New Data Shows Slow Housing Production In SMC, Bay Area

New data shows that Bay Area housing increased by only 14,900 new units in 2017, less than 30 percent of the number of new jobs in the region during the same period, according to data released by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments.

The number of new housing units, mostly apartments and condominiums, was much less than the 52,700 new jobs estimated by the California Employment Development Department to have been added in the nine-county Bay Area last year.

The imbalance highlights the region's "housing crunch" and reinforces its position as one of the nation's most expensive places to live, MTC officials said.

Other findings show that permits for single-family homes have stagnated since 2008 while multifamily units like apartment buildings have nearly doubled to 15,000 in 2016 from 8,000 units in 2009. Multifamily housing accounted for 70 percent of the 21,000 units permitted by Bay Area municipalities in 2016.

The data is part of the Vital Signs initiative by the MTC and ABAG that monitors the region's progress toward reaching key environmental, transportation, land use, and economic policy goals.

More information on housing production data and other findings can be found at vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov.

By Bay City News Service / Image via Shutterstock