FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE)- With Fresno having one of the nation’s hottest housing markets, local and state leaders toured areas in downtown Fresno as part of a statewide affordable housing tour.

The tour was of several projects including Hotel Fresno, the Monarch, Poverello House, and Project Offramp.

“Fresno is the fifth-largest city in California and has one of the hottest housing markets in the state and county,” said State Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula. “But there is a terrible irony, which is too many of our people can’t afford to buy homes in our city.”

Arambula and Mayor Jerry Dyer were joined by several local and state officials as they toured the project sites.

“Fresno has an affordable housing crisis,” said Dyer. “Simply put, there aren’t enough affordable homes for the income levels for the city of Fresno.”

Dyer said in the last year, the average home price in Fresno rose nearly 30% to over $330,000.

“A family with a median household income in Fresno struggles to own a home,” said Dyer. “To make things worse, 23% of people in Fresno live below the poverty line.”

Dyer said the city is working on several projects to ease the burden placed on residents, including the $38 million Hotel Fresno Project.

When completed, the bottom floor will be retail and all the floors above will be affordable housing. There will be around 80 units that will cost between $800-1300 per month.

Just a couple blocks down, a $30 million project called the monarch is also under construction. It is expected to be finished next fall and will have housing units that cost anywhere between $300-1100.

Councilmember Miguel Arias called for more funding in the future from the state to make more projects possible.

“My hope today is that we are going to have a frank conversation with our state leaders as the government begins to write the rules on what projects get funded and how they get funded,” said Arias.