Kamala Harris pledges to build 3 million affordable homes and apartments in her first term as president, but Gov. Newsom has fallen short on a similar campaign promise in California.

While it’s always been more expensive to be a homeowner in California, the gap between the rest of the country has widened into a chasm.

A newly created regional housing finance authority for the entire San Francisco Bay Area will send a bond of up to $20 billion to the ballot. But the fate of its statewide counterpart looks bleak.

In San Jose, the city is facing double deadline pressure. The Bay Area’s largest city has yet to have its housing element certified by the state, though a draft is under review by the housing department.

California lawmakers made an effort in 2023 to remove red tape around building new houses.

Three of the biggest housing bonds in state history are bound for the 2024 ballot. But with no shortage of crises facing the state, California can only borrow so much and voters may succumb to bond fatigue.

People who fail to grasp the big picture, or choose to ignore the combined impacts of poor planning, discriminatory zoning practices and the complexities required to fund affordable housing projects are among the first to argue passionately how much they feel sorry for the homeless – but just as passionately argue that they shouldn’t be allowed to live in their neighborhoods.

When will the law of supply and demand cool California’s housing market? The state is losing population as it builds homes at its fastest clip in a decade.

AB 1657 would authorize $10 billion in general obligation bonds to provide funding for affordable rental housing for lower income families, homeownership opportunities, and supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness.

Housing officials report that the number of new housing units completed and occupied under Measure A is not quite 25% of the bond's goal of 4,800 new affordable housing units set in 2016.