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New data shows red tape now accounts for more than a quarter of home prices as cities test AI tools to speed permitting and weigh restrictions on data centers.
nationalobserver.comU.S. home, according to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders. S. 4 percent of that price.
Those costs have risen almost 40 percent in the past five years. U.S. com reported. Builders face regulatory expenses at nearly every stage of construction, the NAHB survey found.
Jacksonville, Florida, is testing whether AI can reduce those delays. In August, Mayor Donna Deegan announced an eight-point plan to streamline permitting. Point four of the plan calls for AI tools to analyze comments and review plans before they reach human reviewers.
The city faces a shortage of 50,000 affordable housing units. Its median household income is under $70,000, and the affordability threshold is defined as housing costs of no more than $1,750 per month. The median home price is roughly $300,000.
5 percent mortgage rates, principal and interest exceed $2,000 per month. “This exciting new plan brings more people, resources, and technology to the process to make it work more efficiently for the developer community, city staff, and all our citizens,” Deegan said. Jacksonville has already used AI tools to save more than 600 hours through automated reporting and dashboards, Microsoft reported.
The city recently onboarded SwiftGov as an additional partner for AI-assisted development-plan reviews. “Our goal was simple: Make the process faster, more transparent, and easier to navigate for residents, businesses, and builders alike,” said Jacksonville Chief Information Officer Wanyonyi Kendrick. ” Other communities are moving in the opposite direction.
U.S. city to permanently ban data centers. The city must build more than 5,000 new residential units by 2029 to meet state obligations. Its median home value is about $863,000, compared with the national median of $425,000.
4 percent regulatory-cost share to Monterey Park’s median home yields an estimated $227,800 in red-tape costs. , with another 1,489 planned or under construction. Microsoft Azure operates as many as 500 data centers across 80 regions.
“Data centers bring no long-term benefits to local communities, and they come with serious risks,” one Monterey Park resident said during a public comment session.
foxnews.comIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Jerusalem policy summit that two named operations destroyed Iran's nuclear infrastructure and killed 20 scientists. He also described strikes on missile and regime targets plus new security zones in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon.
foxnews.comA federal judge barred the Kennedy Center from shutting for two years of renovations and required removal of President Trump's name from the building. The board will vote in mid-July on three renovation options.
ForbesDavid Hearn, 67, faces charges of destroying government property after touching a strip of blue coating. President Trump said the pool would be drained again and that multiple arrests had occurred.