CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) acknowledges that one of the most persistent criticisms of his state — its housing and homelessness crisis — has merit.
Newsom, in a wide-ranging interview with the Washington Examiner, called housing California’s “original sin,” arguing that decades of restrictive development policies drove up costs, pushed working families out of the state, and contributed to homelessness.
“It’s done more things in more ways on more days to hurt working families in the middle class,” Newsom said. “It’s the reason a lot of people over the last few years were squeezed out and then left.”
Newsom blamed decades of “NIMBYism,” local opposition to development that has “run supreme,” and a persistent gap between housing supply and demand.
“It’s Econ 101,” he said.
But after more than seven years as governor, critics say Newsom cannot simply blame the policies that preceded him. California remains one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets, and the state’s affordability problems are dire.
Changing course
Newsom said the severity of the crisis forced him to rethink California’s approach and embrace the YIMBY, or “Yes in My Backyard,” movement, which advocates more housing and fewer restrictions to development.
He pointed to legislation and enforcement actions intended to make it easier and faster to build, including efforts to challenge cities that resisted state housing requirements.
“It humbled me in the first few years,” Newsom said. “I had to sue cities. Remember, I was suing Huntington Beach. I put 46 others on notice. Created a housing accountability unit.”
Newsom also pointed to his administration’s efforts to make homelessness a statewide responsibility rather than leaving it up to cities and counties.
“I was the first governor to intervene,” he said.
California has increased housing production during Newsom’s tenure. The state says more than 682,000 homes have been built since 2019, while annual residential construction increased from about 70,000 homes in 2018 to roughly 111,000 in 2024, a 59% increase.
The average time from a development application to entitlement fell 57%, from 160 days to 68 days, between 2019 and 2024.
Newsom argues those changes are beginning to show results.
“So we’re starting to see an increase in permits, housing starts, time to getting those permits,” he said. “And finally, once [the] interest rate environment changes, I think you’re going to see this thing unlock in pretty consequential ways.”
But the affordability numbers have still been difficult to crack.
According to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, about 44% of California households would likely qualify for a mortgage on a bottom-tier home in 2026, down from about 57% in 2019. For a mid-tier home, only 23% of households would likely qualify, down from about 31% in 2019.
A mid-tier California home now costs about $775,000, more than twice the typical mid-tier home price nationally. The number illustrates the gap between building more housing and making it affordable.
Critics say Newsom owns the record
Matt Klink, a California-based political expert, said Newsom’s defense of California’s housing record glosses over the problems residents are still facing.
“Governor Newsom claiming credit whatsoever for housing and homelessness progress is the height of hypocrisy,” he told the Washington Examiner. “The homelessness problem has not improved. Communities throughout California are still burdened by this intractable problem. Housing is still brutally expensive and impossibly bureaucratic to permit, much less build, in California.”
Klink said Newsom also risks shifting responsibility for problems that have continued throughout his tenure.
“Let’s not forget that Gavin Newsom was the San Francisco mayor who promised to end homelessness in 2003,” he said. “Now, as governor 16 years later, he is explaining why homelessness isn’t over and asking voters to grade him on effort rather than results.”
Republican strategist Jeff Burton, a founding partner at Maven Advocacy, said Newsom’s attempts to separate himself from the state’s housing and homelessness record would be difficult.
“The governor’s defense of his record is a tough sell,” Burton told the Washington Examiner. “He’s been governor for more than seven years, and it’s hard to say with a straight face that housing and homelessness are better than when he took office.”
Burton pointed to an earlier Newsom housing pledge as particularly problematic.
“Newsom promised 3.5 million new homes by 2025,” he said. “Yet California has built only 680,000 since he took office.”
Newsom and his allies have since emphasized a broader set of housing reforms rather than that original statewide target. His administration has continued pushing legislation designed to reduce permitting delays and increase construction.
But Burton predicted Newsom’s record will follow him beyond California.
“When running for president, Newsom will undoubtedly ask voters to judge his opponents by their records and their promises,” Burton said. “He should expect to be held to the same standard. Newsom can leave California and campaign around the country, but he can’t leave California’s record behind.”
Supporters say Newsom inherited the crisis
Not all analysts view Newsom’s housing record the same way.
Nick E. Smith, a political analyst and president of Polaris, said Newsom did not create California’s housing shortage and said that the governor has been willing to confront problems that had been building for decades.
Smith pointed to local opposition, permitting rules, and decades of underbuilding as structural problems that cannot be reversed quickly.
“Seven years cannot erase 50 years of underbuilding,” he told the Washington Examiner. “Housing policy is not a light switch: Changing the law today does not produce an apartment tomorrow.”
Smith said Newsom’s willingness to challenge local governments distinguishes his approach from previous administrations.
“He has changed the direction of the state, and that matters,” he said.
Dave Spencer, a political commentator, offered a more mixed assessment.
California’s housing crisis “certainly wasn’t created by Gavin Newsom,” Spencer said, “but after more than seven years as governor, he has to own some of the results.”
Spencer credited Newsom with measures such as SB 9, which allows qualifying homeowners to add a second unit or split certain single-family lots, but said the broader affordability picture remains troubling.
“Newsom has taken some meaningful steps to make it easier to build housing,” Spencer said. “But the results still aren’t there. Housing remains extraordinarily expensive and, in many ways, seems less affordable than ever. It feels like too little, too late.”
Strongest defense
Newsom’s strongest defense is the recent decline in unsheltered homelessness.
California reported a 9% decline in unsheltered homelessness in 2025 among the 30 continuums of care that submitted updated figures, describing it as the first significant statewide decline in 15 years.
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Federal data also showed California’s unsheltered homeless population fell by 8,391 people, or 6.8%, in 2025, while total homelessness declined 2.8%. The 9% state figure and the 6.8% federal figure reflect different data sets, but both point to a decline in unsheltered homelessness.
The improvement comes after years of California having the largest homeless population in the country. But even then, Newsom acknowledges that the recent decline does not mean the problem is solved.