New Data Highlights Impact of Bay Area’s Horrible Housing Shortage

Not that we need more evidence of California’s historic housing shortage and affordability crisis, but the National Association of Realtors this week released a report further highlighting what the Bay Area Council has long been saying about just how bad the situation is, particularly for lower- and middle-income residents. The national study showed how many homes there are for sale at different income levels and how historically limited supply and inventory is making homeownership almost impossible as both prices and mortgage rates increase.

The Bay Area earned the dubious distinction for being among the worst when it comes to housing availability and affordability. In the South Bay, the report found that there is just one home available for every 19,915 households earning between $50,000 to $74,999. For those earning between $75,000 and $99,999, there are just 3,528 available per household. The situation is even worse for Black and Hispanic households.