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Housing

California’s 37 million residents live in 13 million households. There are 8.3 million single-family homes, 4 million multi-family dwellings and 580,000 mobile homes. It is difficult to get an accurate count of homeless people in the state but the 2000 Census estimated that 360,000 Californians had no homes.

About 60% of California families own homes, compared to 69% of U.S. families. Home ownership is lower in urban areas. In December 2005, only 14% of Californians could afford the median priced single-family home of $548,430. Nationally, this affordability index was 49%. (Note that the median single-family home prices vary by region: $354,790 in the Central Valley, $552,760 in Los Angeles and $734,950 in Santa Clara County as examples).

For California renters, affordability is also an issue. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the monthly housing cost in 2003 was $890, 31% higher than the national average of $679. Recent average rent in Southern California was $1,319, up 5% versus the prior year. Census Data from 2000 shows that 40% of renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing.

Most new housing is built by private developers. The state provides incentives to developers who set aside a portion of new housing units for low-income families. Most years, state spending on housing is less than 1% of the state budget. The federal government also provides some funds to subsidize housing for low-income Californians.

These are some of the government agencies that deal with housing:

• The California Housing and Community Development Department works to provide safe and affordable housing opportunities for all Californians. For example, you can see a list of affordable housing developments supported by the Department.

• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) California web page

• The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) enforces the Fair Housing Act that prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, children or disability.

Additional resources

Here are additional resources to help you shape and share your perspective about housing in California:

• An overview of California ’s housing supply from the Public Policy Institute of California (download 2 pages)

• A report about California ’s Housing Crisis from the state department of Housing and Community Development Department (download 8 pages)

• An overview of state housing programs and funding from the California Budget Project (download 20 pages)

• A 2004 report about housing affordability with regional data from the California Budget Project (download 36 pages)

• More links for housing policy

• An adult student worksheet about housing issues

• Statistics and information about homelessness from Los Angeles-based organization

We welcome your suggestions for additional nonpartisan links to help Californians get more informed and engaged with this issue.

Sources: California Housing and Community Development Department, the Public Policy Institute of California and the California Budget Project.