California's “Sliding Homeownership Ladder”: A New Paper by the Terner Center

The age at which more than half of Californians are homeowners is 49. In contrast, the average age is 35 throughout the rest of the United States. According to a new paper published by UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation, “The First Step Is The Hardest: California’s Sliding Homeownership Ladder,” housing affordability is the driving force prolonging Californians’ ability to achieve this milestone.

Daniel Shoag, Issi Romem and David Garcia authored the paper. It examines the multifactorial causes of unaffordable housing and the consequences for California home seekers, such as the fact that Californians between the ages of 35 and 45 are experiencing a 10-percentage point decline in their homeownership rates compared to 2000. It features data on homeownership trends by race, ethnicity, family structure and education level and examines how recent legislation and assistance programs may enable California residents to take the “first step” on the homeownership ladder.

Read the full paper here.