Prop 13 mean CA homeowners have their property tax bill capped, in the same way rent controls do for rents. 1/

Some might argue its different, because rent controls are alleged (sometimes reasonably, but often not) to hinder new apartment supply, while property tax caps don't affect supply through prices. house prices can still go up, indeed are inflated, by prop tax caps, so there's incentive to build. 2/

But in much of California, there is already plenty of price incentive to build. If projects could be quickly and cheaply permitted, developers would gladly add supply at current prices. 3/

It's permitting that's the actual bottleneck to supply, ad Prop 13 discourages permitting, as housing becomes a perishable tax base, compared to commercial land use. CA jurisdictions try to encourage jobs + commerce in their locality, hope someone else builds the housing. /fin