What you mention is very nonchalant and simple, yet profound. There are many educated, hardworking people in SoCal who just can’t enjoy the American dream of owning a home. Sure, renting provides a roof, electricity, and running water, but it’s not the same. Many of us are content on renting for now because we know the housing market is out of whack and it’s a staring contest at this point.

What’s profound is that there seems to be a strange feeling that there’s something fundamentally wrong with the economy here in SoCal. I don’t have the economic mind or motivation to break it all down. It just feels that, in general, the inflationary price pressures and relatively stagnant wage growth are bound to crash together at some point unless things change. It’s like driving a car whose engine malfunction sensors are broken. We have been driving with our pedal to the metal for way too long and don’t know that something very bad is about to happen. –Enter worsening economic and housing stats — We have a feeling that something bad could happen, yet we keep on driving.