Each City Has Unique Criteria for Affordability

The Alameda Landing projects have an affordability component.

ALAMEDA, CA—With low unemployment rates, San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose are also the most expensive rental markets. This, coupled with the cost of construction, labor, land and fees gives rise to townhomes selling for $1 million and then some. Indeed, the fact that more than a half million jobs have been added to the region and only 90,000 homes have been included to the mix say a lot about how out of whack the housing ratio is in the Bay Area.

Jeff Frankel, division president, TRI Pointe Homes, tells GlobeSt.com in an exclusive: “Although the economy is not white hot, it is strong, and housing is not keeping pace. That translates to 1.5 units per person for a healthy combination. And we’ve pushed for affordability, which is the number one problem for the area in addition to lack of housing in general.”