My understanding is that rents in San Francisco are down 20%+. LA is not as large a drop, but still down. While the cost of home ownership may be up (most like

My understanding is that rents in San Francisco are down 20%+. LA is not as large a drop, but still down. While the cost of home ownership may be up (most likely as you identify due to the wealth effect of equity grants), the actual cost to live in coastal California is sharply down.