One of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, the fires in and around Los Angeles will rewrite the story of housing there. Accounts already abound of skyrocketing rents and price gouging as thousands of Angelenos, some of them monied, are forced into an emergency housing market after losing their homes. The cost and environmental impact of rebuilding thousands of lost homes is another thread entirely.
All of those issues matter. But this disaster is going to have a long tail in the housing market — years and years, experts say. And many of them believe that it will ultimately reach and deeply affect those who already struggle for a place to call home in Los Angeles: the most vulnerable.
