is going to be." The Associated Press contributed to this story. Edward Barrera can be reached bye-mail at edward.barrera@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9356. (cl 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. o http://nl.newsbank.comlnl-search/we/Archives?p action=doc&p docid= 1 OA6720C58D5... 10/10/2005 c, Document Delivery Page lof2 i INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to ao back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) May 17, 2005 Section: Business Home median price exceeds 300K Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer Only 15 months ago, Highland resident Gary Long was renting a two-bedroom house. Now he owns four homes worth more than $1.3 million. Long borrowed money from family and friends to buy his first home. And he's been riding the home appreciation boom ever since. On Monday the median price for new and existing homes in San Bernardino County crossed $300,000 for the first time. o "Some people are going to be pleased. Some are going to be disturbed," said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. One of the key selling points for the region is its affordable housing. But as home prices soar, the affordable edge is slipping away, Kyser said. The median price of a San Bernardino County home sold in April reached $304,000, up 32.8 percent from the $229,000 median 12 months earlier, DataQuick Information Systems reported Monday. Despite rising prices, homes sales remain at record levels in San Bernardino County. The 4,007 homes sold in San Bernardino County last month is a record number for an April, said John Karevoll, a DataOuick analyst. Last month's sales were 1.3 percent more than 12 months earlier. Across Southern California, however~ home sales decreased 4.5 percent. In San Diego County sales were down 12.3 percent while Riverside County saw a 6.5 percent decline from year-ago levels. Median home prices also set records in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Marshall Prentice, DataOuick president, said the main reason for the sales decline across Southern California is an inventory shortage. Bill Velto, broker for Tarbell Realty in Upland, said inventory is so tight he has been seeing instances where there are 10 to 15 offers on one property. / ''There is a huge demand for houses," he said. As for San Bernardino crossing the $300,000 mark, Velto said: "I'm surprised it took this long." http://nl.newsbank.comlnl-search/we/Archives?p action=doc&p docid= 1 OA27D8BB5B... 10/1 0/2005 Document Delivery Page 20f2 t. Vaughn Bryan, president of Redlands-based Century 21 Lois Lauer Realty, said that his firm is not seeing as many multiple offers as this time last year, but the market is clearly strong. . "The real problem is getting a first-time homebuyer into something. There is no product out there," he said. Karevoll said that San Bernardino County home prices will continue to climb rapidly for some time. "We are still in a catch-up situation," he said, noting that the county was the last area in the state to recover from the real estate downturn of the 1990s. Although many San Bernardino County residents are priced out of the home market, new buyers are coming into the area from other counties, he said. A recent survey found that only 17 percent of the county's households could afford the median-priced home. Once the price-catch up period ends, home prices will continue to increase through normal appreciation, Karevoll said. Multiple homeowner Long is currently fixing up two Highland homes for rental and is looking to buy one more. He lives in one Highland and is renting a home he recently bought in San Bernardino. "If I would have waited to buy a house (the first one) any longer, I would have never been able to afford one," Long said. . "I think it is awesome that there is this way to make money. You just need to get the first house," he said. Q The typical monthly mortgage payment that San Bernardino County homebuyers committed themselves to paying was $1,379 last month, down from $1,383 in March and up from $1,041 in April 2004, Karevoll said. Adjusted for inflation, current payments are about 8 percent below their peak in spring 1989, he said. (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. http://nI.newsbank.com/nl-searchlwe/Archives?p action=doc&p docid=10A27D8BB5B... 1011 0/2005 Document Delivery Page 1 of2 INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to qo back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) April 8, 2005 Section: Business Fewer qualify for median-priced homes Michael Rappaport Staff Writer The Inland Empire has long been the source of affordable housing for California buyers. Those days are disappearing fast, according to numbers released Thursday by the California Association of Realtors. While 19 percent of families in the state could afford to buy a median-priced home in February, only 17 percent qualified for such homes in the RiversideVounty-San Bernardino County area during the same month. _ "Inland Empire housing affordability is certainly not what it was," said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. "When you look at the kind of housing being built out there, particularly in Riverside County, builders are trying to attract more executives with higher-priced homes." d Couple that with a jump in the median price of existing homes locally from $254,570 in February 2004 to $342,120 this year and affordability plummeted from 32 percent a year ago to an all-time low of 17 this year. ''The situation isn't improving," said Steve Johnson, director of Riverside-based Metrostudy, a real estate think tank. "The market is like a patient who needs immediate attention in the emergency room, but there's nothing that can be done in the short term to help. ''There is just not enough affordable housing available anywhere in the marketplace." Indeed, if current trends continue, the median price in Riverside-San Bernardino will pass Sacramento, Palm Springs-Lower Desert and Northern California within the next year. The 17 percent affordability is already lower than Sacramento and Northern California and even with Los Angeles. "Land prices locally are really being driven up," Johnson said. "If a builder wants to put together homes for less than $300,000, there's nowhere possible unless you go way out there toward Barstow." Closer in, the market remains brutally tight. Bill Velto, manager of Tarbell Realtors in Upland, said he just closed escrow on a 2,036 square foot home in Upland for $675,000 and on a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo in Rancho Cucamonga for $220,000. "People have money, and they can't get properties because there are none on the market," he said. "That's a disaster. The market is so tight that affordability could go even lower than it has." In the past, when affordability fell below 20 percent, the market corrected itself because there were too few buyers. This time, Velto says, there are so many buyers pursuing so few properties that the old rules aren't working. "It's all about supply and demand," he said. "Anything that is priced anywhere within reason is selling. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see affordability hit single digits before this is over." http://nl.newsbank.comlnl-search/we/Archives?p action=doc&p docid= 1 095A2C3E44D... 10/1 0/2005 Document Delivery Page 2 of2 . - Michael Rappaport is business editor of the Daily Bulletin. He can be reached at (909) 483-9395 or bye-mail m Jappaport@dailybulletin.com. (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. Q http://nl.newsbank.comlnl-searchlwe/Archives?p action=doc&p docid= I 095A2C3E44D... 10/10/2005 Document Delivery Page lof2 . INLAND VALLEY . Daily Bulletin Click here to qO back to search results. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) February 12, 2005 Section: News Inland influx holds strong HARRISON SHEPPARD Staff Writer Population growth in the Inland Empire continues to boom as more people flee coastal California for affordable areas such as Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to the state's latest population figures. Riverside County had the state's fastest rate of growth in the past year, 4.45 percent, and San Bernardino was sixth at 3.22 percent. The state average was 1.67 percent. Meanwhile, Los Angeles County experienced only 1 .32 percent growth and is expected to continue slowing in coming decades. Q "Some of the fastest-growing areas are areas that could be termed suburban areas," said Mary Heim, head of the Department of Finance demographic research unit. "They're areas that have more affordable housing than the ultra-urban big cities." California's population overall grew this past year by 1.67 percent, to 36,590,814 people. Riverside County's population grew to 1,846,095 people and San Bernardino County's climbed to 1,930,416. According to the state's long-term projections, California is expected to have 54.8 million people by 2050, an annual growth rate of 1.2 percent. Los Angeles County is projected to have 11.4 million people, a growth rate of 0.4 percent. Heim said several factors are driving the growth pattern. One is the difference in real-estate prices between coastal and inland California. The median price of a home in Los Angeles County was $463,450 as of December, according to the California Association of Realtors, while it was only $327,210 in the counties of Riverside and San Bernardino. In Ventura County, the median was $612,460. The statewide median was $474,480. "It really has exacerbated the affordability crisis in California," said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist with the CAR. "One way to address it is to look at condos. Another way is to look at neighborhoods that have been abandoned and reclaimed -look downtown, look at loft development. Another way is to look further and further out and endure longer commutes. Another option is to leave the state." Heim said another factor is that birth rates are slowing, particularly among Hispanics, who make up a significant percentage of Los Angeies County's population. Greater numbers of Hispanic females are reaching higher levels of educational attainment and labor force participation, both factors that tend to match a drop in fertility rates, she said. In Mexico, as well, fertility rates have been dropping, she noted. Los Angeles County's population also has been getting older, as its school-age population drops and work-force size remains nearly stagnant. Enrollment in grades 1-8 dropped by 12,000 students over the prior year, while the http://n1.newsbank.comlnl-search/we/Archives?paction=doc&pdocid=1083E68D650E...10/l 0/2005 Document Delivery Page 2 of2 . senior citizen population grew by 8,000, according to Finance Department senior demographer Linda Gage. The labor force increased by only 2,000. Since 1999, Los Angeles County has added 785,000 people, although each year the amount of growth has decreased. For example, from 1999 to 2000, the county added 184,000 people. That figure decreased every year, so that it added only 132,000 in the past year. Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography at the University of Southern California, said immigration to the state, and particuiarly Los Angeles, has slowed because immigrants are becoming more aware of other parts of the country that are attractive and less expensive. At first the decline was sparked by the recession of the early 1990s, he said, but after the economy improved, immigrants did not return in the same numbers they had during the previous decade, as they learned of places with cheaper housing and better jobs in other parts of the country. "California doesn't have the same appeal it once had," Myers said. "Our studies show there has been a turnaround in California immigration and the immigrants are now spreading out across America." Harrison Sheppard can be reached bye-mail atharrison.sheppard@dailynews.com . (c) 2005 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. All rights reserved. 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