A Califordable Plan for First-Time Buyers

The Problem

California used to be a place where you could get ahead. Work hard, save up, buy your first home, and build a life.

That path is disappearing.

A generation ago, buying your first home was something many Californians could imagine doing in their 20s. Today, the median first-time homebuyer is 40.

Today, first-time buyers are being shut out of the market entirely. The homes that do get built are too big, too expensive, and completely out of reach for young, middle-class families. Starter homes, the foundation of a healthy housing market, have almost vanished.

That’s not just a housing issue. It’s an opportunity issue.

When there’s no entry point into the market, families can’t get started. Workers can’t afford to stay. And the entire system locks up, with fewer homes available and higher prices across the board.

More than half of Californians under 35 say housing costs make them consider leaving the state.

California isn’t building the kinds of homes people actually need. And until that changes, affordability will keep getting worse.

Why This Is Happening

This is the result of years of bad policy under one-party rule.

California Democrats have made it harder and more expensive to build at every step of the process. Costs have been layered on without regard for what they do to the final price of a home. Fees, mandates, and requirements are often the same regardless of size, which makes smaller, entry-level homes far less viable to build.

When the cost structure looks like that, builders don’t stop building—they shift toward larger, more expensive homes where the numbers still work.

At the same time, the approval process has become slower, more complex, and more uncertain. Projects face overlapping requirements and drawn-out timelines that add months or even years before construction begins. Every delay adds cost, and those costs are passed directly on to buyers.

California stopped building 1,000-square-foot starter homes and started building 2,000-plus-square-foot houses few young families can afford. When risk is high and costs are unpredictable, builders shift toward projects that can absorb those costs. Starter homes get squeezed out.

None of this is accidental. It’s the predictable outcome of years of policy decisions that ignored cost, supply, and basic economics.

The Plan

1. Make Starter Homes Profitable to Build

If we want more starter homes, we have to make them financially viable.

• Reduce or defer fees for entry-level homes
• Align fees with home size instead of flat charges
• Allow fees to be financed over time instead of paid upfront
• Eliminate state income tax on profits tied to qualifying starter home construction

Builders should not be punished for building the homes young Californians actually want.

2. Fast-Track Starter Home Projects

Time kills starter home development.

• Create a fast-track approval process for projects that include starter homes
• Set clear, enforceable timelines for approvals
• Encourage innovative design that builds in flexibility, for example starter homes that can easily add more space to accommodate family expansion
• If a project meets the rules, it should move quickly. No more endless waiting.

3. Enforce Accountability

One of the biggest barriers to starter homes is the lack of follow-through.

• Establish a Governor’s Housing Expediter to unblock stalled approvals
• Require adoption of proven best practices for housing development
• Impose real consequences when projects are delayed or blocked without justification

If we’re serious about building more homes, we need to make sure it actually happens.

4. Stop Adding Costs

We cannot keep raising costs and expect prices to fall.

• Implement a five-year freeze on new housing regulations
• Require cost-benefit review of recent mandates
• Prevent new layers of requirements that drive up construction costs

Before adding more rules, we need to understand what the current ones are doing.

5. Expand Starter Homes in Existing Neighborhoods

Starter homes don’t only come from new subdivisions.

• Expand incentives for building and selling ADUs as entry-level homes
• Create financing tools to lower upfront costs for buyers
• Encourage smaller, more affordable units within existing communities

This creates new opportunities without starting from scratch.

6. Create a Starter Home Loan Program

Young Californians should not need family wealth to buy their first home.

• Create a state-backed Starter Home Loan Program for first-time buyers purchasing qualifying starter homes
• Allow assistance for down payments, closing costs, or interest-rate buydowns
• Structure the program as a deferred second loan, repaid upon sale or refinance
• Tie the program directly to newly built starter homes to increase supply, not just demand

California should make it easier to buy your first home, not just easier to qualify for debt.

Conclusion

The starter home was the foundation of the California Dream. Today, it’s out of reach.

If the next generation can’t buy their first home, they won’t stay. And if they don’t stay, California doesn’t work.

We don’t need more excuses or more bureaucracy. We need to build again—starter homes, at scale, at prices young families can actually afford.

That’s how you open the door again. That’s how you make our state Califordable again.