Apple makes massive housing splash with $2.5 billion pledge | INTERNATIONAL - Property News AU/NZ | propertynoise.co.nz & propertynoise.com.au

PHOTO: Apple’s new campus opened in Cupertino in 2017

Dwarfing all other Bay Area tech commitments, Apple on Monday stepped up to fight the California housing crisis in a big way — pledging an unprecedented $2.5 billion to the cause.

Apple’s pledge includes invested and donated funds, as well as real estate, intended to help produce new affordable housing and help first-time homebuyers in the Bay Area and throughout California over the next two years. The move comes on the heels of funding commitments by Google and Facebook — which each pledged $1 billion earlier this year — as local companies increasingly are making an effort to address the housing shortage that’s been exacerbated by the Silicon Valley tech boom.

“Before the world knew the name Silicon Valley, and long before we carried technology in our pockets, Apple called this region home, and we feel a profound civic responsibility to ensure it remains a vibrant place where people can live, have a family and contribute to the community,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a news release. “Affordable housing means stability and dignity, opportunity and pride. When these things fall out of reach for too many, we know the course we are on is unsustainable, and Apple is committed to being part of the solution.”