Housing Costs Are Driving Away Potential Workers From SoCal Businesses

The California median home price is now $529,900, a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 10 percent, says Zillow. Median rent for an unoccupied apartment is up to $2,426, an annual rate of 5.5 percent.

Economist Enrico Moretti of UC Berkeley explains that many workers can't afford to move, and move up in their industry, in economic boomtowns like Silicon Valley, and many businesses can't afford to expand. He added that the country's Gross Domestic Product may likely be 7 percent lower as a result of the high costs and zoning restrictions in these areas, The Los Angeles Times reports. "Aggregate earnings would be much higher if the most productive cities in the U.S. were more welcoming in the form of they were more willing to add more housing," Moretti said.

"People come here and are like, 'Holy crap, the housing is just out of control,'" said Gary Johnson, vice president of Ace Clearwater Enterprises in Torrance, where the median home price is more than $812,000. "It's a huge issue." Ace has largely stopped flying in workers from out of state for an interview. The company is running up against what economists say is an ever-greater drag on the California economy: sky-high rents and home prices.

Read more