California housing construction hits a 15-year high. These cities added the most units

California added more than 123,000 housing units in 2022, reaching growth levels not seen since 2008.

The state increased its year-over-year housing production by 0.85%, building more than 116,000 new units, according to the California Department of Finance. That’s a 0.1% increase from 2021 and the highest level in 15 years. But it falls far short of meeting needs in a state where the housing shortage has reached crisis proportions.

Gov. Gavin Newsom ran on building 3.5 million housing units by 2025 during his first campaign for governor in 2017. In 2022, he revised that goal to 2.5 million homes by 2030.

Single-family homes made up about 54% of the new construction, while 44% were multifamily units and just 1% were mobile homes.

Bigger cities gained the most total housing units. But smaller inland cities, and those in the Central Valley and coastal agricultural areas, gained the largest percentage of new units.

Twelve counties grew their housing by 1% or more, with Yuba, Placer and Butte counties gaining the most. Only Mariposa County lost housing, due to the wildfires the area experienced in 2022.

The Department of Finance calculates overall housing growth based on new construction, demolitions, annexations and new unit conversions.

Which cities added the most housing?

Los Angeles, San Diego and Oakland added the most total housing units and the most new multifamily construction. Sacramento produced 1,960 units, ranking fifth statewide for total growth.

Los Angeles and San Diego also built the most single-family homes, with Roseville taking the third spot. The Placer County city added 1,783 single-family homes, which places it seventh in total unit growth.

Paradise, the Butte County community still recovering from the deadly Camp Fire in 2018, saw the biggest year-over-year growth, adding 17% more units.

Lathrop in San Joaquin County added nearly 15% more units, and Duarte in Los Angeles County more than 8%. Lincoln added 4.4%, ranking the Placer County city ninth for housing growth.

Folsom created 4% more housing units, ranking the Sacramento County city tenth for housing growth.

This story was originally published May 2, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "California housing construction hits a 15-year high. These cities added the most units."