{"id":30430,"date":"2023-12-07T13:25:38","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T21:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=30430"},"modified":"2023-12-07T13:25:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T21:25:39","slug":"does-scott-wiener-understand-the-basics-of-the-housing-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/07\/does-scott-wiener-understand-the-basics-of-the-housing-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Scott Wiener understand the basics of the housing market?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Based in his recent comments, apparently not.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By ZELDA BRONSTEIN<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DECEMBER 5, 2023 (48hills.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does Scott Wiener, author of some of the most sweeping housing legislation in California history<\/a>, chair of the State Senate Housing Committee, and one of the \u201cstate legislative leaders on housing and affordability\u201d so designated by the White House<\/a>, understand how the housing market works?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on his remarks at a recent public forum in Southern California, the answer is No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Senator Wiener isn\u2019t listing to his realtor pals\u2014or maybe he is. Wikimedia Images photo.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiener\u2019s comments were\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0by Tim Campbell in an article posted by CityWatchLA. On October 27, Campbell, a retired public service auditor, and Wiener appeared on a panel hosted by the Valley Industry and Commerce Association\u2019s 2023 Business Forecast event. The topic was \u201cHousing and Homelessness.\u201d Here\u2019s what Campbell wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator Wiener said dividing single family lots into multiple units would not increase the cost of housing.  As he explained, if a single family lot is worth $1 million, it may sell for $2 million to a multifamily developer, but that cost would be divided among four or six units. Therefore, the cost of any given unit would be lower than a single home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a realtor acquaintance of mine explained, that is failed logic. Real estate is market-based, and the cost of the land is just one factor.  If those six units are located in a high-demand area, they will indeed sell for $1 million or more each. It is little wonder Senator Wiener is the darling of corporate developer interests in Sacramento.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiener\u2019s remarks were so mind-boggling that I was afraid that unless the event had been taped, he would deny that he made them. Campbell kindly sent me a link to the video<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the senator\u2019s exact words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I\u2019m just going to make up some numbers here. Let\u2019s say you have a parcel of land that\u2019s zoned for single-family, and that land is worth one million dollars. And we\u2019ve seen in various parts of the Bay Area, like a small parcel of land with a dilapidated hut on it that\u2019s selling for like millions of dollars\u2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say we upzone it so you can put six units on there, and let\u2019s say that parcel is now going to sell for $2 million\u2014double the price of it. One million dollars for one home. Two million dollars for six homes. Which is more affordable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes, that property-owner can now reap that extra million dollars, but in the big picture, when you allocate it per unit on that land, it is less expensive. Yes, in the short run, you\u2019re giving someone a financial benefit. There\u2019s no doubt about it. In the long run, you\u2019re creating more zoned housing zoned capacity, so that we can build more homes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is the Yimby line: build more housing, and prices will fall. Applied to a high-demand market such as the Bay Area, it flies in the face of reality. Upzoning\u2014allowing more units to be built on a lot\u2014increases the value of the parcel and thus the profit that can be squeezed out of it. The prices of the added houses that are built on that parcel will reflect that increased profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sponsored link<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help us save local journalism!<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Every tax-deductible donation helps us grow to cover the issues that mean the most to our community. Become a 48 Hills Hero and support the only daily progressive news source in the Bay Area.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider the recent history of 1310 Haskell Street in Berkeley. The Yimbys love to cite 1310 Haskell so they can mock the neighbor who brought a zucchini to a public hearing and complained that the proposed project would block his garden. They don\u2019t talk about how upzoning affected real estate values on the site. As I wrot<\/a>e in 2018:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015 contractor Cristian Szilagy paid $650,000 for a decrepit bungalow at that address. He wanted to replace it with three new housing units. The Planning Commission said okay, but after neighbors objected to parking, congestion, and shadowing, the council reversed the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent California laws make it very difficult for a city to reject a housing project that meets the municipality\u2019s objective standards\u2014which the proposed project did. Led by Sonja Trauss, the San Francisco Bay Area Renters Foundation (SFBARF) sued Berkeley twice and in 2017 won the case. Szilagy tore down the old house and built three units in its place, each of which sold for $1.2 million or $1.3 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiener\u2019s reasoning can\u2019t make sense of 1310 Haskell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given his power, reputation, and political ambition\u2014when Pelosi retires, he\u2019ll run for her seat\u2014his apparent failure to grasp real estate basics is alarming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Based in his recent comments, apparently not. By ZELDA BRONSTEIN DECEMBER 5, 2023 (48hills.org) Does Scott Wiener, author of some of the most sweeping housing legislation in California history, chair of the State Senate Housing Committee, and one of the \u201cstate legislative leaders on housing and affordability\u201d so designated by the White… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30430"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30430"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30432,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30430\/revisions\/30432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}