SFGATE - California’s Central Valley is still sinking. This reality has had scientists worried for more than a century, but a recent study reveals the troubling phenomenon may now be affecting the local housing market.
The rapidly lowering ground — as much as 1 inch per year — has caused property values in the region to dip as much as 5.8%, a new study from UC Riverside found. The researchers estimated that losses totaled $1.87 billion across the region from 2015 to 2021, a startling estimate in an area of the state where home values have otherwise been growing at a steady clip.
“Our research shows that subsidence is not just an agricultural or environmental issue,” Ariel Dinar, a UC Riverside professor emeritus of environmental economics and policy and one of the study’s authors, said in a July news release. “It is a serious economic issue that affects families and communities.”