A new study from the real estate website Zillow adds further evidence as to how coastal California’s restrictive housing policies have led to a severe housing and rental crunch:

It’s easy to see how San Francisco has become one of the country’s least affordable housing markets: Zillow’s analysis showed that for every 1,000 new residents, there were just 193 new housing units permitted. Residents of the San Francisco metro can expect to spend 44 percent of their income on rent, or 39.2 percent on a monthly mortgage payment.

Los Angeles is the worst just 187 new housing permits for every 1000 new residents.  Residents in Los Angeles County spend 40.1% of their income on a mortgage (if they’re homeowners) and 48.2% of their incomes on rent.  Ouch.

The best solution?  Deregulate local land use policies, allowing more well-planned compact housing near transit, and build new offices near transit stations as well.  Otherwise, we can expect more of these same results going forward, with all the attendant environmental destruction and economic inequality.