According to the California Department of Finance, in the first five months of 2019, cities and counties issued a very low number of permits for residential building, making only 111,000 units per year (seasonally adjusted average). This is a decrease of 12.2 percent from the same period in 2018. Permits for multi-family units like apartments declined by 42.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted average of 46,000 units per year.
The decrease in home construction stems from a market shift that has made developers either want to put projects on ice or kill them entirely. The only sector booming is the luxury apartments because the high rents can pay the high cost of construction.
California Governor Gavin Newsom set a goal of 3.5 million new units by 2025. His first budget includes $1.75 billion to boost housing production by financing loans and tax breaks for affordable housing developers, resources to help cities plan for more housing and grants for housing construction.
California has built an average 80,000 new homes built each year over the last decade, far short of the projected 180,000 new homes needed annually. That is the reason, housing prices and rents have ballooned in the state.
Find newly-built homes for sale in your county here.
Sources:
https://www.sacbee.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article232979792.html http://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Economics/Economic_and_Revenue_Updates/documents/2019/Jul-19.pdf