Texas has gained millions of new residents and California has lost them over the past decade. Yet the chart below from the Financial Times shows that housing prices have grown twice as fast in California than in Texas. Texas has also added twice as many new homes as California since 2000.

The FT correctly blames urban land planners who restrict new housing:

Homes in Texan cities are cheap and their populations soaring because the state has made urban development easy. California, New York & London are overheating and squeezing out young families because their planning systems place artificial constraints on supply, making urban development extremely difficult.

It really is that simple.