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the developer who must borrow funds to acquire land and construct <br />housing units. The high financing costs may discourage the <br />developer from undertaking a project, or else force him to raise <br />prices or rents significantly to cover these higher borrowing <br />costs. Interest rates substantially influence the affordability <br />of housing both for homeowners and renters. <br /> <br />Land Costs/Tract Improvements: Zoning and the non-availability <br />of sewage treatment capacity are factors which restrict the <br />availability of land for housing development (see Institutional <br />Constraints). While Pleasanton has always had sufficient resi- <br />dentially zoned land (especially single-family residential land) <br />development on most of this land has been constrained by lack of <br />sewage treatment capacity since 1971. For this reason, land <br />suitable for development is scarce in the City and the scarcity <br />is reflected by its price. The average land cost for a "typical" <br />unimproved single family lot in Pleasanton is about $25,000. <br />Consequently, the price of land makes up a large percentage of <br />a home's sale price. See Table 19 for details. <br /> <br />Tract improvements consist of numerous activities necessary to <br />prepare a site for housing development. They add substantially <br />to the price of a residential project. The developer must pay <br />for the engineering and grading of each lot; off-site improve- <br />ments such as curb, gutter, sidewalk and street paving; utility <br />hookup fees; park improvement fees, etc. Site improvements <br />amount to over 15% of a home's sales price excluding overhead <br /> <br />and profit. <br /> <br /> <br />