California housing goals remain out of reach for nearly every city and county, data show

by Ben Christopher, CalMatters August 13, 2026August 11, 2026

FILE: A building set to have 40 apartment units with four retail stores is under construction at the intersection of Wilshire and 6th Street in Santa Monica. May 24, 2023. (Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters)

EVERY EIGHT YEARS, state housing regulators give cities and counties across California an especially dreaded homework assignment: Make a plan for a bunch of new homes.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration assigns localities goals to hit at four different affordability levels. Collectively, the numbers represent the housing department’s best estimate of the number of new homes needed to match any expected population growth and to chip away at the state’s decades-in-the-making shortage of affordable places to live.