California immigration laws impact the housing market in many ways, most prominently as they add to or detract from the population of homeowners and renters in the state. These laws have another less studied effect on the housing market: the cost of new home construction.
A recent Zillow article analyzed the impact of a Georgia law that restricted foreign immigrants from working in the state. When Georgia enacted stricter penalties for undocumented immigrants using counterfeit worker identification, the cost of new homes increased substantially.
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Prior to the law, the premium for new homes averaged 34% over the typical home resale. After the law was enacted, the new home premium jumped to 52%, an average increase of $26,000 per new home, according to Zillow.
From landscaping to pouring concrete, framing and installing finishes, the average construction job employs dozens of people, 15% of which are undocumented immigrants nationally, according to Pew Research Center. Put in different terms, 43% of recent immigrants from Mexico are employed in the construction industry, according to a UCLA report.
Hidden costs cancel out cheap immigrant labor in California
California is one of six states designated as a “sanctuary state” for undocumented immigrants. The state’s 2014 Trust Act prohibits officials from holding undocumented immigrants or transferring them to deportation centers unless the immigrant is charged with a serious offense. Many California cities and counties have even stricter laws that obstruct enforcement of federal immigration laws. California also allows undocumented immigrants the ability to obtain a driver’s license.
One might think California’s current immigration laws allow homebuyers to profit from the labor provided by undocumented immigrants with lower new home premiums. Contractors and builders pay their undocumented labor force cents on the dollar. But it’s not like builders are profiting hugely from this cheap labor. In fact, the average builder’s net profit margin is 6.4%, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
With more undocumented immigrants in California than any other state, cheap labor ought to be in abundance here, making the cost of building even lower and the profits even higher.
But in California, new homes cost 40%-50% more than similar home resales, depending on the location — similar to Georgia, with its strict laws against undocumented workers. But with all the cheap labor California builders take advantage of, why isn’t our new home premium smaller? Why aren’t the savings being passed on to homebuyers?
It’s expensive to build in California — and not just because of the high cost of land, which boosts prices for new and resale homes alike.
The problem for new homes is the California Environmental Equality Act (CEQA).
CEQA requires local agencies to follow numerous protocols to evaluate a project’s environmental impact before granting a permit. It seems straightforward enough, but in practice CEQA can delay and cancel development projects, making it more costly, and risky, for builders to build. Further, not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) advocates often abuse CEQA to halt projects not to their liking.
In 2016, Governor Brown proposed a CEQA workaround to promote new home construction growth. The proposal failed due to backlash from several fronts, including environmental groups and labor unions.
Thus, new construction remains expensive for builders, and homebuyers.
A solution lies in legislative reform, which will balance the concerns of environmentalists, builders, homeowners and laborers. (That won’t be hard, will it?)
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In the Bay Area of California alone, these illegals have squeezed out at least 400,000 units from the market. They are devouring resources that have been paid for by legal citizens, and they are driving up the crime-rate. For example using their kid’s SS numbers for employment, false ID, etc. Driving prices and rents sky high.
“Prior to the law, the premium for new homes averaged 34% over the typical home resale. After the law was enacted, the new home premium jumped to 52%, an average increase of $26,000 per new home, according to Zillow.” This is an unqualified statement. What does the word premium relate too? And, what is meant by a typical resale? And, was the price increase after the law was enacted related to market conditions that had nothing to do with so-called increased labor costs like the bubble we are in? And, where is the research that shows these laws decreased the numbers of illegals hired, and increased the number of legal residents working in construction? And, importantly, where is the research that shows legal workers received higher wages and benefits over that which was paid to the illegal workers they replaced. It isn’t enough to show a difference between what normal legal workers in a particular field of construction makes over an illegal construction worker. For any study to be valid by academic standards, this study must show there was a significant decrease in illegal immigrant construction workers, show the percentages of illegal construction workers in which trades, how much they were paid on average for each individual trade, then show there was a significant increase in the hiring of legal construction workers in direct correlation to the decrease, the percentages from each trade hired, and the average increase in wages and benefits for each trade. Also, decreases or increases in productivity must be factored in as well because a trained skilled worker who costs more per hour generally has a higher output of work at a much higher quality of workmanship than an untrained worker as most illegals are. By untrained, I mean no formal training other than on the job. Then, the market forces that exist outside of those factors and how they increased or decreased home prices must also be factored in. This article was clearly written by someone pushing for illegal immigration thinking they could fool people who don’t understand how a proper academic study is conducted. Either that, or they are simply ignorant.
I am not quite sure if you recommend (with the example of Georgia) that we should allow unrestricted entry of more illegal immigrants, because then the new home building costs drop? But then (with the example of California) you tell us that nothing will bring our building costs down in a corrupt state like California (a single party system will do that). Maybe we should not care about whether illegals are good for our pocketbooks or not, but just follow the existing law!
Just go to Home Depot, they want at least $15 per hour, lunch, you supply tools and transportation. No Good Deal !! Your better off going to temp agency and getting laborers, they are around $22 an hour and they are insured with workers comp. Best $$$ you could ever spend. There guys are trained to get hurt at your home and they collect big. My wifes best friend works for State Fund, over 50% of Workers Comp Claims go to Mexico.
Yes, so off-the-books remodels and home improvements in California are cheaper