Developer Daniel Kaufman Says Voters Paid for Housing but Kept the Rules That Slow It Down

LOS ANGELES - Rezul -- Daniel Kaufman, founder and CEO of Kaufman & Company, the permanent capital holding company that buys land and existing assets and builds and holds them for the long term, said last week's election results show voters are willing to pay for housing but not yet willing to change the rules that slow it down, which puts the next homes in the hands of owners who can buy land and carry it through approvals.

California voters rejected Proposition 45, which would have limited environmental reviews for projects deemed essential, including housing, to 365 business days and required courts to resolve challenges within 270 days. The measure trailed 55.7% to 44.3% with about 76% of votes counted, CalMatters reported Nov. 8. In Massachusetts, the Associated Press projected that Question 7, which would have allowed single family homes on smaller lots, failed by about 50.6% to 49.4%, Boston.com reported.

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Voters approved the money side of the ballot. California's Proposition 1 authorizes $11.25 billion for housing affordability programs, Rhode Island's Question 2 authorizes $120 million in bonds for new affordable housing, and Florida's Amendment 3 raises the homestead exemption to $150,000 next year and $250,000 in 2028, RealEstateNews reported. Meanwhile active listings rose 7.4% from a year earlier in October while new listings fell 7.5%, according to the Realtor.com October Housing Report.

"Voters were clear on one thing and split on another," Kaufman said. "They will pay for housing, but they were not ready to change how projects get reviewed or how small a lot can be. That means the new money arrives into the same approval process we had last week, and the homes will come from people who already know how to get a site through it."

"With more homes sitting on the market and fewer new ones coming on, this is a good time to buy land and existing buildings and do the slow work early, the engineering, the entitlement, the design," Kaufman said. "We use our own capital and we hold what we build, so a long review doesn't change whether we start, it changes when."

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Haven, DanReDev and Design Build Affordable are Kaufman & Company's own attainable and workforce housing brands. Read the full release at https://www.thekaufmanco.com/press-voters-paid-for-housing-kept-the-rules

About Kaufman & Company: Kaufman & Company is a permanent capital holding company that buys land and existing assets and builds and holds them for the long term. Its 10 operating companies represent more than $2 billion in project value and more than 10,000 housing units.