I wonder how much of this is due to number of capable buyers dwindling when prices reach a certain point. There is a good number of people willing to buy a junky 2 bedroom house on the peninsula for $1M. Make that house $1.5M and raise rates a little bit and maybe people just start to say no thank you.

If you want to buy that $1.5M project, you need like $200K for the down payment and fees. Plus, you need the capital to remodel.

Perhaps salaries simply haven't kept up with the rise in home prices?