CA Governor Race Will Shape the Housing Market

Housing Market Updates! TAYLOR LAMBERT June 1, 2026

A few weeks ago, Tom Steyer looked like the frontrunner to become California’s next governor. But momentum has shifted quickly, and now Xavier Becerra is leading most of the major candidates, with a wave of big donations coming in behind him.

If Becerra ends up winning, the overall direction on housing may not look dramatically different from Steyer’s. Becerra is also a strong supporter of building more housing across California, although his style and approach would likely be very different.

As California’s Attorney General, Becerra strongly defended the state’s Housing Accountability Act, which limits a city’s ability to reject housing projects that already meet zoning and planning rules. His argument has consistently been that California’s housing shortage is too severe to allow local governments to keep blocking development. He has also pushed hard for tenant protections and opposed federal policies he believed weakened fair housing laws or increased the risk of eviction for low-income and immigrant families. In short, Becerra’s approach tends to center around stronger state enforcement, tenant protections, and making sure cities actually follow state housing laws. Big law guy.

That said, I actually think Steyer’s vision of building one million homes in four years, especially through higher production of townhomes, condos, and multifamily housing, may become more realistic under a Becerra administration than under Steyer himself.