Golden State Resilience: Four Considerations for California’s Housing Market
- California’s enduring status as an economic powerhouse
- The ongoing imbalance between housing supply and demand
- The factors that have enabled California to recover in a challenging market
- The future, with a mix of optimism and caution regarding the realities of California and its housing market
According to John Burns, California’s economic strength underscores its vast potential. As of 2023, California’s annual GDP was about $3.9 trillion, making it the largest state economy in the U.S. and the fifth-largest economy globally, just ahead of India. In April 2024, the state had a job base of 17.9 million and added 206,000 jobs compared to the previous year.
California’s population growth potential is a promising factor for housing demand. As of 2023, it remains the most populous state, with 39.2 million people. While it has experienced slower population growth over the past decade than in previous decades, we see hints of that trend reversing. The state’s population grew by 67,000 in 2023 for the first time since 2020. Decreasing mortality and rebounding legal foreign immigration are the primary factors instilling hope for the Golden State’s future.
As of May 2024, the two California regions were JBREC’s top-ranked US housing regions, and Southern California led in year-over-year home value appreciation.