Why Aren't There More Condos For Sale In California?

Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, December 10, 2025…

• The condominium used to be a relatively affordable home ownership option in California. But it has almost disappeared from our cities. Why? A new generation of housing activists says California laws have killed the condo, and they want that to change.
• Hundreds of millions of dollars to address homelessness in California is in limbo after the Trump administration reversed course on a major funding program — at least, for now.

Condos Becoming An Endangered Species

The condominium has long been one of the most affordable types of housing to buy in California. But it has almost disappeared from cities.

Michael Anderson was an idealistic young architect-developer when he built six condominium townhomes in the late 1990s in the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles. He hoped to create an ownership option for Black households who are so often left off the real estate ladder. In the weeks leading up to completion and move-in, he checked out the buildings daily. “So as I was maintaining the units, I suddenly got the mailbox full of lawyers soliciting the owners to look at filing legal claims against the developer and the architect,” he said.

The mailboxes were stuffed with flyers for condo buyers – who weren’t even living there yet. They were basically targeting any defects they could find, and said they would sue as a condominium development, much like injury lawyers today, saying we will get you money for your damaged property, and it’s like a predator’s attack.

Anderson had run headlong into what’s known as defect liability. It’s a protection for condominium homeowners in California, giving them 10 years in which they can sue their architect or builder over defects or shoddy construction. But housing advocates argue that plaintiff attorneys have been so eager to sue, and builders and designers have to pay such high insurance to protect themselves, it’s created a major roadblock to production of condos.

Condos are an entry level homeownership option in much of North America. But not so much in California. One research group found that in the 2010’s, condos made up almost 40% of new housing in Canada, whereas in California during the same period, only 3% of multi-family homes were built for sale.

Trump Administration Shift Leaves HUD Funding In Limbo

For the past two decades, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has prioritized funding permanent housing. But that changed last month after HUD said it would emphasize encampment sweeps and placing people in temporary housing.

Two separate lawsuits from California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Santa Clara and San Francisco counties argued the policy violates federal laws. In response, HUD pulled the new requirements shortly before lawyers were due in court.

California has some 96,000 housing units for people who were formerly homeless. About a third of those are funded through the federal program. HUD said it would issue new guidelines in the coming weeks.