Millions of voters across four states will decide on six housing measures in the November midterms, the most related to housing policy in a single election year in 20 years, according to Ballotpedia. Housing affordability has become more difficult to achieve in the country, as rising costs and historically high mortgage rates led to the U.S. homeownership rate declining last year for the first time since early 2016. National median home values have surged by over 30 percent since 2019, and stepping onto the property ladder has become particularly difficult for first-time buyers due to higher borrowing costs.
The crisis is evident in expensive markets with chronically low inventory like California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where voters will be able to take matters into their own hands next month. With affordability issues showing no sign of easing due to the uncertainty fueled by the ongoing war in Iran that has driven up energy prices and inflation fears, housing is shaping up to be one of the core issues on November 3—at least in these four states. Three of the initiatives were referred to the ballot by state legislatures, while three are citizen initiatives.
Most address restrictions to homebuilding that lawmakers have been targeting in the bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act and that experts have said are necessary to change to boost supply nationwide—including land use, zoning, and permitting. All four states got an “F” rating from Realtor.com in its 2026 affordability and homebuilding report cards. Massachusetts and Rhode Island featured among the top five states with the lowest building intensity relative to population, at 0.41 and 0.37, respectively.
California, despite being one of seven states that together accounted for over half of building permits last year, at 7.3 percent, had a negative new-construction premium, meaning newly built homes are actually cheaper than existing ones, at an estimated -3.8 percent. California and Hawaii were among the worst states for affordability and homebuilding as they face “high prices, constrained land, restrictive zoning, and building costs that far outpace what middle-income buyers can afford,” researchers wrote. In total, only six states got an “F” rating.
The other two are Connecticut and New York, which share many of the same challenges as the remaining four. Newsweek contacted Realtor.com and Redfin for comment by email on Monday morning. Below is a breakdown of the measures on the ballot next month.
California’s Proposition 1, also known as the Veteran and Housing Assistance Programs Bond Measure, would authorize the state to issue $11.25 billion in bonds to fund income-qualified housing programs, such as the Multifamily Housing Program, the CalHome Program, and the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, and the veteran home loan program. Of the total, $1.25 billion would be dedicated to the veteran home loan program, while the rest to the other income-qualified housing programs.
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