A growing share of voters in both red and blue states supported ballot measures in last week's midterm elections to address housing insecurity, with many proposals approved with nearly 70% of the vote, according to a new analysis from Moody's Analytics.

In Austin, voters approved a $350 million affordable housing bond in a city where affordable housing currently encompasses just 6% of total rental market share, says Moody's senior economist Lu Chen. Average affordable housing rent stands at $1,113 per unit and market inventory has grown by 16.4% over the past two and half years. Chen says the bond will further incentivize and support planning, designing, acquiring, constructing, renovating, improving, and equipping affordable housing facilities for low- and moderate-income households in the region.

And in California, which has the second-largest gap in affordable housing supply, analysts are closely watching the vote count on several Bay Area ballot measures — including Berkeley's Measure N, Oakland's Measure Q, and South San Francisco's Measure AA. — designed to narrow that delta.  Chen notes that all of these measures are related to a legacy 1950 amendment in California's state Constitution requiring voter approval to build taxpayer-subsidized low-income housing. All three are currently garnering more than 50% of the vote. Oakland's Measure U and Berkeley's Measure L are also awaiting final results; the former seeks $350 million to build and preserve affordable hosing, while the latter requires two-thirds of the vote for a $200 affordable housing fund.