Housing Indicators

» Home Ownership
» Housing Affordability
» Housing's Share of Income
» Housing Prices
» Income Needed to Rent Housing
» Housing Gap
» Household Overcrowding
» Job-Housing Balance
» Second Homes

Housing Indicators: A Summary of Findings

This edition of the Sierra Nevada Wealth Index includes a new housing indicators section. Largely indicative of the rapid development taking place in the Sierra Nevada, particularly in the North Central and the Eastern subregions, housing is a major factor in the region’s health. Development not only has significant financial implications for the region, but affects both social and natural capital as well.

Both residential and nonresidential development certainly can have positive in a community. Residential development increases the number of available housing units, which helps regulate housing prices by not allowing demand to greatly surpass supply. Residential development can also foster a sense of community, improving local social capital. Nonresidential development can create jobs, increase tax revenues, and attract tourists.

The negative trends with development largely affect the social capital of an area. If demand for housing increases faster than houses are built, housing prices increase, many times making them less or unaffordable for many people with lower paying local jobs. Similarly, if a local economy places an emphasis on revenues from a service industry such as tourism, many more seasonal or low paying jobs than year-round jobs are created, as we will see in the financial capital indicators section. As a result, development can widen the income gap, inhibit people from buying houses, and displace lower income families or individuals.

Development can also negatively affect natural capital by decreasing the amount of open space or farm and ranch acreage in an area. Rapid population increases can also contribute to air and water pollution problems, threatening the beauty, quality of life, and the future of the Sierra Nevada.