In SF/Bay Area there is definitely a separate issue besides just the shrinking middle class. SWEs that by all other metrics would be solidly middle class if not

In SF/Bay Area there is definitely a separate issue besides just the shrinking middle class. SWEs that by all other metrics would be solidly middle class if not upper middle are having a hard time finding affordable homes there. The only people I know who've entertained ownership in the area are DINK, and I know many people in their late 20s and early 30s who have been consistently earning over 6 figures since the day they left college. That said, I can understand arguments for protecting existing middle class homeowners. I think a huge chunk of the problem could be resolved by having policies that treat property like any other speculative investment while having some sort of exceptions for primary family homes that are actively being lived in by the owners. I'm guessing if that were the only class protected by the SF property tax laws only a small minority of the current places would remain with locked-in rates.