At it's heart, growth is determined by population increases. California's population grows by about 500,000 per year according to the State of California's Legislative Analysts's Office.

Another way to view growth is to look at the number of new households formed each year. The California Association of Realtors and others estimate new houshold formation in California continues at the rate of between 230,000 to 250,000 per year.

These statistics paint a picture of a California that is experiencing rampant growth. Unfortunately, California is not meeting the housing needs of this growing population. In fact, we are only building about 200,000 new housing units per year. This imbalance has lead to dramatic price increases and to what the politicians like to refer to as a "housing affordability crisis."

So, you ask, why don't the builders just build more homes?

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2

2

1104

$195,000

$161,000

3

2

1630

$319,900

$315,000

2

1

1107

$189,900

$185,000

4

2

1594

$319,900

$317,500

3

2

1171

$204,900

$210,000

3

2

1400

$329,900

$319,000

2

1

870

$235,000

$212,000

4

2

1869

$334,900

$319,000

2

1

752

$245,000

$214,900

4

2

1796

$329,500

$323,000

2

1

1033

$230,000

$215,000

3

2

1758

$350,000

$335,000

3

1

1052

$229,000

$229,000

4

2

1867

$329,500

$338,870

3

2

1270

$235,000

$240,000

4

3

2100

$388,400

$340,000

2

1

1102

$259,000

$245,000

3

2

1775

$389,000

$340,000

3

2

1080

$259,000

$259,000

4

2

1900

$384,900

$344,500

3

2

1455

$275,000

$265,000

3

2

1525

$369,900

$352,500

3

1

1231

$289,500

$269,000

4

2

2250

$355,000

$360,000

3

1

1425

$279,000

$275,000

4

2

2033

$364,900

$366,000

3

2

1300

$279,900

$275,000

4

2

2438

$497,000

$374,000

3

2

1400

$284,900

$279,000

4

3

2528

$404,900

$374,000

3

2

1360

$314,900

$279,000

5

3

2680

$397,500

$375,000

3

2

1500

$305,000

$280,000

4

3

2610

$469,000

$390,000

3

2

1350

$290,000

$289,000

3

2

2000

$419,000

$399,000

3

2

1877

$329,950

$289,500

4

3

2244

$419,900

$399,000

3

2

1512

$304,500

$295,000

4

3

2590

$409,000

$406,000

3

2

1481

$305,000

$300,000

4

3

2610

$429,000

$414,500

3

2

1602

$310,000

$301,000

4

3

2242

$474,900

$415,000

3

2

1420

$319,000

$301,000

4

2

2500

$595,000

$470,000

3

2

1565

$315,900

$305,000

5

4

2777

$519,000

$480,000

3

2

1496

$323,000

$310,000

3

2

2300

$599,900

$580,000

4

2

1617

$299,999

$312,000

4

3

4104

$950,000

$900,000