California’s Housing Woes Spiral Out Of Control Under Gavin Newsom

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom ran for governor in 2018 to address the Golden State’s urgent need for more affordable housing — but after nearly seven full years in office, the state is still in a housing crisis.

Newsom pledged to create 3.5 million new housing units by 2025, but has significantly underperformed that goal, with production continuing to stagnate even after his administration lowered its target. Although Newsom has made clear his desire to alleviate the housing crisis, Californians continue to face low housing permit rates, skyrocketing costs and one of the lowest homeownership rates in the country. (RELATED: A wealthy city strapped for cash due to the Blue State’s strict affordable housing policies)

The effort for 3.5 million units was short-lived. Newsom called that aspiration an “aspirational goal” in 2022 when he announced a new goal of building 2.5 million new housing units by 2030.

In Newsom’s initial 3.5 million-unit timeline, California saw 737,295 new private housing units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which equates to about a fifth of his original goal. Production in the first eight months of 2025 alone represents almost 16,000 units less than for the same period of 2022.

Throughout Newsom’s term, 2022 saw the highest number of new housing permits per year with 120,780 units built, according to the Census Bureau. California would need to more than double its current housing production to meet its reduced goal of 2.5 million, or about 310,000 units per year.

A new retirement study found that California has the “highest rate of negative net migration” of any generation.

California Governor Gavin Newsom attends a press conference during the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Para state, Brazil, November 11, 2025. (Photo by Mauro PIMENTEL / AFP) (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP via Getty Images)

California Republican State Sen. Tony Strickland, who represents much of Orange County and has served in the state Legislature under five governors, pointed out that the permitting process poses a significant hurdle for builders. He told the Daily Caller News Foundation that it took Huntington Beach developers 10 years to go through the California Coastal Commission (CCC) and permitting process to build a residential and commercial development project.

“When it takes ten years to build a project, that’s going to be passed on to the consumer,” Strickland told the DCNF.

As the state’s lack of affordable housing grows, so does Californians’ ability to become homeowners, according to a recent report from the State Legislative Analyst’s Office. Homes in the Golden State have become twice as expensive as typical American homes, with mortgage rates and housing prices driving monthly payment growth since 2020.

More than four in 10 Californians worry about not being able to pay their rent or mortgage, according to a recent statewide Public Policy Institute survey.

The Democratic governor signed two housing bills into law this year; AB 130 cuts red tape and exempts housing projects from strict California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) oversight to streamline unit production, and SB 79 focuses on building high-density housing near transit systems.

Strickland praised AB 130’s efforts to roll back CEQA, but said the bill addresses only part of the housing solution while making another part worse.

Also included in AB 130 is a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax, which imposes fees on developers building in areas with fewer transit options. There are no safeguards to prevent this tax from being passed on from developers to buyers and renters, leading to higher mortgages and increased rents.

“When you talk about people wanting to buy a home, we shouldn’t call it a housing crisis, instead we have an affordability crisis,” Strickland said. “THE [VMT] hidden taxes will be paid on your mortgage and the purchase of your home.

“This is a new housing tax that Los Angeles families simply cannot afford, adding $197,000 to the cost of a new home and driving up monthly rents by $1,350,” the Los Angeles Business Federation said of the VMT tax. “This misguided VMT housing tax will disproportionately harm low-income families and households of color, while blocking housing construction and worsening California’s housing crisis.”

❌AB 130 is a direct attack on the American dream. It adds a housing tax that punishes Californians based on where they live – killing jobs, blocking housing and raising costs.
We must stop him before it’s too late. 🔗 in bio for declaration. #caleg #CADeserveBetter pic.twitter.com/3AgRzmIWmm

– Senator Tony Strickland (@SenStricklandCA) September 8, 2025

Strickland also told DCNF Newsom that policies encouraging high-density housing near transportation systems, like SB 79, are “all geared toward urbanization” and that many Californians don’t want to lose their suburban areas.

“A lot of Californians want to live in rural areas or in suburban areas,” he said. “If [Newsom] really wants to solve this housing crisis, it needs to do everything it can to reduce the price of construction, it needs to do everything it can in terms of labor and it also needs to accelerate a lot of the overregulation.

The Democratic governor has a full year left before his term expires, and while an increase in housing production has yet to be seen, Californians may also have to expect new fees from developers.

“[Newsom] comes out with great fanfare,” Strickland said. “But I’ve always said, don’t look at his rhetoric, look at his record.”

“The governor has created a generational, foundational model for achieving the goal of creating the housing California needs – and has set the state up for success,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office told DCNF. “The Governor has adopted new accountability strategies, streamlined construction and permitting, and made historic investments to help communities build more housing and make housing more affordable. We have made progress, but there is still work to do.”

Newsom had created the Housing and Homeless Accountability Unit in 2021. In a September 2024 press release, the governor’s office announced that the unit had “unfrozen” more than 7,500 housing units in the state over the past two years.

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