Pursuits
San Francisco Plans $200 Million of Bonds to Ease Housing Crunch
San Francisco will be the least affordable housing market in the U.S. this year, with 72 percent of median income needed to pay a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, according to a forecast by realtor.com.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee will seek voter approval for the first housing bond since 1996 as his city becomes the least affordable U.S. housing market and uproar grows about gentrification fueled by the technology boom.
Lee plans to ask the city’s Board of Supervisors to place a housing bond of at least $200 million on the November ballot, spokeswoman Christine Falvey said. Unlike similar proposals rejected by voters in 2002 and 2004, Lee’s housing bond plan won’t trigger an increase in property taxes, a change that appeals to voters, she said.