City of Los Angeles Tops 4 Million For First Time: Big Increase Coming from Multi-Family Units and the Renting Revolution.
The renting revolution continues in Los Angeles. For the first time in history the City of Los Angeles tops 4 million people. Much of this growth of course is being supported by sardine like living in multi-family units. Which of course, is only going to add to additional traffic congestion. But who cares! Prices went up and that is all that matters. Quality of life be dammed. L.A. is consistently ranked as one of the worst places for traffic in the entire country. House horny enthusiasts of course will try to use this data as some kind of great thing but in reality, even for those buying homes in the city you will still need to access those roadways which are now going to have more people on them. And yes, it is very likely those people are going to be renters since L.A. and L.A. County in general is a renting majority county. It is amazing to see the population of L.A. now top 4 million. I can’t wait to jump on the 405, 10, and 5 freeways with all these new people!
L.A. growing and traffic only to get worse
There is a number of crap shack shoppers that have an idealized vision of what it is to own a home. They think that they will access the beach quickly. Not going to happen and try going on a weekend when families are free. Going to Big Bear when we have that rare snow storm? Just give it a go and see how easy it is. I’ve gone multiple times this way and it feels like you are in a line for a Disneyland ride which doesn’t make it all that great after a brutal drive up highways crowded with L.A. drivers. It is great during the work week but most people can’t take advantage of that because they are working and slaving away trying to make the mortgage on their crap shack or pay the rent.
The population is growing:
But of course, the large growth is coming from those unable to afford crap shacks. Therefore, multi-family unit housing is kicking butt and more rentals are in the making:
“(LAist) Of particular interest is the continued growth of multi-family housing over single-family housing in both the city and the county of L.A.
According to Schwarm, there has been more multi-family housing than single-family housing built in the area for the past four years, but prior to that—except for a single year in the 1970s—L.A has always seen a majority of single-family housing being built. Perhaps things are finally a-changing.â€
They are a-changing. This area is going to get a whole lot more crowded. Traffic is only going to get worse. Unless you plan on staying put in your tiny little bubble, you will need to venture out of your confined zone. All those benefits of being in L.A. require you to drive. The trend over the last decade has been very clear and that is L.A. is undergoing a major renting revolution.
You also have Millennials unable to rent moving back home with parents which I’m sure will add to housing density. It might be surprising to hear what cities are booming.
In L.A. County the fastest growing city was Vernon, growing at a rate of 72 percent. Here is nice affordable place for you in Vernon:
1410 E 66th St, Los Angeles, CA 90001
2 beds, 1 bath listed at 792 square feet
You have an old school owner here:
“Rare opportunity to tailor make this charming Craftsman style home the home of your dreams! Needs some real TLC, however a great palette to work from. Same owner for 61 years with many great memories. Great walk score and steps away from major shopping and good schools.â€
Good schools?
Not exactly. But for the $199,000 sticker price for the fastest growing city in L.A. County you need to shut your mouth and be thankful you can afford something. Just don’t have kids and don’t send them to school here. You also need to be mindful of the factories and businesses around:
“(LA Times) The first Zoila Meeks heard about pollution from a Vernon battery recycler was when workers showed up at her Boyle Heights home last month and asked to dig up her yard to test for lead.
They found it, and now Meeks and dozens of other residents in this quiet neighborhood of tree-lined streets tucked near the Los Angeles River are left wondering whether their health has been threatened, and what is going to happen to their homes.â€
At least you get a nice hipster kitchen:
Viva la renting revolution in L.A. County! If you notice traffic is worse and you are wondering why, wonder no more. Things are just getting more crowded. And if you think crowded always equals better living, just look at São Paulo, Mexico City, or many of the mega cities in China. Don’t believe me? Take a trip there and drive around. Do you look forward to this?
I’m sure the house horny brigade just can’t wait to spend 2 hours in traffic so they can arrive to their World War II built crap shack.
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106 Responses to “City of Los Angeles Tops 4 Million For First Time: Big Increase Coming from Multi-Family Units and the Renting Revolution.”
LA is a third world shithole except for parts of Malibu and Santa Monica then you are talking 20MM for a place to live! Sadly, the same is happening quickly to Orange county and San Diego.
You’re being kind. Its more like some bizarro yet to be defined 4th world dump where for some reason its inhabitants trick themselves into thinking its a great place and everyone wants to live in its misery. Maybe there’s something in the water or the chem trails that makes people buy into that nonsense. I lived in San Diego for 17 years (bailed Cali 10 years ago) and I hated just driving through LA to visit family up north. Its a depressing dump.
Viva la (renting) revolution!
for some reason its inhabitants trick themselves into thinking its a great place and everyone wants to live
It’s the Hollywood Effect. The world is inundated with magazine, websites, and TV talk shows featuring celebrities who live in Los Angeles. Beautiful people eating at chic Sunset Strip bistros, swimming on Malibu beach, holding pool parties up in the Hollywood Hills, walking the red carpet outside a Walk of Fame premiere film screening.
Los Angeles looks so glamorous on TV. Palm trees silhouetted against a golden sunset. Even the L.A. basin looks glamorous from a distance, when it’s night and you see that vast streetlight grid stretching into the horizon.
And the streets are NEVER crowded on TV. The hero can always find a parking spot, right in front of whichever building he’s driving to. Bank robbers always find empty streets, so there’s no traffic to hinder any high-speed car chases.
True, the last few years I was in SoCal I traveled a lot for work and I remember one business host in Ohio telling me how pissed he was when he took his family out to LA for a visit and they jumped in the ocean and almost got hypothermia. No doubt Point Break or Baywatch brainwashed him into thinking the ocean in Cali was pleasantly warm. Knowing LA I always get a kick when I see a picture of LA on one of the few clear days of the year – always after a good rain – where you can actually see downtown from more than a few miles away.
Second the motion for a new category of 4th world craphole. I lived in LA for years and was so happy to move out. I worked downtown where I got to hear protest after protest from people who illegally came to this country and are demanding (not asking) for benefits and citizenship. I am pretty liberal and my parents are LEGAL immigrants from Ireland – but WTF? Traffic enforcement is simply to raise revenue I have a radar detector but got pulled for going 5mph over by pacing? Really? Parking is a nightmare. I enjoyed early morning bike rides on the Santa Monica pathway. Later in the day it is too crowded but it is one of the few places you can work out and not feel as though you are smoking a cigarette at the same time. The jobs pay a bit better than flyover states but not enough to put up with all the b.s. The dating scene sucks. The summers are insanely hot and the weather is getting weirder all the time. Overall you put up with a lot of crap to live in a state where the salaries suck, job opportunities suck, state government sucks, and there are few cultural activities.
Hah dating in LA is hilarious. Woman feel they deserve all the glamour cause they are all that. But beyond their rated 5 looks, they have nothing going on mentally or any hobbies. It’s all Netflix and beauty products. Woman also feel so empowered as they do make mostly decent money, so they express there independence..by flaunting big – cars, vacation, etc. Then the other side you got a crap load of beta males that have no idea how to deal with these new independent woman, so they do nothing! I’m really thinking of moving somewhere else where conventional dating happens. Good luck dating in LA.
Totally agree. LA is a incredible playground for the uber-rich and a Tijuana sh*thole for everyone else.
And speaking of rain. Here in San Diego we’re advised to avoid the beaches for 3 days after it rains due to high bacterial and chemicals flowing into the ocean from inland.
The only way this balloon will ever stop expanding is if there a major economic upheaval, which I think is coming soon…hence JT, water/environmental issues, earthquake, famine or all of the above.
You don’t know what you are talking about. I’ve lived in some real shit-holes during my life such as Jackson, Mississippi or Memphis, Tennessee, and driven through a whole lot of even worse ones like Gary, Indiana, Detroit, and parts of Chicago.
L.A. is cosmopolitan, economically diverse and economically prosperous, full of cultural and entertainment options, and outdoor sports/recreation options. It is a world-class city, and its cultural impact, through films and television, is global. On the whole, the people here are driven to succeed and to make better lives for themselves. Plus, there’s the weather.
Is it perfect? No. But it is far from a shit-hole. Far, far from it.
Add Newark, NJ, Akron, OH, and Bridgeport, CT to the list of festering shitholes that make LA look good.
Racial and socioeconomic segregation are closely linked, especially in large U.S. metropolitan areas. The predominantly nonwhite neighborhoods in all but one of the nine most segregated metro areas have significantly lower educational attainment rates than those of white neighborhoods and the national rates. Segregation along racial lines is also associated with income segregation. Also, according to the Huffington Post, L.A. is ranked amongst the most segregated cities.
So you mentioned all the places that make L.A. look good, but you omitted the 100’s of other places that dot this country that make L.A. look really, really, horrible! Trying to make yourself feel good?
While it is always possible to find a place worse that any place, as someone who grew up in LA and is now 42, I can say that LA is a hole. I loved it as kid growing up in El Segundo, a awesome middle class town, but then came the Arabs, then the Japanese inflating everything, but that was not the worse; what was the real major decline was Reagans amnesty, man that changed things a lot, and don’t get me started on all the Bay Watch wannabes. You always had those snowflakes coming to LA to make it in the movies, but ended up doing porn in the Valley because that was all they could get, but at least you did not have to pay a small fortune to get punished daily to live in LA. Now you pay a small fortune to be stuck in traffic all the time, suck in the smog, to say that you can go to the beach but never do because you cant park.
There is no doubt DTLA is a shithole, but there is definitely a move to gentrify it. If you think Malibu and SM are only the nice parts of LA, you need to get out more. I was in PV a few days ago, what a paradise. Beautiful, scenic, safe, top notch schools, every home valued over 1M. You get the picture. There are PLENTY of awesome parts of LA/OC, you just need to have money to live there and enjoy them.
Palos Verdes is nice but is surrounded by ghetto and is experiencing a major increase in crime lately. With property crime rates rising, Rancho Palos Verdes officials are planning to install surveillance cameras at major thoroughfare entrances to the city.
http://ktla.com/2015/12/24/unprecedented-number-of-residential-burglaries-occurring-in-affluent-palos-verdes-estates-police/
http://www.dailybreeze.com/government-and-politics/20131120/rancho-palos-verdes-officials-weigh-surveillance-cameras-to-deter-crime
Every desirable city in CA is seeing an increase in property crime due to Prop 47. When you release thousands of these clowns, they’ll go right back into a life of crime. Robbing a house in PV is much easier/lucrative/safer for the criminal than robbing a house in the ghetto…even these guys aren’t that dumb.
As the divide keeps growing between have and have nots, things like this will keep happening. Surveillance cameras and increased enforcement will be commonplace in the future. Every big city has issues like this, you either deal with it or move to flyover country.
My idea of paradise is not where every house is worth 1M, making it completely unaffordable to the bottom 95% of the population. Housing, education and health care are all grossly overpriced and its killing the economy for all but the top 5% and destroying economic mobility. You can have your paradise, I’ll be happy elsewhere.
most of south orange r nice…n most sd too I like to kept it a secrets…..
Just wait until otrauma and julian castro get hold of your nabe. Crime comin to you.
http://nypost.com/2016/05/08/obamas-last-act-is-to-force-suburbs-to-be-less-white-and-less-wealthy/
There goes the neighborhood.
yes, Reconquista is in full swing. Aztlan will soon become a fact. We don’t mind high density and public transit(buses not trains).
Martha, you are just solidifying the stereotype. I’m sure your people appreciate it. Good for you.
Agree with Martha.
What stereotype?
OC, Corona, Riverside, San Diego, the rest of IE. They all are getting extremely crowded. House prices probably won’t budge much because of all the people here…but then again things could get really bad.
It’s hard to see it being sustainable for our family staying here. Where will my 3 kids live? I’d have to make a crap ton of money and buy 3 houses.
I guess this is an indefinite stop for us.
ITman, why can’t your children rent or buy their own homes when they come of age? I’m curios why you feel it is your responsibility to support them?
My grandfather bought all three of his children houses for when they grew up. Then the Communists came to power in the late 1940s, and confiscated those houses.
Of course, houses were smaller, simpler affairs in rural Eastern Europe. More like cottages with a chicken coop and outhouse in the backyard.
My father was still in his early 20s. Having no house to inherit, and for other reasons, he fled Communism for NYC and started from scratch.
Hey, I’m all for them buying their own places and truly don’t plan to help them. I just don’t see a path to that out here.
Getting a job would be the easy part, it’s finding an affordable place to live that doesn’t eat up 50% of your salary.
I also don’t see prices falling over that timeframe…as much as I’d like them to. I know there are others with kids as well that feel the same way.
LA is what happens when a bunch of suburbs merge, without a well defined downtown. LA desperately needs public transit and higher density housing around the transit. Otherwise quality of life will continue to fall.
I notice that those who insist public transit is ‘The Answer’ are not the same people who are condemned to use it. Oh, some might commute to and from work where the bus or train passes through nicer communities and are packed with nice middle class people during the rush hours but to get around on the weekend or in the evening? Come on. Its dangerous. The underclass is on the prowl then and while you may not get mugged or beaten up often you only need to have it happen or witness it happen to someone else to give you public transit phobia.
I am obligated by conscience to post this article on the long awaited Big One ( ‘ San Andreas fault is locked and loaded ‘ ) .
Buyer beware ! …. housing to tank hard soon !
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-andreas-fault-earthquake-20160504-story.html
I swear every time there is an earthquake, they show videos of people that have glass objects on high shelves in their house. I always tell my wife she better get some breakables up high for when the big one comes (someday).
It’s one of those things that is good to be prepared for but you can’t run your life around it.
And out here in Corona…we practice weekly with a Coronageddon style car incident that shuts down the 91 so we can’t get anywhere. This week we had 2!!
I’ve been driving these streets and highways since the 1970’s. I planned every career choice so that I’d be driving against traffic. I could have had great jobs if I would have agreed to drive this traffic, but I could never get myself to do it. Traffic has affected my life in a big way, and BTW, why don’t we have jet-packs by now?
because they decided to create facebook and twitter instead
I hate driving in California, 38 years and counting and it just keeps getting work. My friends own a machine shop in OC and they live 5 minutes away, that is the only way I can do it.
drivers are horrible today, I had to move into emergency lane today to avoid a dumb lane shift because of driver ineptitude in the auto at high speeds…..
What people need to understand that California’s highway system was built for the state as it existed in 1960-1970 when the population was less than half of today’s.
Geography and existing development limits the ability of the state to expand the highway system or even build mass transit without incredible expense. Unfortunately, this reality never penetrated the thick skulls of those who , for their own ideological reasons, decided to open up a fully developed United States to Third World immigration in 1965 and have our population almost double in the next 50 years.
Hence why we are adopting some of the Euro design with roundabouts. However, this even has a limit. What sucks with the current development model it does not look at erasing the bad developments when it may impact the cities or counties tax base. A city will only survive if they start getting rid of these crap shacks that really are from an era where the people that lived in them before serve no purpose today except for immigrants who see these as palaces.
The infrastructure has to improve in order to make way for better developments. Sadly people will complain about eminent domain with seizing their properties or buying them out in order to make the proper improvements, but this may likely be the only alternative?
and the raging liberals want everyone illegal to be legal….good luck LA, I lived there most of my life until moving to SF 13 years ago. Sf is not much better but rips the city up in regards to culture, events, nature and so much more. LA is a shit hole….and I have been in every part of it at one time or another. Where the houses are nice, the egos are way out of whack…
Again, anyone thinking that prices will not come down have not lived in LA long enough, that area has more price peaks and valleys than a spec. bio stock…..
I already made my bet it will be happening, fall this year should see the start….
Part of the problem is that, at least in the low-income neighborhoods I know, families get public assistance to rent 2, 3, or 4 bedroom houses because they have kids. So then for extra income, they make the kids sleep in some part of the living area they partition off, and they rent the bedroom(s) to day laborers. Guy that worked for us rented one-fourth of a packed rooms with cardboard partitions. They put people in the garage, wherever else. I feel sorry for the poor kids in these homes, particularly the little girls. “Need to use the one bathroom in this house, honey? Just come right in here with me”
This is common among immigrants. My late father had many Asian immigrants in his NYC apt building. Mostly Koreans, but also Chinese. They would rent an apt, partition the rooms with bedsheets, and sublet to multiple tenants.
It was a constant hassle. Illegal, yet hard to prove. Whenever confronted, the Asian tenants would pretend they didn’t understand English. LOTS of immigrants play that game, playing “no habla” English when confronted with an authority figure.
So much hate for LA, frankly, if you don’t like living here or can’t afford it, then leave. I’m not sure what the problem is. I was listening to the radio the other day and the Mayor of Costa Mesa was giving an interview and he said basically the same thing. If you work in LA but can’t afford to live here then just move to the IE or even further out. Sure, you will be driving several hours a day, but you’ll get a pretty decent house in a decent neighborhood, if that’s not good enough for you, that’s not really anyone else’s problem but your own. Or alternatively, find a job in a lower cost of living state, there are lots of them, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, the Pacific NW. Those places are all within a couple hours of CA by plane, it’s not the end of the world, this isn’t like China where you need a license from the government to move to another city, it’s the United States where you have more opportunity for economic mobility than 95% of the world. I’m all for ranting on the internet, but if you’re looking for sympathy, I’m not sure you’re going to get it, maybe co-misery at best.
Yeah – Cuz poor immigrants from Europe were never overcrowded 100 years ago in New York.
First of all most of the people moving into LA are hipsters and Asians. Posers…
I lived in La my entire life. If you are use to living here you will be fine.
If you don’t have family or a good job you are pretty much screwed.
If you just came to La and have kids you are pretty much screwed.
As someone who went through the public school system and CSU system
we have an edge.. My co-worker moved from NY to Los Angeles. Always
Talking about how great NY. If it’s so great move the hell back. Same thing
From a co-worker from Pensylvania saying how fake la people are…
bingo… Yes we are.. You have to survive here and that is a good trait. So truth be told if you Really want to fit in la. Work on your healthy eating habits, don’t piss
The wrong person off.. Especially your boss. Learn how to live among
People who are totally different than you.. Lastly learn to have real friends
Or you will soon learn you are an isolated person. 50000 homeless in downtown la.
Amen
I got out of L.A. for good in 2014. I sold a home with an ocean view, and 20 minutes drive to the beach. I had moved away years ago, but always thought I’d move back into the house after retirement. But, increasingly on my visits, there was little positive about the area. The final straw came on a drive from the South Bay to the S.F. Valley to visit the cemetery where my grandparents are buried … I decided on one Saturday to take surface streets the whole way. Neighborhood after neighborhood where signs were either in Spanish or some other language. Homes, all with bars on the windows, simply run down dilapidated city, mile after mile, and traffic congestion seemingly everywhere! This capped off the reality of the typical local mess near the house I owned … weekend traffic crawl on PCH, no parking anywhere near beaches on nice weekends, overcrowded parking lots at the store, etc. This isn’t living folks!
try la jolla or Irvine….
Irvine is not that much to talk about….nothing but overpriced track housing and ugly commutes….
Housing To Tank Hard Soon!
100% YES!
Construction workers have just found a dinner plate inscribed with ”
Habitationi valores stilla ad primum” near Pompeii. Archaeologists believe the owner was “Jimus Taylorus” a wealthy landowner who sold all his property just before the eruption Mt. Vesuvius. Also he was a known patron of the great philosopher “Medicus Habitationi Bulla”.
Haha Go Jim!
Jim, please define “Soon”. Does that mean 1 year, 2 years, or maybe 20 years? Because you’ve been saying the same thing for years now. You may be right one day, but let’s nail does a projected date or time frame so we can start taking bets. C’mon Jim, work with us.
Hunan, Jim did nail it down. He said “the Ides of March, 2014.”
True, that deadline passed over two years ago.
Also, what exactly defines a “Tank Hard”? is 10% considered a “Tank Hard”? Or maybe 20%? I want specifics Jim. Like for example: “Housing to Tank Hard by 25% in Fall 2016”. I want more specifics in Jim’s predictions. The whole “Tank hard soon.” thing has gotten old and tired.
More federal bailout money for underwater homeowners in CA. $383 million to be exact. You can’t afford a home but your tax dollars are going towards others who don’t care and bought one anyway. Remember, in America we can’t have losers. So go ahead and buy that big crazy over-priced crapshack of your dreams. Who cares if you can’t afford it, the gov. will just bail you out anyway. Gotta love it!
http://patch.com/california/lajolla/keep-your-home-california-gets-3833m-infusion
Seems this practice is going to continue to be played out until they FED pulls the plug.
Housing to tank hard! Soon.
If Jim repeats his anthem long enough at some point he will be right. It is basic mathematics.
Except that it will never tank as far back as to the price when Jim first started predicting. In other words, he missed the boat, and probably missed many other opportunities. I do agree there’s a bubble, but prices would reset only back 2-3 years in prime areas. Subprime prices would reset farther back, 4-5 years.
We are going lower than last crisis next time.
Yeah? In ’09 prices went back to ’99 levels here in Oakland
According to Jim we are going to tank back to the stone age. At this point the feds are insuring too many mortgages to let the bubble burst. If such a thing did happen it would be beyond devastating to the US economy. The job losses and economic despair would be unimaginable. I’m not saying a 10-20% isn’t feasible but that’s all I can foresee possibly happening under the right conditions, rate increase, economic slowdown, etc.
When JT throws in the towel is when his “Soon” predictions will come to light.
Bingo
Los Angeles is a shit hole lot of homeless roaming around Los Angeles are over rated downtown looks like a garbage can lot of shit on the street Get out of LA now don’t waste your precious life paying for that crap shack
Within 10 years, cars will be driving themselves. So go to bed for 6 hours, wake up, get ready, jump in car, sleep for another 2 hours in the commute while car drives to work and parks itself, then wake up and go to work. Then, people will start partially working out of their cars, and gradually companies will adapt to mobile workers, workers will then be allowed to work from home more more and more.
I agree that this will happen, but probably not for another 15-25 years. The thing with driverless cars is that it would actually be better if we switched all cars over to driverless, all at once. Then, the cars could communicate with each other and divert traffic flow/congestion accordingly, which is something you can’t do (or do well) if only a portion of the cars are driverless. But sadly, this will never happen. In the near future, there’s going to be a mix of driver and driverless cars, and it’s going to take quite some time to work out the kinks between the two types. Once we are fully transitioned though, I think it will have a profound effect on large cities like LA. In addition to better traffic flow, to free up congestion cars will be able to self-park themselves underground, on the outskirts of cities, or in other out-of-the-way areas that humans would have no need/intention to access. Then precious land used for parking lots will be available for other uses. People will have less of a need to own a car, and you’ll see garages and driveways disappear from many houses. The benefits are quite substantial.
hopium is strong here..
It will not happen, plus no one buys a car so a computer drives it. I’m in the space and up here in the valley where they all talk about it…
what happens in a Carrington type event…..walking and bikes will rule…
Just part of the continued crapification of the housing market and the economy in general. Here in Houston TX, we have all the mult-family housing we need, so development has slowed dramatically. Unfortunately that doesn’t solve the problem of large asset holders (like apartment owners) who are continually subsidized at the expense of single-family homeowners…
http://aaronlayman.com/2016/05/hcad-appraisal-scam-multi-family-edition-2016/
If you can take it living in La. Move out!!! Have a great day… Ps.. Stop whining.
Your either very rich, very stupid, or in denial.
San Diego unfortunately also is turning into a third world LA style shithole. Real estate prices skyrocketed again and super crowded traffic and tons of homeless.
I moved to La Jolla in 1989 to go to UCSD. At the time I considered it a paradise. In 1991 I remember talking with a woman who had grown up there and was in her 30s who said she could no longer stomach what La Jolla had become and consequently avoided going there. I was incredulous, but maybe 10 years later I came to see her perspective. To me it had lost a lot of the charm. Its still beautiful, just not as nice as it was in my early years and the traffic, crowds and prices are insane – which applies to all of San Diego. I look up rents and house prices on craigslist a couple of times a year and am always stunned and wonder what the hell people are thinking. The disconnect from reality is mind blowing and is another reason I had to leave – I was mentally just too “out there” from the masses who are willing to sign up for this serfdom.
Serfdom-a good observation, I don’t see it talked about here to often…..
The next president will oversee an epic collapse…..no matter the candidate…..
sometimes it just takes time for market forces to catch up to currency wars, trade wars and real war….
get ready they are a coming and some are currently in play
“Surfdom” is more like it, Junior. I think there are a lot of dudes who can’t leave California because they are addicted to surfing, and if you’re living on the coast anywhere between La Jolla to San Clemente and have a decent job that floats the boat, you are WINNING!
Brazil66, you are correct in your assessment, most surfers are using that equation to rate success. I’ve been surfing almost 30 years, but I broke out of the Socal matrix almost 10 years ago and surf much better waves 3-5 times a week. Clean air, clean water, clean ocean do wonders for your health. You don’t live like someone on the television screen with all the fancy possessions, but you are actually LIVING, while others are working for what they own. In my hood there are million dollar mansions all over sitting empty for the owners who spend maybe 4-6 weeks a year max here, the rest of the time they probably are stuck in traffic or working at some mind numbing grind of a job. I’m out on the beach in front of their place all the while, surfing, spearfishing, and generally living a life in full. I was going to be one of them when i was younger, but it didn’t add up to me, putting all my life energy into a stucco box that I don’t even get to spend much time in. Live dammit, live!
Junior,
Yeah, It takes $ to live on the coast, but you also need the free time to enjoy it. Keep living the dream!
I”m have the wrong news sources. It must be boom times in SoCal. So what are the jobs that are bringing all these people to SoCal?
People move into the big cities during depressions.
This is the funniest thing I’ve read in ages and incredibly therapeutic as I’ve had friends “in town” this week. There’s something unnerving about their naivete, diving headfirst into traffic hellholes, and resurfacing unscathed. LA is indeed a shitmess. But at least it’s a spectacular shitmess. When we fuck shit up, we fuck it up on richter 9 levels. Whether it’s traffic congestion, freeway construction, corruption, natural disasters, we don’t do it small. Where else could 3,500 acres and 20 vehicles be engulfed in a raging, freeway jumping wildfire because of 5 drones chasing water dropping planes? Only on the completely self-absorbed, wannabe famous planet of Los Angeles. Yes, LA is a toilet, but at least our shit is not regular shit, our shit is holy fucking shit!!!
PS – Using the “registered voter” population of the Los Angeles zip code is like using the population of Manhattan to describe NYC. With 10 million “documented” in LA County, commuters from Ventura & OC into LA + documented & undocumented guests who never leave from every corner of the globe, I’d say 20 million on our streets & freeways is more accurate.
Go big or go home!?
Bahahahahaha!!! LA is holy fking sh*t!! You can find every imaginable flavor of it, especially dog sh*t and bullsh*t. Which includes the manipulated stats on real estate btw.
Why has nobody done a viral YouTube stereotyping bad drives by race and category of bad driving offense? Easy! I’m happa, a target offender in the eyes of many. Everywhere else, one has to drive in the furthest right lane unless passing. Traffic is bad because of bad manners! Going 54 in 55….. I LOVE LA! Home of the craziest riskiest boom bust real estate bubble pops ever.
“And if you think crowded always equals better living, just look at São Paulo, Mexico City, or many of the mega cities in China” yes we get plenty of illegal immigrants from Latin America and China and they love L.A. along with all the taxpayer benefits. I live in Ladera Heights and see these people surrounding my hood. I may move to Atlanta.
Good bye! We won’t miss you at all! Everyone living in Cali, but hates it, no one is stopping you from leaving. lol
Instead of crying on the internet, why not just pack up and leave?
And all the immigrants are turning LA, SF and all the other major cities in the US into Sao Paolo, TJ, etc. A few light skinned elites (and their hand picked marketable puppets that can sing or chase a ball) ruling over millions of mud skinned fatties waddling around the wreckage of a collapsing civilization.
None of them have a clue how to build or even maintain a civilization. It takes an ethical/moral framework, and that requires a high IQ. Then you need a cohesive society that agrees on the framework and adheres to it. Look at a global map of IQ and that explains the last several thousand years.
Shit hole!
Yeah 1MM buys you a toilet in the nicer coastal areas of San Diego! You need to live 20-50 miles inland to afford a real home under 600K.
Good article in the Washington Post today that echoes Dr. Housing Bubble’s complaint about LA’s traffic only as it concerns the DC area and housing values there.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/wonk/housing/washington-dc/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_housing-beltway-1005pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Of particular interest to me was a study that showed commuters in Loudon County ( the equivalent of the Inland Empire in SoCal) spent between $1200 and $1700 per month on transportation and drove 25-35,000 miles per year getting to and from work. There is your ‘rent premium’ for closer in suburbs.
This time is different!
The only thing that will put a stop to this housing bubble is a thriving economy and a fed that is tightening. Forgive me, that just seem very improbable to me givin the the advancement of technology and the increasing percentage of jobs that are at the low end of the pay scale.
This time is different because the Fed has shown that it is willing to violate every rule that makes money what it is, MONEY.
More than likely, we will have another economic down turn in the coming months to 3 years. If 3.5 percent mortgages got us to this price point on realestate, what will 30 year mortgages at 1.5 percent do?
doesn’t matter because if the fed can create inflation, pensions, national debt and the currency will blow up…..then housing will find its reality…..
3 card monte tricks only last so long, soon everyone figures it out and the tricks need to change…..the problem of today is negative interest rates will eat into everything bought and sold, consumed and sold..etc…etc…
Of course you are right in the long run. In the short run, I’ll most likely be dead of natural causes before reality over powers the Fed. I give it another 15 to 30 years. 30 fixed at 3.5, next recession, 2.5, next 1.5 then 1 then .5.
Your average house could easily be triple by then.
When I live in LA I work just to pay my mortgage car payment insurance gas bills utilities drive 2 hrs to go work and I bet most of working class are stuck to this quality of life I move out and my life get better live in a nice cheaper homes got savings drive 15 min to work I will never go back to LA u fool people stay out of LA ghetto and la safe haven for illegal.drug lord and Mexican gang there’s a lot of nice places in America let Andrew live in that shit hole
Wang bu we gave the same experience got a better life away from Cali. Cali population are 5% white 95% naturalized us citizens wtf where’s the dumb American become homeless in LA
Watch your language Donald but it’s true Los Angeles population are mostly Mexican Armenian Persian Asian they are the people who has a good life in California accept it American your life sucks because of this rich immigrants and illegal immigrants most of the homeless in California are white and black
As a native L.A. Area resident, I just have to pipe in that I love it here! I grew up in Santa Monica and then the edge of L.A. County near the Ventura county line, and I would love staying here to the end of my days if not for the price of housing. I love so much about our cities, diverse people, beaches, food, mountains, deserts, museums, weather (I love the heat), I could go on and on. But the housing costs are so high. The dilemma is that the salary for our professions is less in other parts of the country, so is it worth it to leave this amazing place? I go back and forth daily. Hoping, but not hopeful that prices will come down just a little bit. It’s the down payment that’s the killer.
Live in the north west valley…. Great schools, kinda boring suburban living but find for raising kids, parking is easy and the drive to Malibu beaches is reasonable if you take Topanga Canyon…. 30-40 minutes and u are laying on the beach. Biggest problem is finding a good job within a reasonable commute… I’ve had a 20 minute commute to NOHO district for 3 years and loving it. Dread the idea of ever working in west LA. That commute down the 405 blows. For those that work in entertainment industry… We are kinda stuck in LA for better or worse. My job skills don’t translate to other parts of the country. I plan to work my ass off and save… Eventually cash out my lottery ticket home and retire somewhere cheaper. Until then… I am enjoying myself.
You’re right Doughmo downpayment is one of the problem but one problem that really hurt the first time home buyer are the cash buyer and investors don’t get me wrong Cali has a nice weather but can you eat that weather and weather can buy you homes
See below problem
http://www.forbes.com/sites/shreyaagarwal/2016/05/06/homeownership-rates-are-falling-and-its-not-just-a-millennial-problem/#6ee4c0d4a9e0
Why do some of you get so offended of people don’t dislike LA and the trash all over. I work in DTLA, it used to be better but now it is so crowded and full of trash, I have to be on alert whenever I go get coffee. I have lived in NC and Texas, much better traffic but worse weather and not as fun. LA is not the best place to live but far from the worse as well.
Being from here, I believe I am entitled to complain about it and if my family wasn’t here, yes I would leave. We could have a mansion in Texas but at what costs? No immediate family there. At some point, we will make a decision to either leave or suck it up because even our 220k combine income feels small in this big city.
Downtown LA
I dont get the comments about DTLA being a shithole…. I worked in DTLA from 1989 – 1993 and back then it was much worse. Skidrow extended further in all directions. the old bank district was also skidrow (now it is yuppie apartments and eateries). Around Santa Fe Avenue and Traction Ave you took your life in your hands walking at night, now it is a mecca of artists, bars and galleries….Back then, between Alameda Street and Santa Fe Ave you could find bonfires in the streets at night! (Escape from New York type of environment:) Now, Over 3,000 people per year are moving INTO DTLA, and these are people with money who are spending $1600+ for a 1 bedroom apartment. If you look at DTLA Newspaper, there are over 25 major redevelopment projects slated for the area between Chinatown and SouthPark…. of course you have a higher density of homeless in a section of DTLA because their turf is shrinking each year, being squeezed on all sides, due to development, high tec jobs and upscale residential living…
it will matter little as California sinks into a deeper drought……
LA will someday meet the piper and it’s water….
I’m actually surprised the aqueduct hasn’t been targeted by terrorists….it would be the worst of the worst scenarios taken against citizens of L.A.
I pray that doesn’t happen as too many family members still stuck in the zone…..
Can always spot the newbies here… Those of us that only periodically swing by to read the site sentiment do so because we are too busy “making money.” 3 houses, millions in in liquid investment, and a very secure career… All made while Jim was saying Tank Hard… Even a significant correction won’t put me in red. My point is, you won’t get ahead planning for a failure. Frankly, let it tank…I’ll buy even more homes 🙂
Hi Mr. I agree. Besides isnt this a blog called “How I learned to LOVE SOCAL and FORGET the housing bubble….” Rather than “How I learned to hate Socal and relish in a housing bubble…”.
Couldn’t agree more. Let it tank (hopefully), so I can buy another property. From my many conversations with people regarding housing, seems like most can afford the monthly nut even if buying today. What really separates the contenders from the pretenders is coming up with a large down payment. Here is where hard work, sacrifice and savings are rewarded.
Let them eat cake in my rentals. Muwahhaha.
Jim Taylor tank hard your ass!
Ev’rybody buy new tonight!
Ev’rybody Wang Bu tonight!
Alex of San Jose I miss you man
LOL! Vernon only had 114 residents in 2013.
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