California ’ s Land of Opportunity
There are approximately 40 million residents in the Golden State . As of January 2020 , the U . S . Census Bureau reported that the U . S . had a population base of 330 million . This translates to California residents representing 12.12 % of all U . S . residents .
The famous film and stage actor , writer , and witty humorist from Pacific Palisades , California named Will Rogers once said : “ Buy land . They ain ’ t making any more of the stuff .”
Another historic quote by Harold Samuel , the founder of Land Securities , which was one of the United Kingdom ’ s most successful property companies , about the key to success in regard to how to make money in real estate is as follows : “ Location , location , location .”
California is filled with an abundant supply of land that is adjacent to the majestic Pacific Ocean and includes scenic rivers , mountain ranges , and forests up and down the state which borders Mexico , Nevada , Arizona , and Oregon . Our state is 1,040 miles in length and 560 miles in width . There are an estimated 156,000 square miles of land and an additional 7,734 square miles that are covered by water for a grand total size of 164,000 square miles .
If you flew on an airplane between two airports in the state that didn ’ t fly over the Pacific Ocean , you ’ d probably see primarily empty land regions . Did you know that our 40 million residents live on approximately just 5.4 % of the state ’ s entire available land supply ?
Almost 95 % of California has no
people living on it due to very strict zoning and usage laws and incredibly high building costs like environmentalimpact study and “ sustainable living ” or green home building fees . The combination of costly environmentalimpact fees and rising supply costs are two of the main reasons why there haven ’ t been many affordable homes or apartments developed in the state .
If we divide 156,000 square miles of available California land supply by the estimated 5.4 % of land that ’ s allowed to have residents living there , this means that only 8,424 square miles of California has residential or commercial real estate and residents on it . If so , this is equal to 4,748 California residents per square mile of the buildable land supply .
Let ’ s put this 8,424 square miles of buildable land in the Golden State into better perspective by comparing it to other U . S . regions :
• All of the Hawaiian Islands combined : 6,422 square miles
• The Big Island of Hawaii by itself : 4,028 square miles
• The state of Connecticut : 5,543 square miles
• Puerto Rico : 3,515 square miles
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For so long as the state ’ s overall economy remains strong in spite of our massive state deficits , crime , traffic , and lack of affordable housing , we might just see a statewide home price average surpassing $ 1 million dollars in the near future if our annual home price gains remain at a pace well above our historical average .
Because most of California is not located on a beautiful beach , the fact that many inland properties are also rising to alltime record highs is validation or confirmation that the American Dream is more likely found within California than outside of our state ’ s borders .
“ Buy land . They ain ’ t making any more of the stuff .”
MEET RICK TOBIN
Rick Tobin has worked in the real estate , financial , investment , and writing fields for the past 30 + years . He ’ s held eight ( 8 ) different real estate , securities and mortgage brokerage licenses to date and is a graduate of the University of Southern California . He provides creative residential and commercial mortgage solutions for clients across the nation . He ’ s also written college textbooks and real estate licensing courses in most states for the two largest real estate publishers in the nation ; the oldest real estate school in California ; and the first online real estate school in California . Please visit his website at Realloans . com for financing options and his new investment group at https :// www . meetup . com / socalrealestate / for more details .