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It comes as no surprise that the San Francisco Bay Area is overpriced, underserved with available housing, and facing a burgeoning crisis. Such is the severity of the housing shortage in the greater San Francisco Bay Area that many residents are seeking housing outside the city. This presents an array of additional problems, including unbearable commute times, and a compromised overall quality-of-life. The city and surrounds simply cannot keep pace with demand which consistently outstrips the available supply. Housing prices in San Francisco routinely average well over $1 million - substantially out of reach for most first-time homeowners, working-class people, and newcomers to the Bay Area.
San Francisco rentals can easily go for $2500 for a single bedroom & bathroom apartment, the equivalent of purchasing a sizeable home in various other states across the country such as Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, et al. Of course, San Francisco is unique and that's precisely why property prices are astronomical. Silicon Valley generates billions of dollars in revenue every year for California and the country, and drives the world's tech boom. According to estimates, employment in Silicon Valley has increased by 23% since the global recession in 2009.
Sadly, the available housing supply has not kept pace with the increased employment numbers, resulting in many more people living together and paying higher rentals at the same time. For the most part, anyone not involved in the tech industry cannot afford the high rental prices and high property prices in the Bay Area. This means that only the affluent can own property or rent housing in San Francisco. With a median home price of $1.4 million it's quite a stretch for middle-class families. Tack on colleges tuition fees which are priced almost double the US average, and price of gasoline at $5+ per gallon - it's clear that the Bay Area is an expensive place to live. A less flattering statistic indicates that the Bay Area boasts the highest number of resident departures, second only to New York. Housing is the #1 reason why people simply cannot afford to live in this neck of the woods.
California lost an estimated 38,000 more people than the number of people who entered the state in 2018, a trend that is gaining momentum. The Edelman Trust Barometer Survey polls found that millennials (63%) and local residents (53%) were seriously contemplating leaving the Bay Area because of rising prices. The middle class has been neglected, and low-income earners have no way to live in the city and surrounding suburbs. In a place where the median household income averages $100,000, Silicon Valley rentals average $4600, and San Francisco rentals average $3600, there is very little left at the end of the day in terms of personal disposable income. As a result, teachers, hotel and restaurant workers, clerks and attendants feel that they have no choice but to live in their cars, in tents, or simply to say goodbye to San Francisco.
What are real estate developers doing about the housing crisis?
When demand consistently exceeds supply, real estate developers understand that they have an opportunity to fix things. This oftentimes results in high rental prices and high property prices - a continuance of the negative spiral. However, a notable real estate developer named Danny Haber has thrown his hat into the mix with a novel approach to the provision of affordable housing. Haber is the CEO and co-founder of oWOW a unique property development company with an eye towards luxury living below market prices. This ingenious concept gained traction in recent years with the completion of multiple successful projects such as 674 23rd Street in Oakland California. This particular property development offers a premium product at an affordable price. It comprises modular units that are constructed in a factory and then installed in renovated apartments.
As a man of character, Danny Haber is seeking to re-invigorate the Bay Area with beautiful housing options. The housing industry needs a serious overhaul, and this means providing luxury-style living at an affordable price for the neglected masses. oWOW has bucked the trend of catering to the well-heeled, and is targeting middle income earners such as artists, entrepreneurs, employees at small, medium, and large enterprises (SMEs), and others who want to enjoy a high quality of life without breaking the bank. By reinventing the development, design, and construction of housing, this real estate development company is fast-tracking the provision of standardized kits to build quality homes at affordable prices. The use of Magic Walls has brought innovation to the remodeling process, with repeatable designs courtesy of off-site mass-produced parts which allows homes to be built quickly, efficiently, and affordably.
Several notable public figures have already endorsed oWOWs work, including the erstwhile vice mayor of Oakland, Annie Campbell and Elaine Brown of the Black Panther Party. The Magic Walls system makes it easy to dramatically transform a fixed area of space into a much more comfortable and luxurious multi-bedroom/multi-bathroom unit. These modular units are produced at factories and then shipped out to the apartment complexes for installation. The end result is a brand-new, beautiful apartment. This stands in stark contrast to most every other developer who is seeking to cater expressly to the upper echelons of society - forgetting that it's the middle-income earners and the low-income earners who greased the wheels of the economy. The success of multiple projects including 1919 market, 316 12 Street, and 960 Howard Street have led many locals to refer to him as the Oracle of Oakland - the man who makes affordable housing a reality.