Bay Area Mayors Rally for Affordable Housing Bond
Mayors and housing advocates from across the Bay Area recently rallied to build support for a new affordable housing bond. The event was organized to highlight the urgent need for more funding to address the region's escalating housing crisis.
The push for a regional housing solution followed the withdrawal of a massive $20 billion bond measure, known as Regional Measure 4, from the nine-county Bay Area ballot in August 2024. The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) pulled the measure, which aimed to create or preserve 72,000 affordable homes, amid fears it would not pass and a lawsuit from taxpayer groups. Opponents, including the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, challenged the bond's ballot language, citing a significant mathematical error that understated the annual repayment cost by over $240 million. Polling showed support hovering just over 50%, well short of the two-thirds supermajority required for passage. Hopes for an easier path for future bonds were dashed in November 2024 when voters rejected Proposition 5. That statewide measure would have lowered the voter approval threshold for local housing and infrastructure bonds from a two-thirds majority to 55%. The housing crisis remains acute, with the median home price in the Bay Area at $1.26 million in late 2025. A minimum annual income of $310,000 is now required to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home, a figure attainable for only 23% of Bay Area households. Despite the 2024 setback, BAHFA is strategically planning for a future regional housing measure, now projected for the 2028 ballot. The agency is currently focused on smaller-scale programs, including efforts to preserve existing affordable housing and studies on eviction patterns. In the interim, Bay Area state lawmakers have introduced the Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026. This new proposal would ask California voters to approve a $10 billion statewide bond in June 2026 to fund affordable rental and homeownership programs.
