Los Angeles

The European city of Los Ángeles, located in the province of Almería, Spain, faces a severe housing crisis characterized by skyrocketing prices and limited supply. Property prices in Spain have risen over 12% in the second quarter of 2025, reaching record highs not seen since the mid-2000s property boom. Rent costs have also surged, with annual increases of 11% in 2024. Meanwhile, the construction sector is lagging behind: fewer than 87,000 homes were built in Spain last year, while the estimated annual demand exceeds 200,000.

Spain’s overall housing deficit now stands at around 700,000 homes, with a remarkable 14.4% of all homes (about 3.8 million) sitting empty, many in less desirable areas lacking jobs or amenities. Rising construction costs, scarce building land, and prolonged bureaucracy further compound the crisis.

This shortage has a direct impact on a wide range of people. Locals, particularly young adults—who now leave the family home at 30, four years later than the EU average—struggle to find affordable rentals or to buy. Lower- and middle-income residents are priced out by rising demand, while strong foreign investment and tourist rentals intensify local competition for housing. Families, young professionals, and low- to mid-wage earners are most acutely affected, often forced to delay independence or live in overcrowded conditions. Protests and public outcry continue in major cities over housing affordability and availability.

The Los Angeles city administration is addressing affordable and sustainable housing through an ambitious multi-pronged strategy targeting increased supply, better protections, and sustainability integration. Recent targets include creating 456,643 new housing units by 2029, with around 40% reserved for very-low and low-income households.

Key measures include a citywide rezoning plan that permits higher residential density, especially along commercial corridors and transit areas, while protecting existing affordable housing stock and introducing minimum density requirements. The Citywide Housing Incentive Program (CHIP), effective since February 2025, expands affordable housing options through incentives for developers and mandates longer affordability requirements (up to 99 years) and stronger resident protections to minimize displacement.

Major funding initiatives are underway. The Homes for LA: 2025 Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability pools over €940 million to support both new construction and preservation of affordable housing across seven distinct programs. Additional activities include rental assistance, down payment help, emergency grants, and streamlined permitting processes such as builder self-certification for faster project approvals.

Sustainability is woven throughout, with new large-scale developments in climate-appropriate locations and an emphasis on reducing commutes and supporting mixed-use, walkable communities. The administration is working to simplify and speed up housing approval, leveraging legislative reforms and substantial new financing to aggressively tackle both affordability and environmental resilience.

In Los Angeles, California, about 46% of residents own their homes, while 54% are renters. The city’s rental market has seen notable price increases: the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Q1 2025 is €2,785 per month (converted from $2,940), with some areas exceeding €3,125 monthly. Median property value stands at approximately €878,300 for apartment purchases (converted from $928,000), reflecting steep appreciation in recent years. This equates to roughly €8,780 per sqm, assuming a typical 100 sqm apartment.

Publicly owned housing plays a limited role, accounting for less than 4% of the housing market. Social housing in Los Angeles is not identical to public housing. Public housing traditionally refers to government-owned units reserved for the lowest-income residents. Social housing, recently launched in California, is publicly owned or controlled but intended for mixed-income groups, including middle-income households. Social housing projects are integrated into neighborhoods, not isolated, and promote broader economic accessibility and diversity. Social housing also often operates without ongoing government subsidies by mixing incomes.

Overall, Los Angeles faces high prices, constrained supply, and a large, growing rental sector, with public and social housing providing only a small fraction of total homes. All figures are presented in Euros for clarity.