DC Explained: The Biggest Federal Housing Bill in Decades Just Passed the Senate. Should San Diego Care?

As first seen at Voice of San Diego, PIC Senior Vice President Alan Berube shares how a new federal housing bill could impact housing affordability, including here in San Diego.

An excerpt: The lack of affordable, available housing in the San Diego area is a widely acknowledged problem. Census Bureau data show that a staggering 56 percent of our region’s renter households are cost-burdened—meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent. The San Diego Regional EDC recently found that local households need an income of at least $235,000 to purchase the typical home, the price for which now exceeds $1 million. And while the pace of homebuilding has begun to accelerate, inewsource reports that most local jurisdictions aren’t keeping pace with regional housing targets, especially for households in lower income brackets.

Against that backdrop, what’s happening now on Capitol Hill might pique San Diegans’ interest. Over the past few weeks, bills have passed the U.S. House and Senate that could add up to the most consequential federal action on housing policy since at least the 1990s. The legislation’s purpose, “to increase the supply of housing in America,” earned it rare bipartisan support in both chambers.

As the bill awaits final approval in the House and consideration by President Donald Trump, here’s a look at what the legislation would do, and what it could mean for San Diego, one of the nation’s least affordable housing markets.