Just name a fiew bad reputation for California homes:

1). Too expensive! Yes! The Silicon Valley (Santa Clara County) is one of few areas has the most expensive homes. A small (1500 sf) West San Jose Lynbook High school home can be easily over 1 Million dollars.

2). Too small backyard: Yes! The average age of home is 55 years old, 1200 sf and 6000 sf in lot size.

3). Homes are too old: Most homes are older then 50 years. I seached homes for a young couple want to buy $700-750K in 20 min driving from Sunnyvale and Mountain View for under 10 years old. There are only 3 homes fit the above requirement.

http://www.car.org/3550/100769/144944/Article_Slide.jpg

Look at the afforability index has moved from only 30% up to 70% which is only 10% below of US real estate market. The above slide is credited to www.car,org.