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Election Day is over, and the results are in. While everyone was paying attention to the race at the top of the ticket, we did the hard work of tracking major votes on housing-related issues that could impact your investments. Most of these happened to be in California, while the others were spread across a few eastern states. Some of these votes were also less consequential than others but offered a view into how voters are thinking about housing, and it’s something to pay attention to even if you don’t live in one of these states. You can see the results as of this morning below:

So, what’s the key takeaway based on this data? More importantly, why should you care, even if you don’t live in one of these states? Well, it comes down to a concept called “policy diffusion,” which is the idea that state blocs (e.g., New York and New Jersey) tend to adopt the same policies as each other due to geographic proximity, cultural similarities, and political interests.

For example, a state like California is a big-time trendsetter for both the West Coast and the Democratic coalition. When California passes a series of rent control laws, it’s highly likely that Oregon and Washington will follow, and then Colorado, and so on.

The most recent example related to housing is ADU (accessory dwelling unit) regulations. California has set a high bar for pushing ADUs as a viable route to alleviate housing prices by allowing homeowners to sell off their ADUs as individual housing units, therefore increasing supply. Not surprisingly, Washington state will follow the same regulations in the coming years, and it’s more than likely that other states across the country will fall in line as well.

But, based on these results, it’s fair to say that rent control is not popular. Across the board, rent control measures were struck down by large majorities. California’s Proposition 33 was a major point of contention, with some polls pre-election suggesting that it would be a tight race. Instead, California voters flatly rejected it, signaling that America is simply not interested in implementing rent control en masse, at least not now. As investors, that should make you sleep well tonight.

What is fairly obvious is that voters are interested in funding programs to build more housing. Measures in Charlotte, North Carolina, and San Francisco appropriated funds toward affordable housing development easily. Those are low-hanging fruit initiatives that most voters tend to vote in favor of, but we’ll see whether those funds go to good use in the near term.

With that, this election is a wrap, and it leaves us with a status quo situation in the housing market. Now, the attention is on the Federal Reserve’s decision regarding federal interest rates tomorrow.

— Matt Myre, Senior Managing Editor