After making a shocking prediction that up to 70% of Pacific Palisades residents won’t return to rebuild and live in their homes, former “Million Dollar Listing” real estate agent Josh Altman is explaining exactly why.
“They’re not going to not return because they don’t want to return. Of course they want to go back there… They’re not going to return because it’s simple math,” Altman said on “FOX Business Live,” Friday.
“I don’t believe they’re going to be able to afford to rebuild with most of the people that are heavily underinsured, with the costs of construction, lumber, steel. We’re talking about a $1,000 [per] foot building in the Palisades and in Malibu.”
Southern California has been grappling with a surge of wildfires since Jan. 7.
Over 50,000 acres have been scorched, 28 people have been killed and upwards of 16,000 homes and buildings have been completely lost.
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday after touring the devastation in Los Angeles with residents who were personally impacted by the disastrous event.
Early estimates put the total financial loss of the wildfires in the $50 billion range, according to AccuWeather and JPMorgan.
Leading up to the fires, several insurance companies either fled, stopped writing new policies or reduced coverage in the Golden State.
“And that’s on top of getting a construction crew to show up to your site when there’s 16,000 structures that have been burned between houses, schools, commercial spaces. It’s a disaster,” Altman expanded.
“That’s what I’m saying, I don’t know that they’ll be able to do it with the insurance.”
Newsom signed off on a relief package where the state will spend $2.5 billion to help with wildfire recovery.
But Altman wants Newsom to take his response a step further by removing bureaucratic roadblocks that make building homes in California timely and costly.
“The recipe for success is going to be cutting the red tape. Building a house, the process in California, which is just wrapped in red tape, is absolutely impossible: a year to get permits; you’ve got the Coastal Commission, which could be another two years. It’s time for the governor to start cutting the red tape. We got to move forward as a team,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of ordinances and a lot of things on the state and local level that have to go. The mansion tax, that was the worst tax that was ever passed,” Altman continued.
“Get rid of it for all the people who lost their houses. The wildlife ordinance, get rid of it. Start cutting the red tape. That’s how we’re going to get back to being [a] strong Los Angeles.”
The real estate expert, who spoke ahead of the president’s visit, hoped Trump seeing the devastation with his own eyes would lead to more federal aid and assistance.
“You have to see it. I have walked the Palisades, I have walked Malibu. It is way worse in person than you could ever imagine. Hopefully that will open up funding on the federal level.”
Critical fire conditions waned across the region, Friday, with isolated pockets of rain expected over the weekend.
The beneficial rain will peak in coverage Sunday, but could trigger mudslides in burn-scar areas.
Fox News’ Stepheny Price and FOX Weather’s Chris Oberholtz contributed to this report.
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