On its face, Proposition 37 is supposed to address the state’s long-standing housing crisis. It would offer middle-income homebuyers an option to put 3 percent down for a newly built home instead of the usual 20 percent.
The other 17 percent would come in the form of a fixed-rate mortgage offered by the government through a $25 billion bond issuance program, CBS News reported.
With 71 percent of the vote in as of Saturday morning, 61.9 percent of voters had approved the measure, while 38.1 percent voted against it.
Prop 37 is meant to address one of California’s most persistent problems: housing costs, which are among the highest in the nation.
The median price for a single-family home in the state in the third quarter of 2026 was $894,630, with prices in Southern California and the Bay Area topping $1 million.
Official opposition was mild and did not raise the moral hazard the program might create by guaranteeing new loans.
“In the state’s official voter guide, opponents of the measure did not submit an argument against Prop. 37. The League of Women Voters has issued a statement against Prop. 37, saying the loan program could reinforce racial and economic gaps and that there is no requirement that the homes are near jobs, transit, schools or services,” CBS News noted.
However, as KQED-TV noted, those who took positions against the proposal believed it “provides taxpayer-funded subsidies to developers without reforming costly mandates that make housing expensive” and “makes the state of California one of the biggest mortgage lenders in America overnight — and taxpayers are left holding the bag.”
More pointed opposition was found online, where many users posted the iconic image of Christian Bale as Michael Burry — the investor who successfully bet against the housing market before the collapse of 2008 — in Adam McKay’s movie “The Big Short.”
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