Perspective
California's Housing Prices Need to Come Down
Shifting control of housing decisions from local to state oversight could be a way to slow the rise of California’s house prices. A newly proposed bill, SB 827, is a step in that direction.
Housing in California has been appreciating much more quickly than in the aggregate of the U.S. for about half a century. While rising rents and home values have benefitted many along the way, they have become enough of a burden on young adults and families that a new political movement has emerged; this movement argues that more homes must be built in order to mitigate housing price appreciation and allow more people to live where they wish.
The new movement consists of a multitude of overlapping groups, collectively known as YIMBY— “Yes, in my back yard.”