Apple to spend $400 million this year to fight California’s housing crisis

Apple said on Monday it will spend $400 million this year to fight the California housing crisis in partnership with Housing Trust Silicon Valley and the California Housing Finance Agency.

It’s part of a total $2.5 billion Apple says it will spend on the initiative over several years.

Homes in many parts of California are too expensive for low-income and middle-income buyers, which has created a housing affordability crisis in the state. The problem is particularly acute in Silicon Valley, where Apple is located, as highly paid tech workers are able to pay more for limited housing stock, driving prices up. 

Some of Apple’s $400 million will be used to create a fund that aids first-time low-income and mid-income homebuyers. It will also be used to create new affordable housing units in California, including “more than 250 new units of affordable housing across the Bay Area,” Apple said. Some of those units will be reserved for people with developmental disabilities, the homeless, formerly homeless and veterans.

Apple’s initial $2.5 billion promise was made in 2019. Here’s how it plans to spend that money over the coming years:

• $1 billion is earmarked for a California affordable housing investment fund.
• $1 billion will be spent to assist first-time homebuyers with mortgages.
• $300 million will be used to build affordable housing on Apple-owned property.
• $150 million will be invested in the Bay Area housing fund.
• $50 million will be spent to fight homelessness in Silicon Valley.

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