Source: Niskanen Center
by Alex Armlovich
“For decades, policymakers, researchers, and the public have struggled to answer what seems a simple question: How many homes are cities permitting? In Los Angeles, for example, the federal building permit survey suggests that the state has issued around 15,000 housing permits annually in recent years. But California’s own Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) tells a different story: closer to 20,000. This 30 percent gap isn’t merely a statistical quirk; it represents thousands of permits that don’t appear in our national housing data.” (10/23/25)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/new-census-data-a-true-picture-of-americas-housing-stock