Here’s what California’s gubernatorial candidates have to say about home ownership – The Mercury News
California’s high housing costs mean more than 80% of families can’t afford a median-priced home in the state, where the price tag hovers around $900,000, the president of the California Association of Realtors said during a forum with several gubernatorial candidates.
Forced to put their home ownership dreams on hold as they try to save a little money, the average age of first-time home buyers in the state is approaching 40 years old, she said.
RELATED: Mahan: The key to affordable housing in California is low-cost construction
“For generations, homeownership has been central to the California dream. And that’s because homeownership is important,” said Tamara Suminski, president of the California Association of Realtors. But, he continued, “many Californians still don’t believe they can be a part of that dream.”
Several California gubernatorial candidates gathered Thursday, March 5, in Sacramento to address one of the most pressing issues for many voters: home ownership.
Candidates participating were former US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former Rep. Katie Porter, Rep. Eric Swalwell and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Also joining the discussion was former Fox News host Steve Hilton, the lone Republican on the panel.
Two other candidates, Sheriff County Sheriff Chad Bianco and environmental lawyer Tom Steyer, were also invited, according to organizers. Steyer’s campaign said he missed the forum due to a scheduling conflict. Bianco’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on his absence.
People who participated in the forum generally agreed, at least in theory, on many solutions to make housing affordable, accelerate the construction of new homes and provide insurance for homeowners.
Below, we highlight some of their comments.
Xavier Becerra
If elected, Becerra said, he would call on all developers with projects that are almost “shovel ready” to contact him so that once he is sworn in, he can address any issues that are preventing them from coming to fruition.
It is important, he said, for Californians to see that homes are being built so there is hope that they may soon join home ownership.
“If they see that something is actually being built, they will feel they have the opportunity to be one of those who buy,” he said. “So first, shovel the ground. Let’s show the people of California that we’re going to build.”
He said it is important to build both single-family and multi-family housing and policies to prevent Wall Street investors from bidding on first-time home buyers.
He also proposed that workers who build ordinary houses should be paid “respectable wages,” and said he would support a plan to help teachers, firefighters, police and nurses buy a house.
Steve Hilton
Hilton, who said his stepfather was a general contractor and his first job was a project manager for a construction company, challenged the notion that California has run out of land to build. The state covers more than 160,000 square miles of which, according to Hilton, only 8,000 square miles are built. The construction of another 10,000 square miles will provide housing for 10 million people, he said.
“We have to allow ourselves to build outward, not just upward, and we have to end the bias toward single-family housing,” she said.
Hilton opposed some of the state’s climate policies and programs, saying they hindered housing construction.
“It’s a choice. And I want to choose houses and single-family homes for our people here in California,” he said.
Matt Mahan
Mahan said the city of San Jose dramatically reduced the fees associated with housing development, despite opposition from park and affordable housing advocates. Those cuts, along with speeding up the permitting process, have led to thousands of new homes in the construction pipeline, he said.
“I have a track record as mayor of a major city to remove regulatory burdens and fees that, while well-intentioned, prevent us from having the very thing we need, which is more affordable housing,” Mahan said.
In addition, Mahan said the state’s building codes should be simplified because they lead to higher housing costs.
“We’re going to have to have tough conversations with our friends in the environmental sector, the fire marshal, all the people who have added layer after layer after layer” to the codes, he said.
Katie Porter
Porter suggested that the state should work with cities that issue building permits to create a common application used across the country to speed up construction. He also said he wants to look at new ways of building and building materials, as well as financing plans.
“I live in houses that people love,” he said. “I own my home. I don’t own the place where he lives. It’s a very new system, but in that system, I can’t call myself a Californian today.”
He also challenged the idea of a 20% down payment, saying that someone who puts down 3% to 10% as a down payment can be a successful home owner with the right mortgage plans.
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell – who joined the forum via videoconferencing because he is in Washington, DC – said that as governor, he would use a “90-day clock” to require every agency in the state responsible for approving new construction applications to make decisions.
“We need certainty, he said. A goal, to me, without a deadline is a dream. The people of California are done dreaming.”
He emphasized that duplexes, four-plexes and townhomes may be more affordable for first-time home buyers and encouraged more production of these types of homes.
Antonio Villaraigosa
To speed up the construction of the house, Villaraigosa said he would like to suspend the California Environmental Quality Act. State law mandates environmental reviews of projects, but developers say it often leads to delays and can prevent new development.
In addition to stopping CEQA, Villaraigosa said he wants to address “broken local laws” and enabling laws.
He also said that cities and regions must understand that everywhere must build houses. At the same time, he noted that in some communities, that could mean more single-family homes, while other areas could see more condos and multi-family developments.
“One of the things I intend to do is to work with the legislature to understand that one size does not fit everywhere, but (also) to make sure that cities and regions understand that we will have to build those houses,” he said.
