Half of world’s most expen­sive cities for home­buy­ers in US

A new report shows Cal­i­for­nia has four of the world’s most expen­sive cities to buy a home as the Gold­en State grap­ples with a soar­ing cost of liv­ing. 
The annu­al Demo­graph­ic Inter­na­tion­al Hous­ing Afford­abil­i­ty report found that San Jose, Los Ange­les, San Fran­cis­co, and San Diego have all made the top 10 as one of the most unaf­ford­able cities for home­buy­ers. One oth­er Amer­i­can city, Hon­olu­lu, made it on the list in sixth place. 

As goats clear veg­e­ta­tion, con­struc­tion con­tin­ues on the Lagoon Val­ley devel­op­ment in Vacav­ille, Cal­i­for­nia, on Tues­day, May 28, 2024. (Chris Riley/The Vacav­ille Reporter via AP)

The report cites strin­gent zon­ing reg­u­la­tions, such as urban con­tain­ment, as a fac­tor dri­ving high home prices. “The mid­dle class is under siege prin­ci­pal­ly due to the esca­la­tion of land costs. As land has been rationed in an effort to curb urban sprawl, the excess of demand over sup­ply has dri­ven prices up,” the report says.
California’s strin­gent envi­ron­men­tal reg­u­la­tions make it dif­fi­cult to build new homes. Cal­i­for­nia built few­er than 120,000 new homes in 2020. In com­par­i­son, Texas, where many Cal­i­for­ni­ans are flock­ing, built more than 260,000. Between July 2020 and July 2023, 433,000 peo­ple left Cal­i­for­nia.
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A recent report from U.S. News and World Report showed Cal­i­for­nia ranked last in the coun­try due to its high cost of liv­ing. Hous­ing is one of the pri­ma­ry actors dri­ving up the cost of liv­ing, with the typ­i­cal home requir­ing a house­hold income of $224,000, or three times the medi­an house­hold income, to afford. The state’s ener­gy is also more expen­sive than any state except Hawaii. 
The blow to the mid­dle class comes as California’s home­less pop­u­la­tion has sky­rock­et­ed. More than a third of America’s home­less pop­u­la­tion is found in …