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County Assessor Report Notes Resurgence in Housing Prices

Silicon Valley home values saw double-digit appreciation in the past year, outpacing the nation’s rebounding real estate market. Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone last week released a detailed breakdown of single-family home and condo prices. The report of prices in 25 South Bay neighborhoods shows growth in single-family home values ranging from 4 to 24 percent, and 13 to 46 percent for condos.

Council Takes on Annual Housing Report, Samsung Incentives

The dissolution of redevelopment agencies and state budget cuts to municipal housing funds have made it tougher for San Jose to meet its goal of building more affordable homes in recent years, according to an annual housing report going before the City Council on Tuesday. Other items on the council agenda include an incentives package for Samsung, a commendation for a police officer who never clocks off and a North San Jose cemetery that is running out of space.

Affordable Housing Study Session

The City Council had a study session last week devoted to affordable housing. The session covered how San Jose could build more affordable housing, even though it has already publicly funded and completed roughly 21,000 such units in years past and has 1,500 additional units currently in the pipeline. As a point of comparison, other cities have done little during the same time period.

Council to Discuss Labor Negotiations, Low-Income Housing

With the firefighters’ union becoming the first labor organization to formally reach a deal on compensation concessions with the city last week, this week’s City Council meeting will feature even more discussions regarding labor negotiations. Other items of note will include the approval of assistance for low-income housing and a proposed rate increase for recycling.

We Pay Twice for Affordable Housing

In past blogs I have expressed my concern about the cost to our city of too much housing. Specifically, housing that does not pay its own share of revenue. One example I have pointed out—and constantly been the lone vote against—is affordable housing.

Decisions on Housing Types Affect Future Tax Revenue

Unfortunately, not all housing developments create the same economic value in areas assigned to the Redevelopment Authority (RDA). Last week, the council approved financing for an affordable housing development on North 4th Street in a RDA area. Since the housing developer is a non-profit, the development is exempt from paying property tax

Stay The Course: Jobs Before More Housing

Last week, the City Council voted to direct planning staff to explore how San Jose could build more housing in North San Jose (possibly even exceeding the cap which would go against the incremental plan laid about by the North San Jose vision). The vision for North San Jose has included some housing next to jobs so we could allow the opportunity for people to live close to their work while allowing for intensification of commercial and industrial that would allow San Jose to acquire more jobs which equal more revenues to pay for our core city services.

More Time and Options Should be Given for Affordable Housing Policy

Last week, I visited the Rules committee to present a memo that Councilmember Constant and I wrote asking that the Council hold off on adopting a citywide Inclusionary Housing policy.
 
I first blogged on this topic on December 17, 2007 in a post titled ”Coming Soon: Affordable Housing Citywide.” The Council is set to vote on Inclusionary Housing on Dec 9. The proposed policy would mandate that 20-25 percent of all new housing in San Jose be priced below market rate. If the Council adopts such a policy it may raise the price on the market-rate units, which squeezes the middle class. It also may affect the home resale values down the road. There were two other councilmembers (besides myself and Constant) who opposed pursuing this policy during our current housing meltdown.

What is “Affordable” in the Current Housing Market?

When I read that nonprofit developer Neighborhood Housing Services was having trouble selling the 17 condos of their new development just south of downtown, I can’t say I was surprised, given the worsening national mortgage crisis. The main selling point is that these units are considered “affordable housing” for buyers that have a low enough income to qualify for borrower assistance (less than $84,900 for a family of four). Originally offered at $535,000, the two-bedroom condos are now priced at $450,000 and still aren’t selling. I don’t know about you, but I don’t see how anyone could consider $535,000 or $450,000 homes to be affordable on an average family income, even with the incentives.

Coming Soon: Affordable Housing Citywide?

City Hall Diary

No, I am not referring to the subprime mortgage crisis and the subsequent foreclosures but rather last week’s three-hour city council study session regarding inclusionary housing. Many comments were expressed on how inclusionary housing should be dispersed. What exactly is “inclusionary housing?” Is it for extremely low income (ELI), or for others? No one can argue that San Jose has not done a good job at building affordable housing, especially when you compare San Jose to other municipalities in the Bay Area.

Single Gal and High-Rise Housing

Along with the growth of San Jose, a new change is coming that we haven’t seen before: high-rise luxury housing in our city’s core. As I drive through downtown and see the cranes in the sky around these towering developments, I can’t help but wonder how it will work. This is such a drastic change from the way people live here—sprawling suburbs with ample parking, mini-malls within a 5-minute drive, and cul-de-sacs with kids riding skateboards and shooting hoops. However, I do believe there is a market for this kind of housing. It just remains to be seen how big that market actually is.