House price differentials and dynamics: evidence from the Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas

This paper applies insights from economic theory to explain recent housing price patterns in California's two largest metropolitan areas. We pay particular attention to the role of migration between metropolitan areas in explaining overall housing price dynamics for a given metropolitan area, and we show how household mobility within a metropolitan area tends to attenuate price pressures in the most supply-constrained places. In reviewing various models' ability to explain California's house price patterns, we also provide some historical perspective on California's urban structure, population growth, and housing price trends.Housing - Prices ; San Francisco (Calif.) ; Los Angeles (Calif.)