(KTXL) — On Wednesday, the California Housing Partnership released housing reports for Placer and El Dorado counties that provided insight on the spiking costs in the rental market for each county.
Rental Costs
El Dorado County
Since early 2011, El Dorado County has seen a consistent upward trend in rental costs, with the second half of 2021 seeing the most significant hike in costs per unit.
In 2021, the county saw rental unit costs jump to $1,600 for the first time in the county’s history and has continued to rise to an average monthly asking rent of $1,696.
In order for a person living on their own to afford the average rental costs in the county, they would need to make $32.61 per hour, or two times the state minimum wage.
According to the report, 73% of low-income households are spending more than half of their income on housing costs.
There are also 3,555 low-income renter households that do not have access to affordable housing.
During the 2021-22 fiscal year, El Dorado County received $136 million in state housing bonds and budget allocations and $7.1 million in low-income housing tax credits. An additional $15.3 million was given to the county by the federal government.
While the county saw a 1,053% increase in funding from last year, there has been no construction of new or acquisition/rehabilitation of older low-income housing tax credit units in 2022.
Placer County
Rental costs have been seeing a gentle rise since late 2014, but by mid-2020 rental unit costs began to rise sharply to their current average monthly cost of $1,920.
With an average rental cost above $1,900, a single-renter would need to make $36.92/hour, or two times the state minimum wage, to cover their rent.
This hike in rental costs has left more than 8,300 low-income renters without access to an affordable home and 68% of extremely low-income households paying more than half of their income towards housing costs.
Placer County saw a 1,052% rise in federal funding for low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) in the 2021-22 fiscal year compared to the previous year.
Between 2021 and 2022, Placer County added more than 400 new LIHTC units which was an increase of more than 300 from 2020.
Homelessness
El Dorado County
Since 2019, El Dorado has seen a decrease in their homeless population from just over 600 people to around 500 people in 2022.
The county has also seen a mirrored decrease in available interim and permanent beds for the homeless population since 2019, with only 118 available beds in 2022.
Placer County
In 2019, Placer County had slightly more available beds for its homeless population of around 600 persons, but that metric has changed significantly over the last three years.
The county reported a homeless population of around 750 persons in 2022 and around 481 available interim and permanent beds.
