Finding an affordable detached single-family home in Southern California is just too much to ask.
Steven Greenhut, a region director for the R Street Institute and a contributor to the Orange County Register, writes that government regulations have severely limited the construction of new homes, which has set off a chain reaction. The median home price is now $507,886, a 58 percent increase over the last 20 years.
High costs strain families. This leads to a “brain drain,” as highly skilled people flee to other states. It creates an enormous burden on working-class and poor people, who often must spend more than half their income on housing. And it means people in small towns that have been devastated by job loss can’t move to where the jobs actually are.
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