March 2014 Webinar: How California’s Housing Market Is Failing to Meet the Needs of Low Income Families

www.scanph.org/webinar

Join us for our March 2014 Webinar, “How California’s Housing Market Is Failing to Meet the Needs of Low Income Families.”

The California Housing Partnership Corporation released a report that shows California’s private housing market is not providing an adequate number of homes affordable to low-­‐ and moderate-­‐income households and calls on California’s legislators to take immediate action to meet the housing needs of California’s lowest-­‐income residents.

Contrary to common belief, the study “How California’s Housing Market Is Failing to Meet the Needs of Low Income Families,” finds that the housing bubble burst and the ensuing foreclosure crisis have not made housing more affordable to lower-income households. In fact, rents were higher in  2012 than they were at the height of the housing boom in 2006 in nearly all metro areas. One million low-income households in California do not have access to an affordable home, and not one county or legislative district in the state has an adequate supply of homes affordable to extremely low-income households, those earning 30 percent or less of their metro area’s median household income. More than fifty percent of extremely low-income households are elderly or disabled and living on a fixed income.

The shortfall was particularly stark in Southern California.  Of the 58 counties in the state, the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside were all among the 10 with the highest shortfall of homes affordable and available to extremely low-income renter households.  Los Angeles County led the list with a shortfall of 376,735 homes affordable to extremely low-income households;  San Diego County had the second highest shortfall in the state --  79,795 homes; Orange County had the third highest shortfall -- 70, 125 homes;  San Bernardino County was sixth, with a shortfall of 36,375 homes; and Riverside County was ninth, with a shortfall of 31,875 homes.   (Although not specifically mentioned in the report, CHPC has told SCANPH that Ventura County had the 15th highest shortfall in the state with a shortfall of 13,480 homes.)

In the past five years, 79 percent of state and federal investment in affordable homes has disappeared. The elimination of Redevelopment funding in 2012 and the exhaustion of state housing bonds funded by Propositions 46 and 1C, has meant the loss of more than $1 billion per year in  state investment that is critical to spur the production and preservation of affordable homes.
Combined with reductions in federal funds, investment in affordable homes in California has been reduced by more than $1.5 billion annually.