California has made a concerted effort to include low-income and moderate-income units in new housing projects with mixed success. Most of the low-income apartments are taken but many of the moderate-income units remain vacant, even after two years. Currently, moderate-income units have a vacancy rate of 7%, more than double the rate of low-income apartments.
Analysts point to the fact that affordability thresholds are tied to the area median income and not the actual market rates meaning that “affordable housing” isn’t necessarily “affordable” and “below-market rate housing” isn’t necessarily “below-market rate.”