A new report finds San Diego County is easing toward a housing crisis that could eventually choke the region's economic growth.
The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the London Group put together the survey.
The report finds the affordable housing shortage is getting worse since the great recession.
Economist Gary London said local leaders see and talk about building more affordable housing, but developers aren't building homes to meet the growing need.
"We have to look a our policies," London said. "We have to create some certainty that we can offer up to developers, so they can actually come and build the kinds of units that they need to build to accommodate the demand."
The study found the region isn't building new homes fast enough to keep up with demand.
Failing to address the problem could hurt the economy and it could also turn San Diego County into a region that only caters to the haves, London said.
"Ultimately we pay the price in those companies that are not growing or moving out or expanding elsewhere," London said. "The other path is that we become a boutique region where we basically become a region that mostly accommodates the haves and leaves out the have-nots."
Regulatory barriers to building homes in the region will make it hard to accommodate a growing population, London said.
The report predicts there could be a shortage of 45,000 to 118,000 single family homes by 2050.
London said home building slowed dramatically since the great recession in 2008.
