Skip to main content

Four Tools for Stimulating Economic Recovery Through New Homebuilding

The Terner Center, in collaboration with SPUR, has released a framework for how state policymakers can prioritize and expand housing production in California in the near future. While economic recession is slowing homebuilding and existing cost burdens are made even more acute by the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers must take action to ensure new housing production remains an essential piece of the state’s housing goals and recovery efforts.

California’s legislature and administration are already taking steps to support the production of new housing, including a housing production legislative package by Senate leadership and key production bills in the Assembly. Yet more can and should be done, and while the current crisis threatens budgets at the state and local levels, there are no- to low-cost policy levers at policymakers’ disposal to facilitate economic recovery through continued and expanded construction.

Authored by Managing Director Ben Metcalf, Policy Director David Garcia, and SPUR’s Senior Advisor Sarah Karlinsky, the new policy brief outlines four principles to guide new legislation and hold existing proposals accountable to:

  • Maintain homebuilding momentum
  • Expand where homes can be built
  • Build homes faster
  • Build homes more affordably

In concert with preservation and protection strategies, the high-level principles and specific policy pathways detailed in this brief are a first step towards broader housing reform in the state. Read more on our website here.

Related Articles

Housing Opportunities: Governor’s Reorganization Plan to Create the California Housing and Homelessness Agency

Authors: Doug Shoemaker, Terner Center Affiliate Geeta Rao, Senior Director, Northern California Market, Enterprise Community Partners Co-authors: Sarah Karlinsky, Director…

Testimony to the Little Hoover Commission

On April 23, 2025, Terner Center Managing Director Ben Metcalf and Research Director Sarah Karlinsky testified at the Little Hoover…

Reducing the Complexity in California’s Affordable Housing Finance System

Authors: Carolina Reid, Faculty Research Advisor Tiffany Tran, MPP '25, Graduate Student Researcher Given the critical need to expand the…

Aligning Housing with Climate Goals: The Importance of Measuring VMT

Authors: Rachel Strangeway, Assistant Specialist Zack Subin, Associate Research Director Download the PDF with additional maps and resources Introduction California…