California housing costs soar 75% in 5 years. Lowest home ownership rates in the nation.

Photo above – California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is fond of telling voters “As California goes, so goes the nation . . . you have to let go of your fear . . . “

Long story short:. An “upper middle class” office worker earning $130,000 moves to California. And immediately finds that he or she is NOT middle class, the instant they arrive. Costs of everything are so much higher, it’s like taking an immediate income cut of $30,000. (see link below)

It’s not just housing. Gasoline is 50% higher. Food. Electricity. This is how intense the American desire to live near the beach and warm weather can be. People are willing to live along an earthquake fault line, adjacent to brushfire zones, and in tents along Los Angeles downtown boulevards.

And there is apparently no solution. At least according to the authors of the study. The article backhandedly celebrates the exodus of workers for other states, as if wage slaves are the sinister figures behind the curtain manipulating housing permits, oil refinery shutdowns, and solar/wind mandates. Those lower income people can’t even name their congressperson and would be unable to explain why they’re getting financially screwed from the moment they wake up.

The “personal debt” of Californian’s is now $3.2 trillion. That’s about $100,000 per man woman and child. A family 4 owes $400K. Someone will to interject that $3.2 trillion is reasonable, because it includes mortgage balances. And I would remind them that only half of Californians own their homes (or tents). And many single family houses are paid in full, with no mortgage. The total debt in California is approximately the same as (reported) income of people working.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Opinion | New CA studies give lowdown on sky-high living costs

TOP 25 QUOTES BY GAVIN NEWSOM | A-Z Quotes

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LeopoldBloom · M

This is why they have 100 year mortgages in Tokyo, while they can't give away houses in the Japanese countryside. It's the law of supply and demand, not "government regulations." If it was that easy, you could lower housing costs simply by applying the same standards I experienced when I lived in rural West Africa. At that time, property was free if you "developed" it, which meant placing a new row of mud bricks every year. The population of Mali was 7 million, slightly more than the Miami MSA in an area slightly larger than Texas. You've already written about housing costs in NYC and Mamdani's empty promise to lower them. That applies everywhere.

I remember watching the Rose Parade on New Year's Day with my father-in-law (on TV, not in person--even though it was just down the road, I'm not an idiot), and he would point to the girls prancing around in bikinis and say "people in the rest of the country are freezing to death, and then they see that, so of course they want to move here." I'm sure Tahiti has a nicer climate, but if you want to live in the US and enjoy one of the most salubrious climates in the world, Southern California is ideal.

The 1500 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 bath crackerbox house I grew up in, that my parents bought for $40,000 in 1972, is worth just shy of $1 million today--25 times more. The Los Angeles MSA population in 1972 was 8.5 million; today it's 12.6 million, around a 50% increase. So yeah, there's something going on besides just higher demand and inflation.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@LeopoldBloom

In Cali, a gov known as Newsom,
Has always been known to produce some
Most awful results,
Thanks to Democrat cults
That embrace all the things that are gruesome.

sunsporter1649 · 70-79, M

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@sunsporter1649

I thought the Enola Gay was a B29.

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