LOS ANGELES — While job growth and the California economy remain strong, weakness is apparent in the state's housing market and it is likely to cool further going into 2020, according to the latest UCLA Anderson Forecast, released Wednesday.
Nickelsburg said the slowdown in the state's housing market also has implications for the California economy going forward. In addition, the housing slowdown could put a damper on Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's plans to step up the pace of new homes built to help ease the state's housing shortage. California added the highest number of construction jobs nationally between January 2018 and 2019, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. The state added 28,500 jobs, or an increase of 3.4 percent during the period.
In Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, home sales fell to an 11-year low in January, according to CoreLogic. The analytics provider reported sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis in the Bay Area the past eight consecutive months, while in Southern California sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis in the last six consecutive months.
Another possibility behind the housing slowdown is prices are"so expensive that everyone is leaving," the economist added.
$600k for a house with a dirt floor is a hard sell.