The San Francisco Chronicle reports '08 housing's biggest year in S.F. since '65
The pervasive doom and gloom about the economy and construction in San Francisco - which is still short on housing and an expensive place to live - obscured the fact that in 2008 the city saw more housing built than in any year since 1965.
City planners say a housing boom that started way back in 1998 and carried through 2005 is responsible for last year's housing production. That's because projects built in 2008 were probably approved in 2005, according to city planner Teresa Ojeda.
There were 3,019 units built in 2008, compared with 2,197 the year before and 1,675 in 2006, according to the Planning Department.
Ojeda said that large condominium buildings partly accounted for the increase.
While the recently released housing report shows that residential construction was up in 2008, it also indicates that housing sold at low- and middle-income levels was down.
Twenty-seven percent of the new housing in 2008 was deemed affordable, compared with 33 percent in 2007, 29 percent in 2006, and 43 percent in 2005.
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