SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Living in San Diego County can be amazing.
“We're paying for the sunshine and the beautiful atmosphere of San Diego but how much are we paying? And when they say affordable, how, what is affordable?” Margo Velez said.
ABC 10News last sat down with Velez in 2024 about affordability in America’s Finest City.
In 2026, she said things had gotten better for her, but things are still tough.
“It's not affordable, but you know what? By us splitting it three ways, we're able to afford it. Our rent is basically $3000 a month,” Velez said.
To truly understand the challenges Margo and others are facing in San Diego County, researchers went to work.
“We do this in partnership with the California Housing Partnership because we want to benchmark so we can track year over year how our policies is affecting housing production in the region." Stephen Russell, CEO of San Diego Housing Federation
Russell’s organization released a new report on Friday, outlining what's needed to make the area more affordable.
“There is a shortfall of nearly 130,000 affordable homes, and it is likely to be exacerbated as rents continue to rise. Average asking rents have increased 22% over the last five years, far outpacing any gains in household income,” Danielle Mazzlla, Associate Research Director for California Housing Partnership, said.
That’s not all the report found.
San Diego households need to earn $50.12 per hour to afford the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment here.
“Average blue-collar worker can't afford to live here. It's, it's, I'm not surprised at all we're being out, out, out rented, outsourced, out everything,” Velez said.
That equates to about $8,700 per month, or more than $104,000 per year.
“That's the nature of the crisis right now is that there's a mismatch between the housing that's produced and the wages of folks who live here,” Russell said.
Russell, Margo, and others are putting out a call to action on all levels of government to fund and preserve programs that help with childcare, food assistance, homeless prevention, and more.
Those extras that make-or-break families.
"Ultimately, we need 150,000 more homes in the city of San Diego to bring the market into balance and make it affordable for everybody. We need to find ways to build more condominiums, such as entry-level housing,” Russell said.
