California’s affordability crisis is often blamed on interest rates, zoning, or construction costs. But there is a quieter driver pushing housing costs higher for both renters and homeowners: untreated termite damage. In a state with one of the nation’s oldest housing stocks, termites are not merely a cosmetic issue. They are both structural and financial.
Drywood termites are especially costly because they live entirely inside walls, ceilings, and framing. They hollow out load-bearing wood from the inside while leaving surfaces looking intact. When infestations are discovered late, the damage is often extensive and expensive to repair. For homeowners, that can mean replacing beams, joists, subfloors, or entire sections of a roof. For landlords, it means major capital repairs, lost rental income, and higher operating costs that inevitably flow to tenants.
This is where the cost comparison becomes stark. Whole-structure fumigation, the only proven method that eliminates all drywood termite colonies throughout an entire building in one treatment, typically costs a fraction of structural repairs. Structural repairs routinely cost tens of thousands of dollars and, in severe cases, can exceed $50,000. Once damage spreads, there is no “spot fix” that restores integrity. The wood is already gone.
Delaying or restricting access to whole-structure solutions does not reduce costs. It multiplies them. Partial treatments that miss hidden colonies allow infestations to rebound, leading to repeated service calls, ongoing damage, and escalating repair bills. Each failed intervention raises the total cost borne by property owners and renters alike.
For renters, the impact shows up as higher rents and fewer habitable units.
Landlords facing expensive termite repairs must recover those costs or remove units from the market altogether. In tight housing markets like California, this worsens shortages and pushes prices even higher. For homeowners, termite damage erodes equity, complicates sales, and can make financing or obtaining insurance more difficult.
Policies that restrict or seek to ban structural fumigation effectively force property owners to use less effective options that allow damage to continue. That is not a neutral regulatory choice. It is an anti-affordability outcome.
When infestations are not fully resolved, buildings deteriorate, repair costs surge, and housing becomes more expensive for everyone.
Housing affordability is not just about building new units. It is about preserving the ones we already have. Allowing termites to quietly destroy structural wood while limiting access to the only complete-structure solution is the most expensive path forward.
When it comes to termites, the cost of doing nothing is paid in weakened homes, higher rents, and fewer affordable places to live.
