Affordable Housing Could Affect Larger Market

Affordable housing projects lost a major funding source several years ago when California abolished redevelopment agencies. But a proposed new real estate transaction fee is intended to create a revenue stream to support affordable housing.

Gary Painter is a public policy professor at USC. He says affordable housing projects can be beneficial for the entire market if they’re well thought-out.

"We have to always think about the tradeoff between how much we are willing to spend to add an additional affordable unit with how much we might be willing to spend or to help subsidize in the market or to change zoning requirements so that you can add even more units that will help the broad population," he says.

Painter says if affordable units add to the total housing stock that could ease demand and cause overall prices to moderate.