REGION — It’s just over halfway through the 6th Cycle of the Housing Element process, leaving cities around three and a half years to reach their mandated housing production goals for various income categories.
In North County, some jurisdictions are doing better than others.
San Marcos currently leads the pack among its North County neighbors in meeting Housing Element goals, while most cities lag well behind on affordable housing stock relative to more top-end housing options.
The 6th Cycle began in 2021 and runs through 2029, and all cities are working toward producing enough units to meet their quotas assigned under the Regional Housing Needs Assessment process.
Over the past several weeks, cities have been submitting their 2025 Annual Progress Reports to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), documenting the number of units that have been entitled, permitted, and constructed in each income category.
These income categories are: above moderate (120% of the area median income or above), moderate income (80% to 120% AMI), low income (50% to 80% AMI), and very low income (30% to 50% AMI).
Units can be counted toward the RHNA total once they pull permits, so projects that have been approved for entitlements sometimes won’t be counted toward the total for at least a couple of years.
By the end of 2025, San Marcos exceeded the number of required units for the above moderate and moderate-income levels, and had permitted about 75% of its assigned low-income units.
The city also has one of the highest rates in San Diego County for production of very low-income units, which have been the most challenging for cities to produce. San Marcos has hit 35% of its target for this category.
Many of the city’s units are being built in the North City area surrounding Cal State San Marcos and Kaiser Hospital under the University District Specific Plan, passed in 2009. The plan includes the construction of 2,600 residential units between single family homes and apartments, plus 800 student housing units.
Sea Breeze Vice President Darren Levitt said the city’s decision to designate this area for higher density back in the early 2000s has made it easier for them to meet the current demands of state housing laws.
“They got ahead of the state mandates by zoning some of their areas for a lot of density, which puts them in an advantageous position compared to some other cities,” Levitt said.
In 2025, San Marcos issued permits for 222 low-income (including nine very low-income) units, all of which are part of a 100% affordable housing development at 337 Carmel Street in North City.
The five-story project, currently under construction and known as North City Apartments, will feature a subterranean parking lot, balconies, and an outdoor area — all amenities not commonly seen in low-income projects, Levitt said.
North City Apartments is one block away from one of the region’s most eye-catching recent housing developments. The 222 North City project boasts 458 units split between 12 stories, and was the largest apartment building constructed in the county last year.
These units are all market rate and range from studios to four-bedrooms and even penthouses.
Here’s how other North County cities are performing on their Housing Element goals, according to their 2025 annual progress reports:
Solana Beach
While the availability of land in San Marcos has allowed it to build density, small coastal cities are experiencing the opposite.
Del Mar and Solana Beach, which measure 1.7 square miles and 3.5 square miles, respectively, are largely built out and have limited available land. They also face constraints of the Coastal Act, which set additional restrictions on what can be built near the coast.
Both cities have yet to permit any units for 30%-50% AMI households. Del Mar also lacks any units in the low-income category.
Solana Beach needs to permit a total of 316 very low-income units in this cycle. The city has permitted 32 low-income units that are all part of the Solana Highlands rebuild project, with 132 units left in this category, according to the city’s annual progress report.
The coastal city is on track to meet its moderate-income goals, permitting 103 out of 160 assigned units, or around 64%.
At a March 25 Solana Beach City Council meeting, leaders said they have relied largely on accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, to meet their housing goals. In fact, all 103 of the city’s moderate-income units have been ADUs.
Unlike many cities, Solana Beach is behind on the production of above moderate-income units, with 80 out of 240 assigned units permitted, according to its 2025 report
Within its Housing Element, the city will rely on city-owned land for the development of 38 affordable units. Identified potential sites include the lot along South Sierra Avenue that was previously planned to house the failed Pearl project, the City Hall site along Coast Highway 101, and the public parking lot at South Sierra Avenue and Acacia Avenue.
“Overall, while there is still work ahead, specifically in the very low-income category, the city is making steady progress in both housing production and program implementation, and we’re currently working on programs to facilitate low-income housing production,” Solana Beach Assistant City Planner John Delmer said.
Del Mar
Del Mar has met its goals for above moderate and moderate units more than three times over, but is struggling on the affordable housing front.
As of the end of 2025, the city has yet to permit any of its assigned 64 low-income or 37 very low-income units. However, some are coming down the pipeline — the approved Watermark project and 941 Camino Del Mar project will provide eight low-income units and four very low-income units overall.
Other potential sites being eyed for affordable units are the Del Mar Fairgrounds, where officials hope to build at least 61 low-income units, and two city-owned sites at the City Hall property on 10th Street and a very small lot along 28th Street.
Del Mar faces a November deadline to secure a lease with the Fairgrounds for the development of housing, but Fairgrounds leaders have indicated that this may not be possible. If it falls through, Del Mar will have to rezone other sites for housing such as the North Bluff property.
“We’ve really made good progress with our unit production and our housing programs, and HCD is aware of this, and the fact that we have multiple strategies in place to produce low-income units,” said Del Mar Principal Planner Amanda Lee.
Del Mar is also hoping to create 15 ADUs for low-income households, and is working on incentives for people to agree to deed-restrict these units.
The city faces pressure from the state Attorney General’s Office to process the application for a proposed 259-unit housing project on the North Bluff known as Seaside Ridge. The developer has sued the city for not processing their project application, which Del Mar leaders say is incomplete.
Seaside Ridge proposes 42 units for low- to extremely low-income households, which they say would help Del Mar meet its Housing Element obligations.
Oceanside
Oceanside, the largest city in North County, is making substantial progress in the above moderate- and moderate-income categories, but continues to lag behind on low- and very low-income units.
Per the city’s annual report, Oceanside has permitted 2,269 of its 2,574 assigned units in the above-moderate category. It has also permitted over half of its required moderate units — 549 out of 833.
When reviewing the annual report on March 25, council members noted that two large mixed-use projects along Mission Avenue, totaling over 500 units between the two, could push the city over the finish line for these income categories once finished.
Oceanside has permitted 203 out of 718 assigned units for low-income housing — around 28% — and 264 out of 1,268 assigned very low-income units, around 21%.
At a March 25 City Council meeting, Oceanside Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce said the city cannot rely only on its inclusionary housing policy, which requires 15% of all units in multi-family developments to be deed-restricted as low-income, to meet the required number of affordable units.
“We’re really gonna be relying on these 100% affordable projects that we are hopefully going to get coming along,” Joyce said.
One example is the $144 million Olive Park Apartments project, a 199-unit project dedicated entirely to those making 30% to 80% AMI that is expected to be permitted this year. However, the project required significant gap funding from the city totaling $6 million.
Cities don’t have nearly as much gap funding as they used to get from the state before the dissolution of redevelopment agencies. That makes it now more difficult to realize 100% affordable projects due to the finances.
“The cost per unit on that product [Olive Park] was about $724,000, and quite frankly, in our industry, we think that’s pretty cheap,” said Housing and Neighborhood Services Director Leilani Hines.
City staff said Oceanside is off to a good start on permitting this year as well. So far in 2026, the city has issued permits for an additional 330 units, 74 of which are deed restricted for very low- or low-income households.
Escondido
Escondido has the largest RHNA allocation in North County with 9,607 units. The city has permitted 2,309 of these units, leaving 7,298 remaining, and is currently lagging behind schedule on the production of all income categories.
The city has made the greatest progress in the above-moderate category, permitting 38% of its assigned units (1,795 out of 4,967 assigned). It has one of the lowest permitting rates for moderate-income units, issuing permits for just 6% of the units it has been assigned (95 out of 1,597).
When it comes to low-income units, Escondido has permitted 216 out of 1,249 assigned units, or 17%. The city has permitted 203 out of 1,864 very low-income units, or 11%.
Escondido leaders acknowledged at an April 8 City Council meeting the work that still needs to be done.
“It seems like such a daunting number, the 9,000 [units], but we’re making some progress,” said Councilmember Consuelo Martinez. “I’d like to see us in the middle income housing and others, but I know we’ll get there.”
Some of the units permitted in 2025 are from projects that originally received entitlements several years ago, such as the Amanda Estates 21-home development east of Harmony Grove and the 55-home Sonora Hills project, both by Trumark Homes.
Last year, the city also received $14 million in state funding for a 136-unit affordable housing project for seniors earning 30%–60% AMI, known as Valley Creek Apartments.
One major project that has already been counted in the RHNA allocation is the 510-unit Palomar Heights development, although none of the units are set aside as affordable. A total of 258 apartment units and 162 row homes have received a final inspection, and 90 senior apartments still need to be completed, staff said.
Carlsbad and Encinitas
Carlsbad is far ahead of schedule in the above-moderate category, permitting all but 19 of its 1,029 assigned units, according to its annual progress report. It has also made progress in the moderate-income category with 320 out of 749 units permitted, around 43% of its goal.
The city is behind schedule but still on the higher end of North County cities when it comes to progress on low-income units, with 200 out of 584 units (around 34%) permitted. However, the city still has a way to go toward meeting very low-income benchmarks, having permitted just 110 out of 1,201 very low-income units, or around 9%.
Major projects permitted in 2025 were the 156-unit Hope Apartments — which include 20 very low-income units — and the 36-unit La Costa Town Square project.
Carlsbad officials said in a staff report that the city also anticipates issuing more building permits in the coming years for other major projects such as the 98-unit Inns of America conversion project, which includes 15 units for lower income levels, and The Roosevelt with 23 units.
The city of Encinitas is overperforming in the production of the most expensive housing, but has made far less progress in other income categories.
According to its 2025 annual progress report, Encinitas has permitted 1,206 units in the above moderate-income category, nearly three times the amount required in the 6th Cycle. The city is about halfway toward its moderate-income goals with 147 out of 308 units permitted.
In the low-income category, Encinitas has permitted 21% of the units required (76 out of 369). It surpasses most other North County cities in its very low-income unit progress, with 137 units permitted out of 469 required (around 29%).
City officials noted their progress in this area, but emphasized that they are not happy with the state housing mandates.
“The 29% is actually unusually high. I agree that the program is a fail, but because of all the building we’ve been doing, we have made more lower-income — lower meaning very low and low — than most cities from a percentage standpoint in the state,” Encinitas Mayor Bruce Ehlers said at a March 11 City Council meeting.
Encinitas issued permits for 187 residential units overall in 2025, including 85 ADUs.
Vista
Vista is the only city in North County with zero moderate-income units permitted in the 6th Cycle, leaving 369 to go. However, the city did issue entitlements in 2025 for 19 units in this category that will be counted toward its RHNA down the line.
It has permitted 71% of its assigned above-moderate units. For low-income units, it has permitted 70 out of 321, and for very low-income, just 57 out of 515 have been permitted.
In 2025, almost all of the 189 units that received permits were above-moderate units, according to its annual progress report. The City Council did not discuss the report in a meeting.
This story was updated on April 16 to include 2025 data from the City of Encinitas.
