California is cracking down on landlords for price gouging after wildfires, highlighting a growing trend of rising housing costs in disaster recovery areas. This issue is part of a global pattern fueled by urbanization, investment speculation, inflation, and high construction costs, making housing increasingly unaffordable. Sara McTarnaghan of the Urban Institute emphasizes that the rise in home prices and rents is outpacing income growth across demographics. Concurrently, climate change and extreme weather events are displacing low-income residents as wealthy individuals move to safer areas, further escalating inequality.
"It's not a uniquely rural issue or urban issue, or homeowner's or renter's issue. There's a kind of shared experience where home prices and rents have continued to rise much quicker than income."
"You have high-income folks on low-lying coastal areas that are vulnerable to flooding that are now looking to higher elevation areas. This shift in investment patterns is displacing those existing low-income residents."
Collection
[
|
...
]