Put Housing Affordability at the top of DC's to-do list

Just 15% of Californians can afford to purchase a home.

In today’s issue of Beyond the Whiteboard, I’m writing about one of California’s biggest issues: the high cost of housing.

Housing has been central to my career. In 2012, then Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris, secured an $18 billion settlement from Wall Street Banks whose predatory lending practices had caused the 2008 mortgage crisis and left 700,000 California families in or near foreclosure. It was then my job as California’s Independent Monitor to travel the state, hearing from families who had lost their homes, and making sure people actually received the money the banks owed them.

I saw how desperately we needed to stop running our housing policy to benefit Wall Street.

It’s no secret that since then, things have only gotten worse. A recent report from the California Association of Realtors shows that home buying affordability is at a sixteen year low, with just 15% of Californians able to afford to buy a home. The chart below shows the percentage of Californians who could afford to purchase a home, dating back to 1991. These metrics are calculated by comparing home prices, financing rates, and wages.

This crisis has been years in the making, and it’s a direct result of the federal government failing to take ownership of this issue for decades. The federal government must be more than a partner in building housing. It needs to be a leader.

It shouldn’t be difficult for any American working full-time, even at minimum wage, to afford a place to call home. I’m pushing to:

• Pass a major federal investment in affordable and workforce housing to build the millions more units we need in California. 

• Ensure every Californian who qualifies for housing assistance can receive it, which includes fully funding Section 8 vouchers at the federal level. 

• Use innovative housing financing models to create new homeownership opportunities that don’t reward Wall Street banks. 

• Invest in more workforce housing to make it easier for new communities to take root and grow, with nonprofits providing residents onsite services and programs tailored to their needs.

Homelessness is the tip of the iceberg of the problem of housing affordability. From getting people off the streets, and into safe, secure homes—to making sure our kids can afford to live in the communities they grew up in, housing affordability must be treated as a priority. I’m running to put it at the top of the Senate’s to-do list.

Thanks for reading, 

Katie Porter