Looming LA crisis in accommodation

With a population of 3.8 million, Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States as well as the largest city in the state of California and the Western United States. It is also the 14th largest urban area in the world with an urban area extending beyond the administrative city limits and a population of over 14.8 million affording the seat of Los Angeles County megacity status. It is also the most populated and one of the most multicultural counties in the United States. The city's inhabitants are referred to as "Angelenos". Los Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of the river of Porziuncola). Following its independence from Spain, it became a part of Mexico in 1821. At the end of the Mexican-American War In 1848, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. In that treaty also, Mexico retained the territory of Baja California.
Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood. La Opinión is the city's major Spanish-language paper while the major daily newspaper in the area is the Los Angeles Times. The city has an estimated population of nearly 4 million, with white Americans making up the majority followed by blacks. The majority language is English with a projected 42.2% while 41.7% of the population speaks Spanish. There are other languages including Armenian, Tagalog, Korean, and Chinese.
The growth in business volumes has made finding accommodation here an uphill task. According to the LA Times, new homes sales has surged 14.8% in recent times fueled by an expiring federal tax credit for buyers. This will of course drive a shortage of rental housing and apartments. Projections show that with the recovery of the economy, house and apartment builders won't be able to keep up with the pace of growth and there will be a shortage of apartments for rental in Los Angeles.
Analysts say that while a housing crisis is not a sure thing the likelihood is there in degrees that are disturbing enough to warrant a warning cry. The apartment sector itself is liable to take a major hit because potential owners could no longer qualify for a mortgage for a number of reasons, one of them being loss of a job or poor credit rating or lack of enough money to put up the down payment. In larger markets where the big public builders tend to dominate, the lack of construction financing may not be as much of a problem. Part of the reason for this may be that public builders go directly to Wall Street for their funding, whereas small and mid-size local and regional builders most often look up to local banks for money.

Even though there is a shortage of rental apartments in LA due to a housing crisis, you can always try and look for one through a variety of mediums. All said and done, an apartment in LA is perhaps the best way to survive in the city, comfortably.