The California Dream used to include a home you could own. For the nurses, teachers, firefighters, and recent graduates who keep Riverside and Long Beach running, that dream is slipping further out of reach. California has virtually stopped building starter homes. Production of condos and townhomes, the primary path to first-time ownership, has fallen 90% since the mid-2000s. Today, just one in five Southern California households can afford an entry-level home.
What changed was not demand, but the rules for how we build. In 2002, California passed SB 800, a law intended to allow developers to fix defects before litigation. Instead, it created a system that made lawsuits more common, complex, and costly. That legal risk hit condominiums the hardest, where one issue can trigger claims across an entire building. Faced with that uncertainty, builders moved away from condos and toward apartments built to rent.
The results have been striking. From 2011 to 2021, condominiums made up just 3% of new housing in California. In the process, we lost one of the most viable pathways to homeownership. Today, condos are roughly 25-30 percent less expensive than single-family homes, yet we have made them among the hardest housing types to build.
Assembly Bill 1903 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks would begin to fix this. It shifts California from a sue-first system to a repair-first approach, giving builders the chance to fix problems early and giving homeowners faster, more reliable outcomes when issues arise.
By reducing the legal risks that have stalled condo development, this bill would increase supply and reopen a pathway to homeownership. Today, insurers treat most condo projects as high risk, charging premiums up to 400% higher than those for comparable rental buildings, adding as much as $18,000 per unit. These costs are passed on to buyers, pushing developers toward rentals and leaving would-be homeowners stuck paying high rents instead of building equity.
Restoring condo development would also help revitalize downtowns, still recovering from COVID-19. Condos and townhomes bring long-term residents who support small businesses, activate street life, and contribute to a stronger local economy. A balanced mix of rental and ownership housing is critical to building vibrant urban centers.
The system is not serving current homeowners either. Today, when a lawsuit is filed over a defect, the owner waits years for resolution and loses a substantial share of any settlement to legal fees. Meanwhile, lenders, including Fannie Mae, frequently blacklist properties that are the subject of active litigation — preventing owners from selling or refinancing for the duration of a multi-year case. For a working family whose home is its primary asset, that freeze can be financially catastrophic. AB 1903 prioritizes fixing problems quickly, so homeowners maintain control over their biggest asset and get repairs fast.
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California continues to see a decline in homeownership, particularly among those ages 25 to 34, where just 18% own homes compared to roughly 35% nationwide. This group includes recent college graduates and entrepreneurs from our universities, including Cal State Long Beach and UC Riverside. This is not just a short-term housing issue — it is a long-term workforce and economic challenge. When working families cannot afford to buy, they leave. A UC Berkeley California Policy Lab study found that Californians who left the state moved to neighborhoods where monthly housing costs were $672 lower and were 48% more likely to own a home seven years later.
Critics worry the bill weakens consumer protections, but this approach ensures homeowners get repairs done faster. The bigger problem has always been a system that takes years to fix a leaky roof and pays out a fraction of any settlement to legal fees.
AB 1903 is a step in the right direction, removing one of the most persistent barriers to building the homes our communities need. By restoring a pathway to homeownership, we can give families the chance to put down roots, build equity, and reclaim the California Dream.
Patricia Lock Dawson is the mayor of Riverside. Rex Richardson is the mayor of Long Beach.