Three bills and a ballot measure now sit between Bay Area buyers and sellers and their next move.
On April 29 I was at the State Capitol with 2,500 fellow REALTORS for C.A.R. Legislative Day 2026. The agenda this year is unusually consequential for the Bay Area, and I wanted the consumer-friendly translation in your hands before the floor votes start showing up in headlines.
The short version: AB 1406 (Ward) would double the deposit forfeiture cap on new condos from 3% to 6%, which on a typical purchase is about $40,200 of your money at risk instead of half that. SB 1238 (Wahab), sponsored by C.A.R., addresses more than 700 California condo developments that are effectively cash-only today because conventional financing will not touch them. And the November 2026 ballot carries the California Middle-Class Home Ownership and Family Home Construction Act.
The full long-read from Sacramento
The 60-second version, the deeper dive on the $25 billion ballot measure, and what each bill would change for you.
This dispatch is a summary. The complete piece is published on harvrealtor.net.
Harv Balu, REALTOR®, DRE #02195792, REALTY EXPERTS®. Legislation described here was pending at the time of writing. General information only, not legal advice.