Building multifamily housing in California is more than twice as expensive as it is in Texas, with much of the difference driven by state and local policies that contribute to long permitting and construction timelines, and higher local development fees, according to a new RAND report based on cost information from more than 100 completed apartment projects. The high cost of housing and its associated effect on homelessness is a defining policy issue in California.
The RAND report details how higher housing costs in California are driven, in part, by regional factors such as higher land costs, more-expensive labor, and seismic safety standards. But researchers found that most of the higher costs can be attributed to factors such as the lengthy approval timelines and prescriptive building requirements that are policy decisions.