patrick.net

indigenous says

Thomas Sowell talks quite a bit about the price of housing in Calif being higher because of gov't meddling. Rent control, regulations, cost of permits, etc

Depends on where in California, but that's probably accurate. Prop 13 is a big one, and that saves people on property taxes, but probably serves to make property prices higher since no one wants to sell. There are also lots of artificial constraints on land use in many areas. There is plenty of land in CA, particularly in the Bay Area, but you aren't allowed to build on a lot of it.