California’s housing growth over the past five years has been among the slowest in the country, contributing to the state’s ongoing affordability crisis, with the typical Californian paying $2,280 a month for housing, 70% above the national average.
California households are facing the highest housing cost burdens in the nation, with one in five spending more than half of their income on shelter, according to an analysis of new Census Bureau data.
California’s housing construction permits have fallen sharply in 2025, with the state issuing 49,400 permits for new housing in the first half of the year, the lowest level since 2014, due to elevated mortgage rates and economic uncertainty.
The American housing market is broken, and increasing the SALT deduction cap from $10,000 to $40,000 will only exacerbate the problem, while a new vision of housing that values stability over speculation, homes over assets, and access over appreciation is needed to fix affordability.