Californians vote a resounding ‘yes’ on housing affordability propositions – Los Angeles Times

Californians vote a resounding ‘yes’ on housing affordability propositions  Los Angeles Times

Two propositions aimed at easing housing costs for renters and would-be homeowners in California easily passed Tuesday night, making clear that voters across the socioeconomic spectrum support any way to lower sky-high housing prices. Propositions 1 and 37 each passed with roughly 60% of counted votes, as of Wednesday morning. The results are still preliminary. In a sea of statewide propositions, and with much of the focus on a proposed billionaire tax, these housing propositions received less attention and little opposition. The propositions unlock billions in bond dollars to build housing and help residents buy homes in a state where the median price is nearly $900,000, according to recent data. “Californians are saying, at least with these two measures, ‘Hey, we realize that there isn't endless money but, in this case, we need to make sure that the government is dedicating resources to making housing more affordable and available,’” said Matthew Lewis, communications director of California YIMBY, an organization that supports making it cheaper to build housing.

With the passage of Proposition 1, the state has the go-ahead to issue $11.25 billion in bonds. Most of that money would be set aside for building and renovating low-income housing — likely doled out to local governments and private developers as low-cost loans. Another chunk of the money will go toward helping